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May I ask whether or not you like HE500 to start with? The definition of "thick, syrupy sound of the bass and lower mids" may vary among people. I guess LCD-2s are too "thick, syrupy" for your taste, even more so? An amp may not change the sound of a headphone that much.
 
You might be able to find a "cold" amp to neutralize the bass and lower mids, but then you may not like that "cold" amp with other cans like MD5000s. Beta 22 is neutral to me, as opposed to cold.
 
You may have to compare some amps extensively with ALL of your cans to make a decision. 

 
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Yes... no doubt the B22, or V200, would help... but... I don't know if they would help enough, and I don't have the patience to wait and try those. 
 
They would have to eliminate the thick, syrupy sound of the bass and lower mids... and... I'm skeptical that they might do that. 
 
 

 
 

 

[Gradofan2]

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May I ask whether or not you like HE500 to start with? The definition of "thick, syrupy sound of the bass and lower mids" may vary among people. I guess LCD-2s are too "thick, syrupy" for your taste, even more so? An amp may not change the sound of a headphone that much.
 
You might be able to find a "cold" amp to neutralize the bass and lower mids, but then you may not like that "cold" amp with other cans like MD5000s. Beta 22 is neutral to me, as opposed to cold.
 
You may have to compare some amps extensively with ALL of your cans to make a decision. 
 

I thought I did... though... I found them no better than my other phones. 
 
Over the past 2-3 weeks, though, their "over-ripe" bass and lower mids began to wear on me... to the point... that I tended to focus on it, and compare their sound to my other phones, which I find much faster, clearer, and more resolved in the bass and lower mids.  The upper mids and highs were about the same, though, maybe a little smoother in the HE500's.  And... the HE-500's have superb soundstage and imaging / localization.
 
So... yes and no. 
 
I kept experimenting with them... but... gradually realized my other phones sound just as good (at half the price).  Then I read the Headphonia review, and realized I wasn't the only one that thought so.  As a result, I grew increasingly skeptical that the HE500's "were all they were reported to be," or would become. 
 
I'm just not willing to make the compromise with $1,000 phones, and I don't have the patience to keep experimenting.