Aspirant Audiophile

...just for the record, I have no opinion--I'm happy to learn. The exchange here is helpful and instructive. Spritzer, I'm really curious because I'm planning a trip to try out the Paltauf in person--and I've read very, very little about Paltauf, while German sites say essentially what Dynavit says. Can you spell out (for me, an audio idiot) why a speaker amp with the electrostatic signal taken off the plates through capacitors is (for lack of a better term) "bad"? I get that this forum is specifically for people who know what they're talking about. So, I don't want to annoy anybody. I just want to make smart decisions. Commentary, however detailed or blunt (I see both above!), is welcome.

I'm almost motivated enough to travel to England in order to test and purchase that amp! But I have four kids and a wife who is quickly losing patience with my new "hobby." So I need something shipped to the Netherlands. Likely I will need to contact a builder...I have searched online for ways to contact many of the builders recommended here, such as Soren, Kerry, Dukei, and a few others, but apparently I can only contact them via PM on this forum? Recommended builders aside from Spritzer (who I have already been in contact with), and their contact information, would be warmly appreciated.

I don't know the difference (yet), but it's awesome to get this feedback to learn from. I don't want to stir the opinion pot too much...but do you or anyone recommend an amp for the 007/009/9000s class that isn't BHSE or a Mjolnir Audio product? I ask simply because I respect the opinions here, and I'm up against a wall, as Mjolnir doesn't have amps in stock for now, BHSE needs to be saved up for, and I have yet to find an amp that is positively reviewed on head-case that isn't one of the above.

Many thanks for this response--I understood about 75% of this message, which is better than my average. What you're describing sounds an awful lot like what I'm hearing in my current setup--along with my attempts to "improve" what I'm hearing, you just took the words out of my mouth. I guess I'm surprised, because I thought the 353x was one of the few "good"/decent Stax amps. I'm not averse to getting a BHSE, but I didn't want to make that jump immediately. And, Birgir does not appear to have his top amps available at this moment. I was/am kind of hoping I can find something in Europe that's comparable. Lots of builders with very, very few reviews. I'm reading a lot about Paltauf KHV-ES (not much available in English or German, but what is there is praiseful. I am also unclear on whether an external power supply is needed. The BHSE comes with one, the Paltauf offers one as an option. I am guessing that power-hungry headphones "need" an external supply?

Question for seasoned experts: in what ways can an underpowered amp paired with power-hungry earspeakers affect listening experience? Context for my question: I have no idea what I'm doing, and it's best to be honest about that. I'm in a unique situation where I could get "best" headphones, but I'm neither an audio engineer nor someone with unlimited funds. I recently got a pair of x9000s and, after much trial and error and trading in purchases in order to upgrade, I made a plan: start with the x9000s as the strongest link in my chain, and build a setup from there. Current setup: Node 2i, RME ADI-2 DAC, SRM-353x, x9000s I think I need the Node, for now at least--I get different sound out of my PC when connecting via USB, all my music is streaming, I don't need a Roon for mobility etc., and I don't know enough about streamers to make a different decision. I know I need the RME--it solves so many potential problems that go beyond just being a good DAC. The 353x is an affordable placeholder while I try out various amps and make a more long-term decision. What I want to better understand is what happens to a pair of 'highest end' earspeakers when they're used with lesser-grade amps. I have no frame of reference to answer this question. I hear a lot of distortion at high volumes with the current setup, and not as much clarity or separation as I hoped for, but I have no idea whether this is a result of the 353x. I will personally test out several 'top' amps over the coming months, but it would help a lot to know what I should be listening for, besides 'more power.' I've been on Head-Fi.org a lot over the past 2 months, and while I've gotten plenty of good advice, I've often enough been advised to buy stuff by thinly veiled salespersons to understand that Head-case.org might be a better fit for my question. And, I've emailed Spritzer enough over the past month that I want to avoid annoying someone I genuinely don't want to annoy. So I posit my question to the community-at-large :)