Well just to share with you my impressions (those who have heard of this, can block there ears). I got myself a Marantz PM-32 integrated amplifier recently, 80's integrated amplifier using quality Japanese electrical components internally with bass/treble/balance control dial and a headphone out jack. I've owned the Violectrics, heard the Bursons, Phonitors etc. With the right adjustment to bass and treble this $60 amp pulls ahead of all the other alternatives I have tried. There is no reason to think lowly of vintage gear and automatically grouping them to be inferior to other more expensive "dedicated" head amps. Rob aka Skylab, an enthusiast reviewer on these boards prefers his vintage receivers and amps to dedicated headphone amps and he has a lot of experience with a lot of amplifiers. Sure vintage amp's look but ugly in some cases but don't be surprised when they smoke a $1000 headphone amplifier in terms of sound only.
That said if you want something newer, Violectric has a lot of good stuff you can look at, LD MK VI+ for tubes.
I know this a silly question but what would be the cheapest amp with acceptable sound for the LCD-2? or at least with a decent price for starters... Thanks
I've demoed iFi Audio iCAN amp with LCD-2 at my local headphone store and I'm quite happy with the sound.
On some music, I prefer listening with the Xbass on, while my wife prefers the sound with both Xbass and 3D on.
I have a Headroom Micro Amp that I bought for around $325. Shortly after I bought a $125 1977 Kenwood Receiver. There was no comparison. The Kenwood had it all over the HR for LCD2's.
My Kenwood is big and heavy, but if you can find a vintage amp with wood panels they actually look really nice with LCD's.
I know this a silly question but what would be the cheapest amp with acceptable sound for the LCD-2? or at least with a decent price for starters... Thanks
From what I've heard the O2 and Matrix M-Stage should both be just sufficient enough. The LCD-2s aren't that hard to drive, but those are the two budget amps that I come to think of that I've heard people paired with LCD-2.
From what I've heard the O2 and Matrix M-Stage should both be just sufficient enough. The LCD-2s aren't that hard to drive, but those are the two budget amps that I come to think of that I've heard people paired with LCD-2.
Regarding the comments on the vintage receivers for hp use...I used to be a skeptic, but not anymore. My old denon receiver, sitting in the attic for the past 15 years, put my doubts to rest.
Then recently at a meet I heard a Sansui that competed or sounded better than amps costing thousands.
^^ It would be worth checking out...nothing to loose (except that you may develop a hernia carrying that behemoth upstairs
). I have two Denon receivers. The output stage for headphones is pretty bad on the newer one and nearly brilliant on the older. The vintage receivers often developed the headphone jack to drive orthodynamic hp's. This is where the beauty for modern hp's comes in.
^^ It would be worth checking out...nothing to loose (except that you may develop a hernia carrying that behemoth upstairs
). I have two Denon receivers. The output stage for headphones is pretty bad on the newer one and nearly brilliant on the older. The vintage receivers often developed the headphone jack to drive orthodynamic hp's. This is where the beauty for modern hp's comes in.
That bad boy weigh's 62 lb's! I'll have to unbox it and play with it one of these weekends. I set it aside once HDMI took hold. The amps were 170 w/CH into 8ohms and were very nice.
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