A tale of two ear/headphones and 3 disc spinners

Headphones: Monoprice 8320 IEM

Amp: Electric Avenus PA2V2

Sources:
Sony Playstation SCPH-1001 (PS1)
Pioneer Elite DV-38A             (38A)
Sony DVP-S7000                  (S7000)

The Hat, The Way I am/Girls and Boys/Ingrid Michaelson (IM)

Tracks 1, 2/The Best of Tchaikovsky/Point Classics (TY)

The PS1 blew away the other two on the IM CD. Yes, I heard other things with S7000 but the vocals were outstanding with the PS1. I expected the 38A to be better at classical music and S7000 to be better in Pop/Rock. What I found was different. Surprisingly, the S7000 was excellent with this TY CD. Nice details. The 38A was a distant third in this setup. I generally like its smoothness, with good detail.

I wonder how much of this is a synergy thing. Perhaps this is confirmation that you really have to listen to your choices, together, to discern differences.

My memory of previous listening experiences is not great. So I'll try a similar test again with the Grado SR60.

The plastic office carpet protector charged me up so much that every move I made zapped me in the ear (cable touching ear). I had also never noticed a hum with the PA2V2. It seemed to build up when I was on the plastic.

This hopefully bodes well for the coming mods to the S7000.

With the Grado SR60, things got more interesting. Everything was a lot closer. I still preferred the S7000 for the TY CD and the PS1 for the IM CD. However the 38A seemed to be flexing its muscles. Not a distant third, but a very close third now. The TY track 2 airy triangles were still best on the S7000. These headphones made the IM CD sound a tad loudly recorded. Still the PS1 had the most pleasing presentation of the IM CDs. Perhaps it is more forgiving.

What did I learn from this? It depends :)