Where can I hear high-end headphone setups?

IMO it's (the emotion) way more dependent on the music.  There are times when you might have the right headphone with the right music and everything comes together very nicely though.  There is a store called DXC in Culver City that is supposed to have tons of headphones for you to listen to.

Keep an eye on the Meet Forum. The LA crew gets together a couple times a year.

IIRC, there's going to be an audiophile show in LA next weekend. I think HeadRoom is going. They usually show up with a nice spread of gear.

Also, get out to some live performances. With so many colleges and universities in town, you should be able to hit a lot of inexpensive/free student performances.

Try to make it to a local meet if you can. Otherwise, when people are saying it makes them cry, it's God-like, they cant believe the sounds are possible, everything has to be taken with a grain of salt. Some people are more emotional, have a different mindset, could be in a "altered state" which might help contribute to those type statements and sometimes they are just exaggerating upon the joy they are receiving and some could be shills.  If you cant make it to a local meet or an audio store like 32 ohm audio, theonly other way is trial and error.

 

Welcome to Head-fi

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The next meet in the SoCal area is this one on 8/7: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/560261/5th-annual-headroom-friends-hits-los-angeles-sunday-august-7

 

The National Meet this year is at RMAF in Colorado, more info on that at www.audiofest.net and in this thread: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/556674/start-making-your-plans-for-2011-canjam-rmaf-rocky-mountain-audio-fest

 

If you can make it to RMAF, that'd be well worth it as well, given the expanded number of vendors who'll be attending. Everything headphone-related will be there, from all of the major vendors in the industry.

You should absolutely go. Meets are so much fun.

I was hoping to attend, but will be off on a family vacation this weekend.

Show up and be sure to attend any dinner/after party. That's the best part.

You live in LA, have been a HF member since '08 and you haven't ever been to DXC to know?

 

I live just a few miles away, didn't know about that place...thx, I'll check it out!

 

ALO Audio in Portland, OR has a very nice assortment of headphones and amps.

 

Haha yup for some reason I've just never gone over there.  I live close to it as well.  Maybe one day I'll go check it out but I've heard most of the headphones I want to hear by now. :)

 

I have similarly modest gear, as well as the rev.2. I've had moments that have caused me to grin stupidly from ear to ear, but some of the impressions often expressed makes me wonder what I'm missing out on. I remain wary of hyperbole, but it's hard not to get swept away.

@ Jessica,

 

My Stax setup makes me cry, it's that good.

Or better yet, listen to n3rdling's. His is "God-like". He has some of the best gear.........ever.

 

So, didja go to the meet? How was it? Impressions?

I completely agree, emotion is very music dependent. I only get emotional listening to select few songs and i don't have to be listening to them through my phones for it to happen, it just does

 

Howdy Jessica Flexica,

 

Ghees ! You have a lot of really great audio equipment. Hopefully, this "philosopical/scientific paragraph is ok.  I'm not smart enough to know if you have to be in a certain emotional state to enjoy music or music creates an emotional state, but smart enough to know that no one else knows either.  As far as our own bodies/brains affecting our perception of music, talk about a hard question.  An argument is often made that younger people have better hearing, so they are the best judges of audio equipment; the only trouble with this "thinking" is that many musicians get better and better as they mature, in spite of their ability to hear higher frequencies deteriorating. We can measure how well a person can hear single tones; but that comes nowhere near measuring things like people with a "musical ear" , who can just hear a song on the radio then sit down at a piano, tinker with the keys a few moments, then break into playing the whole song.   So what the heck is the point ?    Only that we' re all individuals with our own emotional makeup and complex minds/bodies.  People search to find what works for them--- even in their music system !   Was that too heavy ?  Hope not. 

 

IMHO most audio reviews intersperse a large amount of personal opinion in their reviews. The "golden ears" approach is not necessarily bad, but how in the world is it determined that someone has golden ears ?  The very respected John Grado designs his products almost exclusively by ear.  and a lot of people like them. ( ...and a lot don't care for them too)  In contrast, Seigfried Linkwitz is highly respected by many speaker designers. ( you probably never heard of him, but used one of his products. He co-designed the Linkwitz-Riley crossover, used by a huge number of (most ????) speaker manufacturers )  He does all his designing at the work bench before he ever builds a prototype speaker, then measures measures, and remeasures his designs as he modifies. The ultimate "objectivist". If you visit his website, you will see lots of math equations, schematics, graphs of room frequency measurements. etc.  A lot of people think he makes some of the best speakers in the world ( ..... and a lot of people don't care for his products either ) Boy this is getting way  too long........,  just a very roundabout way of saying that as it stands right now, although equipment is constantly improving, there is no such thing as the "best" or "absolute sound"  that a representative sample of people will agree on. With some luck, you might find  real live people or a reviewer or two who you often find yourself agreeing with; or some technical measure(s) of equipment performance that correlate well with your idea of good sound.  So,  "do what you like" as a very, very old song says. 

 

DEFINITELY agree with the person who suggested listening to live music. One caveat: A lot of stuff is amplified, and really poorly at that. Really wrecks the sound; sitting in a room with too many people talking loudly doesn't work either. Heartily agree with checking out a local university, junior college, or whatever. Unfortunately, there are many more good musicians than good jobs. There are some unbelievable "cocktail pianists" . If you know any musicians, they'll know about the really good people playing around town.  Some "street musicians" are excellent. Even if its not your cup of tea, would really suggest checking out some classical and live jazz music to get an accurate reference on what instruments sound like. IMHO. live music can be the best reference of all. 

 

-  didn't notice what you're playing music through, i-Pod,  cd player ?  the "source" is really important and could make all the difference. Even if using a DAC, If you are loading up an iPod to get as much music on it as possible, it pretty much defeats the purpose of your great gear. If you are downloading from Amazon or wherever at their standard sampling rate, this also would not take advantage of your sound system at all.

 

- IMHO,  the types of music you listen are a big factor in deciding on a pair of headphones.  Planar-magnetics and electrostatics excel and can be incredibly realistic for some types of music; but conventional headphones would likely be much more enjoyable with other types.There are very high quality versions of both. With a bottomless wallet, I'd own at least two different types of megabuck phones, but.................... So, the trick usually is finding the best fit for the music you like. 

 

Last (will he ever finish ?) getting together with other hobbyists, listening to lots of headphones and talking to a lot of people sounds like a great idea. Having very recently joined Head FI, haven't been to anything. Only possible concern is the emphasis on "high end" phones, as no one can seem to agree on what this is. The phrase gets used a lot, and people even get into incredible fights over it !!!!!! My twocentsworth (probably $2.95 by now) is that it has something to do with enhancing enjoyment of music, ideally producing a pleasing facsimile of live music  (sorry, haven't figured out how to somehow include the recording studio wizards' contributions)  Please listen to some things not necessarily regarded as "high end", but really good. Suggest checking out the headroom.com website for ideas on equipment to look into, if that's the goal. Also suggest checking out some Grado models to see if they do anything for you. 

 

Peace

 

 

 

Most gear has a sound signature, warm vs cool, relaxed vs analytical. Each individual responds to different stimuli. So different people will respond to different gear, and music. Certain music fits better with some gear. Some people maximize a certain signature across their gear, and some balance components to offset signatures, seeking a mid ground, or correcting some sound from an item they prefer to keep in their system.

I tend to like accurate IEMs, but prefer a slightly relaxed speaker system. I am not a Grado fan, and tend towards the Senn 650 and 800. Tubes too!

To address your system, assuming the LCD2s are going to stay, look at source first, as the source becomes very important to a higher end system, Then amp.

When you head to a meet, try to bring your headphones, and music you like, CDs and/or USB drive. You will probably be able to sample several systems with your phones and music choices.

You will one day get that ah-ha moment, and you will know which way to go.

Have fun. (your wallet is more in peril than ever)