I just love the jousting. Can I send you guys a couple of refurbished flintlocks that you can point at each other? Really, both of your opinions are opinions.

And mine are facts.

Just kidding.

On the longevity of reviewing however, since we all can put our weapons on the table and have a measuring contest, I submit I also have a weapon of, shall we say, considerable length and girth. Figuratively speaking that is.

C'mon guys, ease up. You're OK, I'm OK, your headphone's ok. Mine is just better.

I built headphone amps with Julius Futterman on West 72nd Street before most readers who just pissed themselves reading this discovered that headphones existed. These were transformerless amps specifically built for the STAX SRX series of the time. Julius potted his own power transformers. Hand wired of course.

Julius was a nice, kind man, whose work is still in vogue in some circles.

In any event, from what I hear STAXes have been improved a great deal, but so have others.

Actually, a revolution in home listening is taking place, thanks to digital technology and careful engineering in the headphone field.

My suggestion? Let's exchange useful information, opinions and facts, and enjoy and be grateful for what we have.

We are lucky and live in a great age. Have you guys noticed?

Smell the flowers.

Shure Corporation vetted the review and linked to it from their product page for several months until I requested they unlink it, which they agreed to do. That's real credibility. Grado links to my PS-500 review from their product page. The votes on my 940 review at Amazon are currently 36 for 41, or 88 percent. When you subtract out the certainty of negative headfi posters, it's closer to 100 percent. But even with the negative people it's 88 percent.

When you look at the comments at Amazon, it's hilarious. There is one troll who had a very, very positive response in November, who then had a radical change of heart when someone convinced him that he didn't actually hear what he actually heard. How about that?

Personally I have no problem with disagreements, and I even concede that despite my caveats about the actual differences in the two headphones, some people still got the wrong impression and thought I said they were exactly the same. I did ask for tests of the bass and nobody challenged me on that.

So again, I don't have a problem with disagreement, but when someone tries to claim that I or Amclaussen et al did *not* experience what we experienced, or that we are not as qualified as some other people in the business, well that's ludicrous. You Google Dale Thorn and see who he is. Even when you don't see AES membership and other "hobby" interests, you can still see the relevant history. I did extensive audio testing with 3 DT-48's, a Koss ESP-9, a Stax SRX MK3, and quite a few other headphones beginning in 1974 and continuing from there.

Am I claiming I'm right? How can that be? This isn't an exact science. But unlike some have suggested here, I'm not wrong. And the votes all across the headphone sites are heavily in favor of the Shure 940, which tells me most of those people must be finding amping solutions that work well enough for a satisfying experience. I can repeat what I said about my new O2 amp - the HD-800 sounded glorious and the 940 did not. So, pick your poison and amp as you wish, and lots of luck.

You've been watching those paranoid movies again, yes? Wag the Dog?

My opinion more valid? My opinion based on what I heard and doing actual tests is quite valid. If someone else says "I disagree" and that's it - they disagree with no other facts, then how does that compete for validity?

Tyll has measurements, which seem accurate to me. That doesn't say *exactly* how they will sound, but it's much better than nothing, yes?

So yeah, I'll consider any opinion, if it comes from actual tests and has something in it I can test myself. But if it just says "I disagree", then that's a vote, not an opinion.

Edit: I'd like to add also, whether Tyll disagrees or not, I don't mind. I sent him my Beyer DT-1350 and DT-48E for testing at my expense last April. He didn't like the DT-48. There was quite a bit of subsequent discussion from that test, lots of disagreement even, but pretty civil and not unfriendly as I remember. I think the disagreement on the 940 could have been the same - civil, not unfriendly. But unfortunately the 940 became very popular (or controversial if you prefer) and there you are. I tell people to this day these tales of the 940, and those who are not big-time headphone mavens look at me with eyes as big as saucers and exclaim "All that, over a headphone?"