shard

Actually the price for the Sugden Headmaster from Electrades is SGD1498. Its still cheaper than the UK price which is about UKP599 which comes to roughly SGD1800. I think its possible that Electrades brought the Headmasters in when the exchange rate was alot more favourable. The GSP Solo with PSU has also gone up in price. It used to be UKP399 and its now UKP450. Local price has however only gone up by SGD50. I think it was SGD1000 last year.

Why? You just bought the Sugden Headmaster. Anyway, who I am to tell you how to spend your money? The GSP Solo with PSU comes to mind. I prefer it over the Headmaster when paired with a HD650/Equinox. The upgraded Solo is supposed to be even better, I have only heard the older Solo and not the upgraded one though. There are other amps out there that you can mod or request for the builders to customize that will cost less than what a new Headmaster would cost. May I offer you some advice? You already own the Headmaster, enjoy it, its a great amp. Enjoy the music. There will always be something better out there.

The Sugden Headmaster is not the best amp (totally debatable and subjective), IMO, far from it. You can probably find a better sounding amp for about half the amount. If you are buying it for looks, then I agree with you, its a great looking amp. I seriously do not know why you would need a remote for a headphone amp that will only adjust the volume unless you have a very long cable or very short arms. Just kidding. I personally own the Headmaster, in fact, I liked it so much, I bought the entire Sugden Bijou series to go with it. So, I am not bashing the Headmaster in anyway. The Soundblaster Live! is not as bad a card as its made out to be. Its just that its a really old card and there are better alternatives out there. It was actually the best soundcard at one point in time. You may however want to upgrade it to a M-Audio Revo or an E-Mu 1212, they cost about SGD200 (I could be wrong). Whatever you do, do not connect your Headmaster to your speakers' headphone out. It will not damage anything, it just will not sound as good as it can. Try this setup: Soundcard ---> Headmaster ---> Speakers Of course that only works if you have a 2 channel set up. If you have a 4.1/5.1 speaker set, you can probably try a splitter (I am guessing). You may also want to consider a new CDP, the Cambridge Azur 640C can be had for about SGD600+ and is very good for that price.

http://www.onhifi.com/product.shtml has a good review of the Sugden Headmaster both as a headphone amp and a preamp. You may want to check it out.

Is the X-PSU still for sale?

Do you have a problem with the Mobius fitting very tightly with the HD650? I have 2 Mobius cables and they are both almost impossible to fit. I have to force it in very hard to get it to fit.

I am not very familiar with the terms and words used to describe a listening experience so I find it hard to put it into words, but I will try to. Paired with the HD650, I found the Cardas to be very quick and the instrument separation to be a little too clinical, making the overall experience a little less musical. I guess alot depends on what kind of music you listen to.

I know for sure that the Cardas, Equinox, Russ Andrews and Zu Mobius (with new connectors) fit the HD650. Of the 4 cables I listed, I like the Equinox paired with the HD650 the best at this point in time. The Zu Mobius has alot of potential but I have not had time to really listen to that pairing.

I placed an order with Stoneaudio in UK. Hopefully they will send it out soon.

I spoke to Pantrade and they claim that they will not be bringing in the HD650. Anyone know where I can get it online when it is available? Its supposed to be out in Europe apparently.