[koover]

New LCD2-C owner here. Never owned anything Audeze and I gotta say these weren’t what I was expecting. I like them a lot and not near as dark as I was thinking they’d be.
The sub bass hits hard but they’re missing the mid bass bump I was expecting even though I read they didn’t have that much in the first place. Their signature is right up my alley as I’d rather have a more kick back and musical sound then strictly detailed and audiophile grade where all you do is pick apart every little thing you hear.
Much more neutral and the treble isn’t so rolled off and warm as I thought too.
They just have a really nice relaxing signature that I like a lot.
I only have about 2 hours headtime so it’s way too early to have that much of an opinion until my brain burns in with this new sound.
Looking forward to some serious head-time and a TON of tube rolling.
So far so good!!

 

[omniweltall]

That's not really a fair question. HD6XX is 300ohm, LCD-2 is 70ohm. I didn't like my LCD-2 at all out of an OTL, but the HD6XX opens up slightly with an OTL and scales up with better amps. It's easier to get much better sound from and LCD-2 with less expensive amps but to get better sound from an HD6XX you need - in my opinion - fairly costly amps that negate its price advantage somewhat. YMMV of course.

Planars don't respond to output impedance the way dynamics do. But powerful amps have tight control over their drivers. Perhaps it is because your OTL doesn't have the kind of power planars love?

I agree it doesn't take tube amps or expensive amps to get planars (including LCD-2C) to sound good. Just give them adequate power, to my experience.

 

[betula]

Let's not forget that that the HD6xx costs less than $200 vs $800 for the Lcd2c...

Now my questioning is how do they each react to OTL tube amplification.

Just picked up an LCD2C for £509/$670 as part of a 'Father's day deal'.
I just missed that bass and smoothness (and look!). And I have a feeling with the music genres I like eventually I will prefer them to my Focal Clear from my Questyle CMA600i (both balanced of course).

 

[Eylrik]

Just picked up an LCD2C for £509/$670 as part of a 'Father's day deal'.
I just missed that bass and smoothness (and look!). And I have a feeling with the music genres I like eventually I will prefer them to my Focal Clear from my Questyle CMA600i (both balanced of course).

Nice move! I would tend to think the Clear and the Lcd2c are quite complementary.

 

[betula]

Nice move! I would tend to think the Clear and the Lcd2c are quite complementary.

They are. I just can't really justify to keep both.
I admire the resolution, refinement, clarity and dynamism of the Clear. Sometimes however I need a bit more bass, a more relaxed sound and a more gentle treble.
The 2C has less clarity and resolution in comparison, but it does sound more gentle with pretty much the perfect bass.
With my music genres and taste it is just a better overall match in everyday use.

 

[djj65]

I had to sell my HD800s for the same reasons. I love the Clear when I want music to be more alive, aggressive, and fun to listen to. I use the LCD2C when I want my music to be more laid back. I have 2 tube amps, 2 solid state, and all 4 drive both these headphones quite well. I have the La Figaro 339, the Little Dot MKVI+, and then the Massdrop x Liquid Cavalli and Cayin HA-2i as solid state amps. I feed all amps with the Astell&Kern AK300 with balanced outputs and the AK acts as my DAC. I have a lot of cash tied up with this setup, but after trial and error over 2 years, I am pretty happy with this configuration.

Now I need a good set of closed headphones. Sigh.....

 

[Eylrik]

I had to sell my HD800s for the same reasons. I love the Clear when I want music to be more alive, aggressive, and fun to listen to. I use the LCD2C when I want my music to be more laid back. I have 2 tube amps, 2 solid state, and all 4 drive both these headphones quite well. I have the La Figaro 339, the Little Dot MKVI+, and then the Massdrop x Liquid Cavalli and Cayin HA-2i as solid state amps. I feed all amps with the Astell&Kern AK300 with balanced outputs and the AK acts as my DAC. I have a lot of cash tied up with this setup, but after trial and error over 2 years, I am pretty happy with this configuration.

Now I need a good set of closed headphones. Sigh.....

Haha...well in that case:
- Fostex TH900 mk2 because...hey they sound glorious and they look gorgeous.
- Mrspeakers Ether C Flow because...hey they're planars and really closed.
- Fostex THX00 because...hey you've got enough headphones and you're on budget now.

 

[dsrk]

Thank you all for your feedback on HD650 vs LCD 2C.

I have pulled the trigger on LCDs and have been listening to them extensively.
You are spot on with LCDs not demanding a quality source, it sounds great even out my mobile phone where as HD650 never sounded better with portable source(X5 3 + A5). I have to admit that I don't have expensive gear to bring the best out of the 650s. Because I use portable source most of the time.
I agree that HD650s are comfortable and has an edge when it comes vocals but it's superiority ends there, everything else sound clearly better on LCD2C IMO.

I will post more impressions as I spend much more time with them. Right now it's all LCD2Cssssssssss.....!!!!!!!!

 

[omniweltall]

Just picked up an LCD2C for £509/$670 as part of a 'Father's day deal'.
I just missed that bass and smoothness (and look!). And I have a feeling with the music genres I like eventually I will prefer them to my Focal Clear from my Questyle CMA600i (both balanced of course).

I really do love its looks. I just keep looking and touching it. It's audio porn, I tell ya. It just feels usd800 worth of something in my hands.

 

[Venture Guy]

Now that you can get vegan pads for the LCD series from Dekoni, we now have a way to fix some of the 2Cs shortcomings. I have a pair mounted on mine. I can attest to the improvements plotted in this chart:

 

[omniweltall]

Now that you can get vegan pads for the LCD series from Dekoni, we now have a way to fix some of the 2Cs shortcomings. I have a pair mounted on mine. I can attest to the improvements plotted in this chart:

Are you talking about the Dekoni Velour? Will it, for certain, have the same effect with the above vegan pads?

Anyway, I ordered it a while ago just for fun. Wasn't expecting a flatish 1-3khz region as a result. This would be very interesting indeed, if it is true. FR looks more correct this way. I doubt we will notice much of the sub-bass drop-off below 30hz.

 

[Venture Guy]

Are you talking about the Dekoni Velour? Will it for certain have the same effect with the above vegan pads?

Anyway, I ordered it a while ago just for fun. Wasn't expecting a flatish 1-3khz region as a result. This would be very interesting indeed, if it is true. FR looks more correct this way. I doubt we will notice much of the sub-bass drop below 30hz.

Yes, Dekoni Velour. Same dimensions and material (micro fiber) as unobtanium Audeze Vegan pads. To my ears, FR is same as graph... much improved.

 

[omniweltall]

Yes, Dekoni Velour. Same dimensions and material (micro fiber) as unobtanium Audeze Vegan pads. To my ears, FR is same as graph... much improved.

Is it a hassle to change the pads back and forth? As it is glued on.

Would be very interesting to have both FR at our disposal.

 

[Venture Guy]

Is it a hassle to change the pads back and forth? As it is glued on.

Would be very interesting to have both FR at our disposal.

Easy to change... you'll need some double sided tape to change back

 

[TheMiddleSky]

Thank you all for your feedback on HD650 vs LCD 2C.

I agree that HD650s are comfortable and has an edge when it comes vocals but it's superiority ends there, everything else sound clearly better on LCD2C IMO.

I will post more impressions as I spend much more time with them. Right now it's all LCD2Cssssssssss.....!!!!!!!!

Agree on comfortable part.

However, I can not find any point where vocality in HD650 would beat LCD 2C. It doesn't matter how beautiful HD650's vocal, that plasticky resonance will always there.

Definitely you already made the right choice

I recently sold my HD800S to land on the two headphones you list above. Depending on my mood or selection of music, those are the two go to headphones for me.

I drive with one of three amps, the Massdrop x Cavalli, the Little Dot MKVI+ or the La Figaro 339.

What amps are you using to drive the Clear and LCD2C?

Sorry, somehow I just read your post now

I drive them all with Questyle cma600i