Need to build a headphone system


I'm looking for advice.  I need a headphone system for an apartment.  I am  overwhelmed both by the variety of headphones and amps out there and the difficulty of auditioning them.  My budget is about 8.5K for amp and cans.  I listen to lots of chamber music, solo instrumental and other small group stuff, so I appreciate detail and responsiveness.  But I shy away from analytic - my main system amp has beautiful glowing tubes.  Although I stream a lot, I also listen to a lot of vinyl.  I wear oticon behind the ear hearing aids.  Music sounds noticeably darker and less detailed when I take them out.  So certainly not in-ear!  Any expertise on listening with aids is greatly appreciated.  

label19

Showing 4 responses by label19

Thank you all!  This is is all really helpful.  I'm in New York.  Does anyone have experience with Audio46?  Although I expect there will be lots of home trials, a good store would be helpful.  (And FWIW if I find what I want in a store, I'll buy it in a store - it's hard enough being in business without being a showroom for the internet.)  I am partial to tubes, so I'll be checking out Woo and the VM-1A for sure.  This is going to be fun! 

Thanks for everyone's help.  I'll be at Audio46 on Friday, then seeing what else I need to listen to and where I can find it.Reporting back soon, I hope!

Thanks for all the suggestions.  I've listened to a number of headphones so far.  I have not been able to hear the RAAL's, so I guess I will contact them directly.  Focal's don't play well with my hearing aids.  Sennheisers do.  Audio46 was not much help.  Bus have been a low point in their stocking cycle, and they are not going to open boxes of hi-end cams just for a listen (which I understand).

@larsman I too have oticon behind-the-ear aids.  I see your point about in-ear aids.  That's going to be expensive.  My oticons are 6K.  What are you using for in-ear?  It might be worth the investment for me because the headphone system will be my main system in one of my two residences.  (My wife and I have been commuting for dogs years.)

@soix agreed.  That's what I'm going to do.  It's a little complicated since it's a headphone/amp pair I need.  I'm on the road a lot, so this is becoming a slow and frustrating process.