Thanks Ringingears for your advice and suggestions. I never really considered Eddie Current amps because the ones that I saw in the classifieds were all asking in excess of $4,000 but I guess that is because none of them was the Super. So I guess I assumed that EC's were way out of my budget. But will I need roll the tubes from stock because adding shipping to Hong Kong and replacement tubes would bring it well over my budget since the original cost is already stretching it.

I would like to get the Yggy but that would take away too much from my amp budget. I was hoping that my current DAC is not too much of a bottle neck. In fact, I am not a technical geek so I don't really know much by looking at equipment specifications. Would you have any comments on my DAC (LM 502CA)?

So I will do some reading on the Black Widow and the ZD Super. Thanks again.

Sorry I haven't heard your DAC so I can't comment. Perhaps someone else here has and will comment.

As to the stock ZD S tubes, pretty sure I was listening to the stock ones. Were those stock in SF Marv?

BW gives you a taste of Eddie current tube clarity and warmth with high end resolution at a more entry level price without the hassle of tubes if you don't like that. I recommend staying away from any current mode amplifiers with the HD800. They remove all the 800's strengths trying to turn the sound into another cheaper phone you should have just bought in the first place. Bryston was meh/okay when it came out, but the world ash already moved waaay past it performance wise.

I know it's tough to listen to the HD800 when you are just starting. Been there, done that. Stick with it and you will be rewarded for your commitment and patience. I've heard pretty much everything out there from the M50 and MS1 to the R10, Orpheus and 009. None of them keep scaling like the HD800. I don't know where the HD800 even ends when rewarding upstream improvements. The others I pretty much do.

Reasons to not commit to an HD800. You need superior distortion free low bass extension, you like a warmer or darker sound to your treble, you like a more forgiving and polite smooth timbre only TF plastics can deliver, you don't think more information and resolution makes music more musical to you, you are a low volume listener, you believe an ODAC and O2 amp are the pinnacle in upstream engineering accomplishment. 

Thanks Anaxilus. This site is really growing on me. I posted this same message in 'another' website and with it's own thread too, and I have only received one response on it so far. And I posted on there before I posted on here.

The HD 800 was/is my first real high end headphone purchase. I chose it over the TH900 at the time and I have NO regrets of going in this direction.

I like the idea of the BW but I have already prepared my wife on the idea of a TOTL amp purchase, so I want to take full advantage of this opportunity (and hard work that I put into setting this up, lol) since I do not know when my next big purchase will be. I just get the feeling that the BW is good, but that I can still do better within my budget limit.

You recommend to stay away from current made amplifiers, would you include the Ragnarok in that category? So far that is the front runner followed by the BHA1. I will keep what you say about the BHA1 in mind as I make my final list.

So I am committed to my HD 800. I love just about every part of it. I think with the right amp, I would get that extra little bit on the low end, although to be honest, now that I am starting to listen more closely with them, I sometimes feel like I really don't need/want any more there; it is just fine the way it is now. But like I said, since I worked hard to get the green light on a new amp purchase, I would be stupid not to go for it.

So far the Ragnarok is ticking off a lot of my boxes. Hopefully I will get a chance to audition it before I have to make my decision.

Thanks again.

...I know it's tough to listen to the HD800 when you are just starting. Been there, done that. Stick with it and you will be rewarded for your commitment and patience.

Bingo. My first amp with the HD800 was the Little Dot MKIV SE. It sounded like utter crap.
The Woo WA5 also left MUCH to be desired until I spent more on tubes than the amp itself.
And then came the EC 445 and Teton which are just on a wholly different level.

And Anax is saying that the HD800 can still keep scaling with the EC Studio, etc. Jesus christ!

I've owned a dynalo, dynahi, balanced dynahi (significantly better than the gsx mk2 in my experience), and the KSA-5 Klone. The Black Widow is a significant step up from all of them.