rgs9200m
Headphoneus Supremus
- Joined
- May 15, 2006
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OK, thanks! Will do.
I like the HEK tonality a lot, along with the bass, but I personally don't hear a great deal of layering and image specificity. It's more blended to me. Very pleasantly blended, and refined though and I really like these phones.
Those were things I heard best in the Sony R10s I used to have for a few years and now hear very well in the LCD4.
As for the 009, superb detail, but again, not a lot of depth (but I just have a KGSShv mini, so this may be better on a BHSE, so I guess I should correct that part of my statement).
I actually do hear some depth and a sense of an open field on my LCD3, but not in the league of the LCD4.
So that is why I grouped the HEK, 009, and LCD3 together in terms of soundstaging. It's a gross grouping. They are NOT equivalent in this area and vary in the different aspects of spatial affects and thus have very different soundstaging signatures.
Soundstaging has many aspects as I see it, like imaging with air around each musical object, depth of field, and open-field sensation, and also how much it is comparable to speakers.
All of these phones handle all of these qualities differently, so just saying which is "better" in soundstaging overall is of course a gross generalization.
And percentages are also pretty non-sensical with all these things going on, but I just tossed all those doubts to the wind to try to answer the question.
I do not hear the the LCD4 as more intimate; I hear it as more open-sky sound. The HEK has a nice big resonant bass, but I do not hear that as open space.
But my instinct and sense of the LCD4 is I am hearing all sorts of surprising spatial cues and a pretty cavernous sound that really impresses me overall in this area more than the other phones I mentioned.
And again, what really got me is the way some sounds like strings or a vocal in the distance or a drum seems to come from a very specific place in a sphere of sound (or at least a large, open stage area) in
a way that very much reminded me of the Sony R10. And this was a key part of the R10 magic for me.
I may need more time with them to sort these impressions out, but all I can say is that I kept saying to myself that "wow this sound is over here a bit to the left and is close in" and "that sound is way over there up to the right" and on an on etc...
And I really enjoyed this and felt it made for some fun listening and I had a sense it was very realistic.
So that is why I jumped on this question.
And that's the way it is.
I'd say about 30% better than the HD800, or 40-50% better than HEK/LCD3/Stax009.
Thank you Jalo! I appreciate the kind comments.
Yep, the way an image stands out (or not) or is defined or has natural borders is one of the hardest things to get right in a headphone and I think is a key factor in making a phone sound natural.
That like I (sort of) said is what made the R10 special.
I feel the LCD4 has this strength.
And to Paul, I think the PS1Ke, HEK, and LCD4 are now the leaders in the quest for a speaker-like experience. They all do it differently, but to my ears the LCD4 is the best of the 3 for this.
(I know people feel the HD800 does this well, but I don't hear the large resonant bass foundation in these that I feel is needed for this effect.)
As for the 009, superb detail, but again, not a lot of depth (but I just have a KGSShv mini, so this may be better on a BHSE, so I guess I should correct that part of my statement).
I have seen almost every 007mk1/009 owner say that they can not pick a fav. on the BHSE. The 009 is very amp slutty, worse than even an Lcd-2. Barely noticed any difference going from just a 727ii all the way up to a full size mjolnir kgsshv. The 007mk1 scaled tremendously well though switching amps and along with the hd800 are the best amp scaling headphones ever made. The kgsshv Carbon is suppose to correct that with the 009 but I have not heard it yet.
Where the 009 blows away all other headphones is its ability to scale with source. As good as my Metrum Pavane is it is really just the starting point as far as source goes for the sr-009. Connect the 009 to say a $20k esoteric dac or $15k bardo tt setup like I listened to and the 009 firmly sits as the king. Where I dubbed the hd800/Teton drool worthy the 009/Bardo is even beyond that, mind bending is the best I can come up with.
While the 009 might be the king it takes allot (at least $10k well built source) for it to best headphones like the Lcd-x, hd800 and 007mk1.
It will be interesting to see how the lcd-4 sounds with a five figured source.
Where the 009 blows away all other headphones is its ability to scale with source. As good as my Metrum Pavane is it is really just the starting point as far as source goes for the sr-009. Connect the 009 to say a $20k esoteric dac or $15k bardo tt setup like I listened to and the 009 firmly sits as the king. Where I dubbed the hd800/Teton drool worthy the 009/Bardo is even beyond that, mind bending is the best I can come up with.
While the 009 might be the king it takes allot (at least $10k well built source) for it to best headphones like the Lcd-x, hd800 and 007mk1.
It will be interesting to see how the lcd-4 sounds with a five figured source.