Really interesting thread this. I got the HD 800 a month or so and am struggling to like it. So we seem to go from opposite sides.

As for the Trafomator Head One I do have that one and the SD 3 cable as well. The silver dragon cable did make the Head One somewhat usable with the LCD-2 but it´s still well down on the list of amps for the LCD-2. V200 is the only headphone amp it has beaten for me. The combination is often to warm and lush. The soundstage collapses and the dynamics is lacking. Feels like it´s not capable  of driving it or it´s just synergy who knows. My Head One do better with the HD 800/T1 and even the ED 8 rather then the LCD-2 and DX 1000 regardless of source I tried. No issues with W1000x either as Loevhagen suggested :). LCD-2 and DX 1000 is the two "problematic" headphones I got for it though also those are very enjoyable out of it. Haven´t heard the Burson HA160 would love to some day :).

Tricky to optimize a system for both these headphones. What about your other amps are they also on the warm side trying to tame some treble peak in the HD 800 or tame sibilance or such?

Quote:

Originally Posted by GeirTj 

After having yet read another unconditionally positive review of the LCD-2's I must do another attempt to get the best out of my cans.

I do not belive there are any electromechanical fault with them as both left and right side sound similar and without any obvious distortion. They just sounds so muffled and closed-in compared to my other cans. I've tried to use them some months now and hope that they are broken in.

I use them with Moon Audio - Silver Dragon (unbalanced) cabling and drive them with either headamps as Burson HA-160, Trafomatic Head One or the headphone jack on my Weiss Audio DAC202. All of these should be respected headphone amps but do not give much synergy here - in my view.

Last cause for my dissatisfaction concerning these phones could simply be that my taste is very different from all the LCD-2 reviewers.

So, do you see anything wrong with my set-up and can propose any alterations? Or are you pleased by using a set-up similar to one of mine? - which means that I must re-evaluate my own hearing and tastes (and sell the phones ASAP).

Any constructive feedback is welcomed.

Geir
Oslo, Norway

Speaking of headstage, I just now again noticed something I've thought about the last few times I've listened through the LCD-2. (The last few times I have used a different setup than usual - normally I use computer->DPA Renaissance DAC->xcanV3 with PSU upgrade, but recently I have used an Arcam CD73->Nad C160 pre-amp.) At first, during the first songs, it struck me how the music was so all-in-the-head, either in the left ear, or the right, or just sitting there sadly in the middle of my head. But just a few songs in, headstage expands into an enchanting holographic experience (although not a huge one). That I notice it (like right now) doesn't ruin the experience. It sounds delicate and airy while still having that deep bass to anchor it.  (Although it might not matter at all, I should mention I am using the Norse audio 8 conductor cable with my LCD2.). Maybe it's my gear that needs warming up, but this particular setup doesnt involve any tubes. There is absolutely nothing muffled or closed-in about the sound as I hear it right now (listening to a mike oldfield record, "the essential").

OP, can you say more about what you dislike about them?  And what you like better about any other headphone?  "Muffled and closed in" is hardly enough to say anything but "they're probably not for you". 

If you like the HD800, you probably just like more treble to give you a sense of clarity and heightened detail. 

I wouldn't start messing around or spend more money on different amps or balancing as it is likely to bring minute differences. You just don't enjoy those cans and that just fine, no need to make a big deal out of it because many people seems to praise it so much. I had  the opportunity to listen to it and failed to grasp why so many people go on about it. It is a fine and  nice sounding headphone bit it did nothing to me. We all have different inclinations. A large number of people thinks Britney Spear is a great artist and many people around here believe the RE0 is a fantastic iem when it was propably the worst iem I ever listened.