Well gain can certainly be a problem but I've never had much trouble with noise. Provided the phones aren't too sensitive I found the advantages outweigh the deficits.
I have a DH-220. It runs the K1000 exceedingly well. No steeliness, lots of oomph @ 110Wpc. Nobody who's heard it thinks the K1000 lacks bass. Runs hot as hell though
Surely if it were that simple, using speaker taps instead of a headphone jack would do the trick. I've run plenty of phones from speaker amps over the years with no problems just to bypass the added circuitry and crappy connectors.
Up to about $1500 I'd somewhat agree, above that I think well chosen speakers will cream headphones in overall listening experience. At $3000 and up, 'phones are not worth it at all to me. My very upper limit for phones is $1500.
First off I'm gonna get one of the new KSC-35s from Koss now they have a limited re-release and see how they compare to the 75s. I hear they may well be the better phone without recabling. I really like the 75 as-is anyway.
My setup has been a little static for a while. I do have plans for a Pico to feed my Hafler. I also want to find a SRD-7Mk2 so I can run both my high and low bias Staxes at the same time without needing two energizers. Aside from that I'm pretty well set except for maybe one of the following four:
O2
He 1.2b
TakeT
ATH-W5000
I'm happy with my Staxes and K1000s so the phones listed are not really necessary at the minute so, yeah
Oh my good fucking giddy aunt.
That has to be the single funniest thing I've read in the last 10 years.
Is that a joke posting or are people really that fucking dim, because if it's serious...... Holy shit, I'm stunned!