OK, comin' back to life!!
Only one to keep?
Has to be my beloved LCD-XCs! That's for sure.
Like I mentioned earlier - and I'll try to make my feelings and impressions tighter guys - just have a head full of intel and lots of notes and pics to go through:
The EL-8s, both closed and open, presented a wholly new listening experience to me, compared to the LCD-series - which literally slammed the audible door shut on my transition to high end personal audio (from in-room high end two-channel).
The LCD-series are, for me, (when mated with the right associated gear) like hearing a grand pair of floorstanding loudspeakers - more precisely I always equated the LCDs (especially LCD-X or LCD-2&3 w/ Fazor) to running a pair of Maggie 3.6s and a dynamic subwoofer to pick up the sub-bass. For example, when rockin' my LCD-2s w/ Fazor or LCD-3s and my Cavalli LAu I usually think of Rm #2 (the small room) at Harry Pearsons home (my fave): It was rectangular, but the head of the room had three short walls like a half-octagon - you know, in Victorian homes - where the end of the room has two angled short walls and windows - and there are usually little benches built into that area? Hope I'm making some sense - or wish I could draw it - bottom line: The Maggies - when mated with a Nola Thunderbolt IIIA subwoofer, loaded that room in ways that sounded so immediate and dynamic it was like hearing a HUGE pair of headphones!! dB levels were realistic, the sheer sonic scale was larger than the room would EVER lead you to believe had you not heard it. It was enveloping. That's how I feel about my LCDs when things are running TIGHT! I need to steal a line from Producer/engineer Frank Filipetti -
I asked to have Audeze send Frank a pair of LCD-3s (now he uses LCD-X) a couple years ago - as Frank has worked on many award-winning productions, and he always hated headphones! But, I asked him to try the LCD-3s - and he called me and said: "These are not headphones at all, not to me, they're like head-speakers in that they remove the room from the equation and have given me a new frame of reference as there's nothing in the way." That encapsulates it for me on the LCD-series and I'm not sure if comparing the EL-8 to the LCDs is the way to go here - merely saying NOT sure yet...
The EL-8s (closed) sounded, immediately, to me, like my beloved HD 25-1 IIs with MASSIVE upgrades in detail, spaciousness, timbre, and especially transient attack and bass response/control. They were like the HD 25s on performance enhancing drugs.
The open 8s reminded me, at first, of my Audio-Technica ATH900X - mostly in their silky-open midrange and extended highs . After more time, they began to sound apart from the comparisons in my head. And here is the only area where I thought of my LCDs, during my first all-night listening session with the open EL-8 - I found myself listening to the music, digitally crate-diggin', and checking out music I hadn't listened to in months and years! Something was entirely fresh to me in this headphone. It felt like I was hearing these Sennheisers my dad had for the first time (650 or 700 - have to ask him) when I was young - but Everything was cleaner, more tactile, and more holographic - and I was wearing a comfortable set a cans that I felt like I could walk around with easily! Now that's a wholly new experience from the LCDs - to me.
Playing Thom Yorke's "A Brain in a Bottle" off
Tomorrow's Modern Boxes on the closed EL-8s (a new reference LP for me that I reviewed for PFO) - I noticed the difference in imaging speed within seconds compared to the 900X. These panning noises were wider and moving faster than any other pair of cans I could think of in my collection around this price or size! The sense of dimension was far bigger than I expected also - having just listened to the Deckard w/ my LCD-XCs and AK240 as source via Nordost iKable. THAT was somethin' special for LATER...
The EL-8s (closed), which I used with my AK240 first, and then w/ my AK240 + Lehmann Audio Traveler Amp - sounded so much faster and natural for me than anything I own that's similar to their design physically, other than the LCDs! With the 8s, Yorkes' vocals were life-like and the complex electronic back-drop had more space amongst the triggered sounds and other vocal samples. They sounded like (and maybe using the LCDs for comparison isn't so bad... Hmmmm) like a crash-collision of an LCD-X, HD 25-1 IIs, and shrunken XC.
and I grabbed my Alpha Primes today, along with my Audio-Technica ATH-900X, Grado 325is, Mad Dog Pros, and Perfect Sound d901 Dido.
None of the other cans captured and rendered Tori Amos' voice in "Wild Way" off
Unrepentant Geraldines with the finesse, air, nuance AND POWER of the EL-8s. The instrumentation was also more refined and detailed without a hint of fatigue.
I was drawn in - and I was completely comfortable! I'm not saying the LCDs are uncomfortable - but they feel so much bigger and heavier when you go back. I think not having those thick, angular pads contributes to the different bass response. I didn't think it was light at all - but light compared to the XC sure.
But the overall presentation pleased me with regard to imaging, timbre, and dimensionality. The bass and midrange were also full-bodied and textural without congestion.
Look - we ALL hear differently! But, right now, and I got SO much more listening to do - my headphone collection is going to shrink because of the EL-8s.
And I think they're well-worth 700 bucks! But, that's just me.
Off for more listening!
I think either EL-8 would be a grand sonic accompaniment for the AK100 II! - and thanks!
