Searching for Good Headphones & Headphone Amp

It depends on which concern is greater for you: providing your fiancee with a quiet atmosphere, or gaining the best headphone sound you can. If your goal is to have nice-sounding headphones which don't leak noise, then I'm affraid the Grado's might not be the best choice. I have SR 60s and 80s (someone gave me their 80s...don't ask) and love the sound, but don't love how much noise they leak into the room. If you don't mind in-ear headphones then the shure e3c is a nice choice, but a little over your budget. They make an e2c which I think is good, but think the 50 dollars jump to the e3c is totally worthwhile. These will provide you with an isolated listening experience, and provide your fiancee with total silence. The e3c lets you customize the earplug, and if you use the replacable foam ear-plug style ones, they're really comfortable and totally isolating. If your fiancee can deal with a little ambient noise, then definitely go for the sr-60s. Great sound for the price. The grado amp is good as well, but I think the CI amp is what I'd take if I had the scratch. A friend just got one from amusicdirect and it's a great sounding and looking thing.

I own the CI audio headphone amp and external optional power supply paired with Grado SR-60 and I love this combo. I also lokked at the Grado amp and the Musical Fidelity amp but found the CI Audio more dynamic and easier to listen to with all kind of music as opposed to MF and Grado which worked best with classical or jazz. Personnally I would have gone for the CEC HD-53 but it was out of my budget but if you can afford it, go for it. I also owned an Antique Sound lab but again found it a bit soft and lacking in dynamic with rock music.

I'll definitely second doing some research at www.head-fi.org. You can also find info at www.headwize.com. A couple of good commercial sites are www.headphone.com (headroom) and Todd the Vinyl (and headphone)Junkie. All of them provide really useful information. I know you'll be able to find something that meets your needs.

IVYINVESTOR! Lookin' thru some old threads & found this one again. What ever happened- some of may be curious to learn what you ended up gettin'/how/if you liked it or took any of suggestions? Post a "reply", please, thanks. -Bruce30

It's an old thread but for anyone else still looking at this I wouldn't hesitate to recommend Grado SR80s.

All the Sonys I've ever heard have been garbage, and I've heard a whole heap of them.