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Looking to build a semi-portable rig around my lcd-2's

post #1 of 2
9/28/11 at 4:30pm
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So just having paid for a pair of used lcd-2's from a friend I need a dac/amp to go along with them....I want something I can easily move since these cans will be traveling to work/home a lot....after looking around I thought a good rig would be an ibasso d12 dac out to the sr-71b for the amping (I have considered ibasso's pb2/db2 already)....maybe you guys have some other good atlernatives

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post #2 of 2
9/28/11 at 6:45pm

poggly,

 

    I fear that you are in a genuinely terrible position, and the easiest way out might be to keep the LCD2 for home use. canadian411 posted this recently in the long-running 'Leaving Portable Hi-Fi - its too silly', and its a bucket of cold water over many folk's 'dream rig', IMO:

 

 

I kind of agree with OP, when I first purchased portable amp (SR71b) I was not impressed at all, and still not impressed. The sound improvement by investing $650 on SR71b, $200 on ALO LOD cable, $350 on balanced ALO cable not worth it at all. I don't live in US so shipping, duties + taxes just on upgrading the accessories is a price of an UltraEdition 8. (Yes I was sillier than silly ;)) Should have invested in another headphone instead of going with portable hifi. You are better off investing on non portable gadgets such as tube amps, dac, nice source etc. To get the most out of your portable rig, you need to listen in the quiet environment, that doesn't really work out in my case.
 
      canadian411 lists the LCD2 in his sig, and I assume he uses it with the SR71B. Its interesting because his comments go against reviews from folk like Skylab, who considered the LCD2+SR71B in balanced mode to be the pinnacle of his portable amp journey - and thats from someone who reviewed over a hundred portable amps ...
 
     If I can further mine other people's impressions, Mike at Headfonia has some particularly interesting things to say about balanced portables:
 
  1. The IEM amps are good for IEMs. The Mustang, the Shadow, the Pico Slim et cetera. They sound really good, and the Mustang actually has enough voltage for big headphones as well, but when it comes to overall power and impact of the bigger amps, they just fall short.
  2. The Balanced amps gives a higher power output than the single ended amps, and balanced drive tend to expand the soundstage width and increase bass, but in overall fidelity and refinement, they tend to fall short.
  3. The Slim amps were good, and sound signature/tonality issues aside, I would rank the slim amps, based on technicalities, as such (least to best): Headstage, TTVJ, ALO Rx.
  4. The Big amp group had the edge in sound quality, but were big and bulky to carry around. Among these, I found the RSA SR-71a to be the best one.

      I'm not proferring any of the above as the last word on the 71B, or any portable amp, and many here would disagree violently with many of Mike's observations, but it highlights the minefield into which you are about to set foot.  In value-for-money terms, I really think you are better off looking for a (mains-powered) desktop amp to drive your LCD2s to their full potential - alternatively, look for another pair of cans if you are hellbent on building a transportable rig. Its not a question of whether there are portables that will drive the Aud'eze, its whether $650 is better spent elsewhere. From a practicality POV, I wouldnt want to be carting those phones around when there are so many other options that will fold up and travel happily with you. 

 

 

 
 
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