I have had the oppritunity to audition these cans twice. Once unamped out of ipod and once with an iBasso P1. Was dissapointed both times. Knew I would be with them unamped. Not quite as dissapointed with them out of the P-1 but something was still lacking. Have since upgraded to AE-2 and was wondering if this amp would be more suited for them (no longer have cans avilable for auditioning). Have found a couple of really good deals on used ones (around 120 USD shipped). Not much to loose and could always resell if I didn't like results. Would be used mostly for Blues or older Rock (no metal).

The AE-2 will be just fine with the HD580s. Sure, it's a portable amp, and there are those limitations that come with it, but I'm positive that they'll do the job perfectly fine (and then some). Personally, I like the HD580's sound straight out of the iPod, but to each his own.

The AE-2 should be fine. I really listened to that amp for the first time at the recent Florida meet, compared it to a stack of others, and was impressed. The only two I favored over it were the PRII, and the SR-71. The 580s sound better with better amplification, but so do many headphones. I don't think they suffer as much as the 650s do with portable amps. One of my first rigs was the 580s and a microamp. It kept me happy for a long time, but then I discovered headphone forums, went to a meet, and

I don't know -- I'd be hesitant if I were you. I mean, I agree that they were not the best sources/amps that you tried them out on, but the infamous Sennheiser house sound ("laid back") was there -- that may have been what you disliked.

Though, at US$120 -- you could probably flip them if you still didn't like them for minimal financial loss to you.

If he ended up not liking them, for that price, he could definitely sell them for little or no loss. I think it's a win-win.

As far as the "Senn house sound" goes, I currently use PX100's as my everyday work cans. I don't know how the sound signature of these compare to other Senn's. But for what they are (cheap cans), I have always been well pleased with them.