[oqvist]

Anyone heard the LCD 2 on the violectric 100/200?

 

[monsieurguzel]

I own an HD800 and soon will have my own LCD-2 but from my extensive listening of both at home and at Canjam I wouldn't go so far as to saying that the LCD-2 blows everything out of the water...it doesn't.  I find it better than the HD800 in certain aspects such as tonality, detail retrieval, and just how realistic/convincing everything sounded on those headphones.  However, to me the HD800 really has a wonderful soundstage with great instrument separation, wonderful bass, and beautiful highs when properly amped.  At Canjam I tried the HD800 on the Luxman P1-U, Apex Peak/Volcano, and Apex Pinnacle and here are some of my impressions that I'll rehash from somewhere else:

I mainly focused on the HD800 since I'm very familiar with them and compared the headphones on the Luxman P1-U, Apex Peak+Volcano, Apex Pinacle ($10k amp). The was listening to Dire Straits 'On Every Street' CD which isn't that great of a CD but I was very familiar with it. I have a pair hooked up to a Woo 5 amp and I know how extremely finicky these headphones are and difficult to get to sound right. All mu

First of all, I wasn't a big fan of the Luxman P1-U and don't really understand why people keep raving about this amp with HD800s. To me added even more sterility to the HD800s and was overly bright to my ears (even with the HD800s being re cabled). Lows weren't anywhere near their potential on this amp and neither was there enough impact of notes to my ears.

Next up was the Apex Peak + Volcano (Hybrid tube amp) which will go for about $2k. The designer of the amp actually said he had never compared the standard wallwart vs. Volcano power supply which I find a little suspect but whatever, it should 'technically' be better

The amp isn't extremely attractive and doesn't have any balanced outputs, but boy did they make the HD800s sing! The sound was very effortless and transparent, providing a great window into the music. Bass was extremely satisfying and right away I started bobbing my head with sheer enjoyment of the music. The mids felt more prominent and satisfying than on the P1-U and the highs were way more tamed. Overall, a great amp pairing for HD800s.

Next up, the Appex Pinnacle (307A Tube amp), which was hooked to the same source as the Peak/Volcano and running HD800s balanced. In terms of build, once again not the nicest designed chassis but it felt very solid and well built. To me though it looked more like a $6k amp in the ranks of the Balancing Act or Woo 5 than something twice the price. In terms of sound, I was very familiar with the sonic signature of this amp since it was similar to the Peak next to it. I could tell they were built by the same designer and they the same effortlessness to the sound. To me the more expensive amp increased the detail level of the music and felt a little airier / more transparent sounding. Bass was a little bit tighter and mids sounded pretty similar to the Peak. It truly was a wonderful amp that could make the HD800s sing.
 
Moral of the story is that the HD800 on the Apex Pinnacle was probably the best sounding rig I heard at Canjam with the Apex Peak not too far off!  When you have good synergy with the amp/source, these headphones really excel and have it all to my ears!!

 

[achristilaw]

I've owned the 800 for a year and spent large finding synergy for the beast. It's (800) been kicked to the curb, the image is derived, contrived and is far from actual (IMO). It can be pleasant to be sure...but in side by side at home with self demo's...the Armour does more than chink...the Emperor has no clothes....again (IMO).
 
Not to belittle the new offerings from Apex and my friend Todd (TTVJ). But did you try the new Apex offerings with the Audez'e? That would be interesting....particularly the Peak with Volcano....  

 

[monsieurguzel]

Unfortunately I didn't try the LCD-2 at the TTVJ booth.  You could ask Alex at Audeze since I saw them walk in at one point and hook up their headphones to the Pinnacle for a good listen   At the show I actually had best synergy with the WA6 SE and LCD-2...it was def. a killer combo, especially for the combined price.
 
But otherwise, I think the Peak/Volcano combo was my favorite mid-priced amp at the show!  If I didn't already have a WA5, I'd probably go for this combo myself since it had such awesome synergy with the HD800s.

 

[TigzStudio]

Was the LCD-2 only demo'd as single ended?  No balanced setups to be found at Can Jam?

 

[lllee]

side note:  Met the owners at Can Jam this weekend - awesome guys.  

 

[AmanGeorge]

Quote:

 At the show I actually had best synergy with the WA6 SE and LCD-2...it was def. a killer combo, especially for the combined price.

 
Agreed, this combo sounded incredibly good, and probably has tons of room to sound even better given that the source was just an iPad running straight into the Woo.

 

[gomincha]

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

[monsieurguzel]

Yeah, even though I have a WA5 now, hearing the WA6 SE combo totally made me miss my old amp.  There's something about the WA6 SE that makes it truly a wonderful amp with a very holographic imagery and great dynamics!
 
Quote:

 
Agreed, this combo sounded incredibly good, and probably has tons of room to sound even better given that the source was just an iPad running straight into the Woo.

 

[dhan]

Anyone else try them with the WA6SE or care to speculate? The "not good with tubes" talk only applies to OTL?

 

[fkclo]

Quote:

how many of you are putting LCD-2's on credit cards?

I emailed Audeze via is contact form on the website a few days ago but then I receive no reply.  
 
So, even if I would like to buy one, I am not sure where is the best place to start.
 
F. Lo

 

[kwkarth]

Quote:

Anyone else try them with the WA6SE or care to speculate? The "not good with tubes" talk only applies to OTL?

Pretty much, yes.  The LCD-2s are a non reactive 50 ohm load which means that they're principally current driven devices which do not mate well with the typical OTL amp as the output impedance is quite high, relatively speaking.  OTL's (Output Transformer-less) amps typically do well with higher impedance cans (320 to 600) ohms.

 

[smeggy]

I'll be giving mine a good going over with the stacker II this weekend, should be a very good match if I'm not mistaken.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Quote:

A question for anyone with experience, is it worth buying the Audez'e LCD-2s for use only with the DNA Sonett? achristilaw mentioned earlier in the thread that the pair sounded good at low volumes, and I only ever listen at very low volumes. I can't justify buying another headphone amp at this point

I did not get to hear the LCD-2s on the Sonett, but I did bring up a set of Fostex T40RPs to hear the Neko DAC that was attached to the Sonett.  The Sonett struggled to drive the T40s, which are modded, but weren't hugely dampened.  I had to go to 8 on the volume to get a nice volume and some slam.  I think the LCD-2s will fair better, but I suspect you would be at the top of pot range in the 7-9 category except when trying to listen at low volume, then you be at least 4-6 range.  It certainly isn't a mediocre amp, but it just didn't do much for me.  With orthos it's just too polite, too reserved for my tastes. 
 
 
Plus, well, I'm not quite as spoiled as Sachu quantity wise, but I drank the Cavalli Audio wine a while ago.  I'm still drunk and going back for my third bottle soon. 

  So my comparisons and thoughts were based on the LCD-2s off the Liquid Fire.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Quote:

Was the LCD-2 only demo'd as single ended?  No balanced setups to be found at Can Jam?

I had issues with the fourth board of the Liquid Gold amp at CJ.  My balanced cable was terminated 4-pin XLR K1000 style.  Had there been a K1000 rig, then there would have been a way to run the LCD-2s balanced. 
 
I forget which model it was in the Woo room, but they had the LCD-2s on one of the higher end amps and a shared source.  They were in use when I was demo'ing the Energizer and never made it back in line to hear them again.