Headphone amp help urgently needed!!!

[Kaboom]

Considering i have a pair of Grado SR-80 cans that i absolutely DIG, and that my current reciever is struggling to drive them (and the reciever quality sucks anyway), should i get a decent headphone amp to drive the cans?
we should also take into consideration that i'm going to be buying a REAL amp sometime soon.
If we conclude that i should indeed acquire a headphone amp, what models should i be looking for? keep in mind i'm a poor student. I rather like the idea of the blueberry audio one, but it scares me cuz its so new and no one seems to have tested it yet. I also like the Xcans V2, specially because of the upgradeabilty (i love tweaking) and they are going pretty cheap on audiogon.
please help!
cheers

[RGA]

Rega, Creek have decent ones as well -- Also ASL has a whole slew of headphone amps at different price points...I preferred the sound of the ASL over the MF. http://www.divertech.com/antiquesl.html#HEADPHONE

Actually, if you can wait and save they have preamp/heaphone amps which could kill two birds with one stone. The Sugden headmaster is suppsoed to be a world class heaphone amp and functions as a very good preamp as well. I would have considered the headmaster more but it is more expensive than my headphone amp... http://www.onhifi.com/product/sugden_bijou.htm

[Kaboom]

uhm the way of the preamp/power amp is still VERY far from my possibilities. I am about to pay for (in this very moment) one of those coolio Blueberry Audio headphone amps. new directly from joe at www.blueberryaudio.com, for 275 shipped. considering that the Euro is still whipping some dollar's ass, i think its a pretty good deal, because apparently when he releases them officially in shops they'll be retailing for about 360. Heck i figured out if it comes and then sucks then i can just resell it in ebay and perhaps even make a profit...
it seems like a reputable page and the unit does have quite solid-looking construction. cant wait for it to arrive! i'm in love with my grados...
Cheers!

[Shwamdoo]

Like RGA said, Creek makes some swwwwwweeeeeeet headphone amps. I would recommend them over anything else that I have personaly heard. Grado also makes a headphone amp which looks pretty classy, but I have not heard it. Maybe since your getting Grado head cans you could go with the Grado amp to get that whole synergy thing going...or maybe not.

[RGA]

The problem with the Grado amp (if we're talking about the one in the mahogony box -- is that it is basically a glorified OP-amp and runs about $20.00 cost(not including the wood) - someone on head-fi pulled it apart and it's really cheap - this was a couple years ago and I may be getting it mixed up with a phono amp --- but pretty sure it was the headphone unit.

Headroom also sells some good portable headphone amps which when I move to Japan i may buy because I can't lug the tube amp around.

[DaHaq]

Like Kaboom, I own and enjoy a pair of Grado SR-80s. I am a bit confused, however, that someone would pay $275 for a headphone amp to use with a pair of ~$80 headphones. Wouldn't money be better spent on a pair of cans higher up in Grado's line such as the SR-325? I run my SR-80s through the headphone jack on my Onkyo receiver; do I really need more to power them? I am probably just showing my ignorance, but I would appreciate an explanation. thanks!

[Kaboom]

My take on it is that my current reciever sucks so badly it cant hurt to have an at least half-decent heaphone amp. also, odds are that once the cans go, the amp will stay. My original question also asked that if once i get a propper amp (MF X150 or 3.2, Exposure 2010S, or sth alone those lines) the headphone jack on those will be better than a separate sub-300 buck dedicated headphone amp.
cheers!

[DaHaq]

Ahh, makes sense. Although I thought SR-80s were supposed to sound good even with the meagre amplification from portable devices. Its always good to plan ahead though, for when you get those RS-1s someday :D

[Kaboom]

i think that's the worst part of it all. Althought the sound isnt spectacular (but it is pretty good) my discman does drive them pretty well, or at least to half decent levels. Now the problem is that my reciever drives them EXACTLY the same way. now if u're listening to the white stripes, who make lots of noise, then its all cool, but when pop on some jazz i have to turn the volume knob nearly all the way for it to get to an acceptable level. at that level, the amp has trouble with keeping the higher frequencies undistorted.
aaaaaarrrrrrhhhh rs-1s, rs-1s...