Sometimes life happens. And you find yourself away from your home rig, or your home rig is gone period...as is your home. And you need to listen to "Don't Think Twice" by Dylan over and over, but the soundcard in your laptop isn't cutting it even though your JH13s otherwise sound awesome. Or you find yourself without power or worse after a hurricane and the only thing that can ease your mind is some tunes from your battery-operated portable rig. Then you realize, yeah, portable amps/DACs have a place in this world because right now I could really use one.

With just a few phone calls and emails, I've managed to get my hands on the amazing Stax SR-009 headphones, and some of the world's best electrostatic headphone amps and the gear to make use of them, and set them up my demo room for a week of comparative listening.

Quite the ear opening experience!

The MP-301 Mk 3 is a very good sounding amplifier for the money. It wears its tube topology on its sleeve, both physically and sonically. Love it for that, or pass. But if you think it's a good thing, then you get a LOT of product for your $300 here.

Not much in the way of amp measurements this month, but got a fair few headphones on the list. And a bit of a tease on some upcoming reviews.