C almighty tho,, just the drivers number of mm's on the Sony is enough for me to just be placebo'd into nirvana cos coming from "run of the mill" bt cans... 70mm.. that's 20 more than most anything. The literal idea of knowing they are that just has a placebo boost to it alone if you dont know any better. I wouldn't mind having an amp for the Noires. I'd probably get a sexy looking THX or Cobalt dragonfly. In fact having an amp anyway would just life style aesthetic wise take them over the top into James Bond land