[MayaTlab]

Quote:

The Mini-Torii can be tube rolled almost Infinitely. It will always be slightly warm, but you can tailor the sound to a pretty wide degree, wince you can roll in a huge variety of power tubes and a pretty big variety of driver tubes too.

Thanks for the answer. Did you find the Decware roughly equivalent to the Apex Peak regarding technical abilities ? From reading your posts about them It seems your slight preference for the Decware is more related to its slightly more organic sound signature than technical abilities (such as better details).
 
Anyway thank you all for your answers. I now have a clearer picture of where I'm heading to and can start auditionning a few key items.
 

 

[Skylab]

I slightly preferred the Mini-Torii with the LCD-2 for that reason, yes. However, the P/V is much more versatile as a headphone amp. The MT is really for planars and orthos only - works best by far with low impedance and low sensitivity headphones. But it is also dynamite with small high-sensitivity speakers

 

[zzffnn]

MayaTlab,
 
My quick suggestion to you is Audio-gd NFB-10ES. It is a very good dac/amp combo with Sabre 32 dac chip, balanced and SE headphone output, all under $1000 shipped. If you do not want to deal with DIY, offerings from Audio-gd is hard to beat in terms of value, especially for your budget.
 
I have HM-801 and Gamma2 Dac feeding Beta 22 to LCD-2s. I slightly prefer Gamma2 over HM-801. I do not feel LCD-2s lacking treble or details with Gamm2 and Beta 22. If I were to spend your money, I would skip the $200 cable upgrade and get a DIY Twisted Pear Buffalo 2 dac along with a Beta 22, from some reputable builders here at Headfi.
 
That said, I agree with n3rdling on page 206. If you listen strictly to classical music, HE-6 or HE-500 may work better. Maybe consider Beyer T1 also. My previous  Beyer T1 with a balanced DIY Bijou tube amp combo provides bigger soundstage and overall a similar sound, which may work better with classical music than LCD-2s / Beta 22.

 

[MayaTlab]

Quote:

MayaTlab,
 
My quick suggestion to you is Audio-gd NFB-10ES. It is a very good dac/amp combo with Sabre 32 dac chip, balanced and SE headphone output, all under $1000 shipped. If you do not want to deal with DIY, offerings from Audio-gd is hard to beat in terms of value, especially for your budget.
 
I have HM-801 and Gamma2 Dac feeding Beta 22 to LCD-2s. I slightly prefer Gamma2 over HM-801. I do not feel LCD-2s lacking treble or details with Gamm2 and Beta 22. If I were to spend your money, I would skip the $200 cable upgrade and get a DIY Twisted Pear Buffalo 2 dac along with a Beta 22, from some reputable builders here at Headfi.
 
That said, I agree with n3rdling on page 206. If you listen strictly to classical music, HE-6 or HE-500 may work better. Maybe consider Beyer T1 also. My previous  Beyer T1 with a balanced DIY Bijou tube amp combo provides bigger soundstage and overall a similar sound, which may work better with classical music than LCD-2s / Beta 22.

Thank you. I don't listen strictly to classical, but to all kinds of genres. That's why I'm trying to balance the entire system. I know (I tried them) that, for example, a Stax 507 + amp would be great with classical, so, if I were to go follow this route, I'd try to make the system as pleasant as possible with, let's say, rock n roll. I'm just trying to consider what my options are to do the reverse with the LCD-2 , listen to as many of those options possible, and then choose. I'm also considering the Hifiman options and the T1. Not the HD 800 as I'm pretty sure getting them to do badly recorded music from the 70s sound anywhere near decent would be close to impossible within my budget. Currently the 507 + WA GES is my first contender (for the only reason that I tried them for several hours on different setups and I know I can make them sound OK with rock or other genres), and the LCD-2 a close second. The HE-6 might come into play, but I'll wait for more information on the EF6 to start inquiring about it. 
I know the HM 801 isn't the last word in DAC technicalities, but as I said, I'll upgrade it last as I feel it would require something around $1000 to give justice to the kind of system I'm considering and to constitute a clear and undisputable improvement over the HM 801. That's a little too costly right now, and I know the HM 801 will be a great temporary solution (I actually pitted it with the Stax 507 against a 1000 euros CD player, and, although it was behind in technicalities, it actually had a much more pleasant sound signature).
 
It seems however that I'm likely to go over 1500 euros and probably hit 2000 euros to get where I want to get.
 

 

[sphinxvc]

Quote:

Sound-staging is certainly the LCD2's primary weakness for me... imaging-wise, it's superb but classical symphony needs an airier presentation to truly shine for me as otherwise you're gonna miss the illusion of grandeur. Soundstage is smaller than ideal with the LCD2.
 

 
Good way to put it, I agree.  Relevant as far as the original's go, but of course, the Rev. 2 may be different.
 

 

[tme110]

Quote:

MayaTlab,
 
My quick suggestion to you is Audio-gd NFB-10ES. It is a very good dac/amp combo with Sabre 32 dac chip, balanced and SE headphone output, all under $1000 shipped. If you do not want to deal with DIY, offerings from Audio-gd is hard to beat in terms of value, especially for your budget.
 

I personally think the NFB-10 is the best deal in headfi today.  I think the NFB-1 was the first fully balanced DAC for <$1000 then the -10 came out with gobs of power, balanced amp and DAC for <$1000.  Of course, it does not have the way over-the top engineering that the NFB-1 DAC and pheonix amp would have but it's also over $1300 cheaper.

 

[fasterthanafish]

audio gd Phoenix?

 

[Loevhagen]

From RWA´s home page: "Designed and voiced using Audez’e headphones and ALO Audio’s new 4-Pin Balanced Audez’e Cable".
 
I wonder how this translates now with the rev. 2 drivers in the LCD-2s. Did they "voice" it with the rev. 2 you think?
 

 

[pp312]

Quote:

Then I rolled in another tube, and all was well in my world again,

 
 

Yes, a lot of people do that. Most get arrested sooner or later.

 
 

 

[ptrok]

A bit confused with the comments about the LCD-2 having imaging limitations. I feel the imaging is right on point, sounds come from where they need to come from at the appropriate sound level. Granted the soundstaging isn't as broad as some other cans I have listened to. You're definitely not going to feel like you're in a concert hall with it but it does the imaging just as it should IMHO. If you guys were talking about making a artificially large soundstage, then I would definitely agree with you.

 

[khaos974]

Yes, a lot of people do that. Most get arrested sooner or later.

 
 

Depends on the country

 

[tme110]

yep
Quote:

audio gd Phoenix?

 

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

 
I think it's important to remember though that recordings are generally made with the microphones quite close in studios or relatively small halls, and thus don't have the "grandeur", as you put it, of large concert halls. I wonder if the LCD-2 is just more honest than some other phones.

Yes, this is the case.  I'm not saying this to "defend" the LCD-2  in any way, it just happens to be the fact.
 
 

 

[WarriorAnt]

Quote:

A bit confused with the comments about the LCD-2 having imaging limitations. I feel the imaging is right on point, sounds come from where they need to come from at the appropriate sound level. Granted the soundstaging isn't as broad as some other cans I have listened to. You're definitely not going to feel like you're in a concert hall with it but it does the imaging just as it should IMHO. If you guys were talking about making a artificially large soundstage, then I would definitely agree with you.

Well the imaging is even better now with the r.2 and the soundstage is much improved. It falls away more naturally at the edges than before.

 

[pp312]

I'm with ptrok: I think the imaging is just fine (and natural) as it is. As for the soundstage falling away at the edges, I don't understand that at all, so it's probably never going to bother me. Obviously different listeners are sensitive to different things. My particular sensitivity is listening fatigue of any kind, and the LCD-2 avoids that in every area except perhaps comfort.