I have wanted to get into the listening experience of a great pair of headphones since my first encounter with true "hi-fi" [which mirrored John Atkinson's impressions in an article in Stereophile on the Audeze LCD-X, except that I got mine in 1967]:
"I well remember my first "real" headphones: a pair of Koss Pro4AAs that I bought back in 1970. The Kosses were relatively expensive, but, like headphones today, they allowed an audiophile with limited cash to get a taste of high-end sound that was not possible with a speaker-based system. I bought the Pro4AAs because I had become fascinated with how the images of the instruments and singers were strung along a line between my ears inside my head. It seemed so much more intimate—a more direct connection with the music—than playback through loudspeakers."
Since then, I have had various and sundry models like the Sennheiser HD414, the AKG K701, and the Stax Lambda Pro with the SRM-MK2 amplifier; however, they all left me wanting more, as it were. So instead I perused "the absolute surround sound" with the very first Lexicon CP-1, and sub sequentially all of their other versions, finally landing on the MC-12B EQ with a 7.2 system of very nice Italian speakers and American Subs and Amps. I am very happy with it [but not sure if my wife is].
In researching the latest headphones, custom in-ear monitors, and headphone amplifiers, I came across a link to the Charleston Cable Company as an Audeze dealer [in my home town, no less!]. Since I had never heard any of the new breed of headphones, I contacted Chris who was very accommodating with an in-home demonstration of Audeze, Hifiman, Resonessence [and of course his cables] for me and a co-worker who is very much into the 2-channel world.
I fell in love with the planar magnetic Audeze LCD-X [and have since gotten my own pair]; however, the key element in getting that "more pleasing sound" that I chase was his Audiophile Level UPOCC cables. With the stock cables, the sound was good; but with the C3 cables the sound was spectacular! The difference is not subtle. I have not tried any other of the various high-end headphone cables, and I am sure there are some very fine ones out there; however, Chris's cables are wonderful, hand-made with loving care, beautifully done and [since he is a young company] very reasonably priced for what you get [I got a 10 foot length balanced cable and a 1 foot 1/4" adapter cable]. I would urge anyone with our passion for beautiful, detailed, encompassing, emergent musical sounds to give Charleston Cable Company a try. I know that you will not be disappointed.