Interesting about the Altec Lansing. I have some bias against that company. I guess it's because I sampled their bookshelf speakers years ago and couldn't get over how bad they were. But, I've got a friend who loves his AL speakers - albeit he's not really into audio like I am. But, I'll keep my eyes on those. There's a 30 day return policy on the Etymotics. But, from everything I've read, I'm truly hoping I love them. And I know it will likely take longer than 30 days to break them in.
The reason I've been looking for a new portable headphone amp is because I find the CMoy one exaggerates the bass more than I like. I've only used it with my Sony headphones, which were about $75 when I bought them four years ago. They have great bass - I think they state that they go down to 16 hz or something insane like that. So, what I decided was that the Sony's really didn't need the amp and that's why the CMoy sounded bad to me. I have highly sensitive ears, I've been told. ;-}
ZG
PS...I've been meaning to ask you which Rotel amp(s) you use.
