swt61

I'm looking forward to hearing your rig. It sounds like you have an awesome analog setup! I'm also wanting to give the 650s another chance now that my rig is up to par, but they'd need to be balanced.

I've been babysitting some toys for a friend, and I've had the opportunity to A/B my Zapfiltered, dual differential "Epic Opus" against his Lavry DA10. The Opus is the clear winner. Better air, dynamics, soundstage and bass slam. Not really even a close call. Not sure if there are enough of these out there to garner many impressions yet, but it's a serious contender.

LOL! Hey my first post was about a year ago, so I'm an old timer right? About the Omega II/ HeadAmp KGSS, I actually prefer the β22/Chocolate Donuts in some instances. That's not to say that the Stax are not technically superior, that's probably just me being so used to their sound sig. On Michael Buble - It's Time for instance, the vocals just seem a bit more up front and clear with the Donuts, where they seem a tad more layed back with a slight layer in front of them on the O IIs. I'll see if my feelings change as I adjust to them more, but there is no doubt that they're an amazing pair of headphones, and no slouch on vocals in their own right.

I don't wanna go off topic here and talk about the β22, but I've spent about three weeks with mine now, and I'm very impressed. Mine is a four channel balanced version with twin sigma 22s in a separate enclosure. Mine also employs the Twisted Pear Audio Joshua Tree logarithmic stepped attenuator which I think is a marvel. A few days ago a friend who's moving out of state dropped off his gear with me until he's settled. So I've had the chance to compare his HeadAmp Gilmore Reference to the β22. Of coarse the comparisons are all done SE, but even SE I prefer the β22 in every way. I continue to be more impressed with this amp every day, and quite frankly I'm wondering if this isn't the pinnacle of balanced amp technology ATM.

Did your velour pads make a difference basswise?