[ken6217]

The V281 has more than enough power to drive to drive them. It is also an excellent amp. Period.

 

[jlbrach]

the moon 430 is quite good with the LCD-4

 

[Hifi59]

Hi all

I scored a second hand LCD-4... in the middle of that aching delivery time right now.

Is my Auralic Taurus Mk2 powerfull enough to drive it to full audio bliss? Does anybody have experience with it?

What amps are the best for the LCD-4? I hear it's rather power hungry...
(Where has that damn search thread button gone?)

Do you think V281 would be better? (I might be able to buy one for a reasonable price, then hope my Taurus nets enough money to afford it next to that LCD-4 gap in my wallet...)

Thanks for the help

Your Taurus should be just fine with the lcd-4.

 

[EndGameSearch]

I just received an upgraded Milo from Wells Audio and am really enjoying it with the LCD4. It's a great sounding amp and beautifully made. I'm early in the burn in process and it's already very impressive. I was using a Woo WA22 prior to the Wells and will continue using both. I did a lot of research prior to purchasing the Milo and was close to pulling the trigger on various options. Wells was not even on my radar until recently but I'm glad I was turned on to them.

 

[johnzz4]

I just received an upgraded Milo from Wells Audio and am really enjoying it with the LCD4. It's a great sounding amp and beautifully made. I'm early in the burn in process and it's already very impressive. I was using a Woo WA22 prior to the Wells and will continue using both. I did a lot of research prior to purchasing the Milo and was close to pulling the trigger on various options. Wells was not even on my radar until recently but I'm glad I was turned on to them.

Did you upgrade to the Milo Reference? I sent mine in last week and can't wait to hear it.

 

[EndGameSearch]

I wish. I did the upgrade that includes "custom Khozmo stepped attenuator (with a unique more aggressive logarithmic taper that allows for less gain at the beginning) and Vishay “naked z foil” resistors on the Khozmo)"......

I would love to hear what you think of the reference upgrade when you get it, on this thread or please PM separately. I was tempted but went with the lower price option to start with.

 

[johnzz4]

I wish. I did the upgrade that includes "custom Khozmo stepped attenuator (with a unique more aggressive logarithmic taper that allows for less gain at the beginning) and Vishay “naked z foil” resistors on the Khozmo)"......

I would love to hear what you think of the reference upgrade when you get it, on this thread or please PM separately. I was tempted but went with the lower price option to start with.

I will definitely post my findings.. more likely on the Milo thread. I got #3, so I'm curious when we'll hear from 1 and 2..

 

[moopster]

What amps are the best for the LCD-4? I hear it's rather power hungry...

I'd like to recommend the Schiit Jotunheim balanced, 1.3 watts/channel into the LCD-4 with transparent punchy sound.

 

[mlxx]

I have been doing a lot of testing trying to find the right amp, I am finding the LCD4 is a bit picky, it was a lot easier with the LCD3.
Everything I try seems to sound completely different. With SS amps so far, the best I have heard is the 430HA and the GSXmk2.
When I compare them against each other (with the yggy dac), the 430HA sounds a bit too smooth and the GSXmk2 sounds a bit too edgy in the treble.
I think I prefer the 430HA but would need further listening. I listened to the GSXmk2 first and it didn't seem edgy but it did after the 430HA.

Has anyone compared the Wells Milo directly against the 430HA or GSXmk2 with the LCD4?

On a side note, I had a play with the Susvara on the 430HA and to my surprise it needed about the same amount of volume as the LCD4 did.
In the 60's on the 430HA display. Not sure if it was the amp or the Susvara but it didn't sound very good at all.
It sounded bright and way way too smooth, like a mono tone of treble. Hard to hear much bass or depth in soundstage or any texture, very weird.
The same amp sounded great with the LCD4. It looked and felt cheap too, only thing it had going for it was that it was light as a feather.

 

[ken6217]

It depends on what type of sound you want. The GX2 and 430HA are different ends of the spectrum. The GX2 is bright and the 430HA is warm. I like warm but the 430HA is boring to me.

You should also consider the Violectric V281. It is excellent. A lot of power and a smooth sound. You might even be able to get a trial basis with one.

 

[erik701]

Moon 430HA is one of the best choices for LCD-4 headphones. You can change overall tonality by aftermarket cable for LCD-4, or by DAC.

 

[ken6217]

Moon 430HA is one of the best choices for LCD-4 headphones. You can change overall tonality by aftermarket cable for LCD-4, or by DAC.

So, buy an amp, then buy another cable or DAC to make that amp sound the way you want? I guess you could just buy the right amp from the start. That's a colossal waste of money.

There are a lot of good choices but unfortunately you can only get guidelines here. You need to listen to an amp to know if you truly like it.

 

[erik701]

So, buy an amp, then buy another cable or DAC to make that amp sound the way you want? I guess you could just buy the right amp from the start. That's a colossal waste of money.

How do you say the best choice for the LCD? THERE IS NO BEST CHOICE. The best amp is the one that sounds good to the person listening to it.

430HA is very universal. It has 4Pin balanced output, as well as 2x3Pin along with unbalanced 6,3mm output on the front panel. Moon has one of the best volume controls across all amps on the market. It's their own patented technology. I don't have to mention power of 430HA, remote control included in box, not as additional option for additional money. So overall, let me repeat myself, Moon 430 is one of the best choices for LCD-4 owner.

These days we have many well built amps on the market, but just few of them can compete with 430HA as complex product under $5k, when you consider all features, build quality, power and everything. Anyway, if you would choose any amp, you can tune it's sound signature by cabling and get the most of this amp and your headphones.

Peace

 

[Whazzzup]

What gsx is doing is putting your upstream dac and source under the looking glass. Wire and gain true dual mono block type balanced topography. It steps out of the way which is high praise indeed. I have not heard 430

 

[ubs28]

Yes I have the Questyle Gold Stack against Dave into LCD 4.

The Gold stack you need interconnects ( added cost ) I used Chord Sarum T and with both rigs used Chord Music USB cable.

Both fed via laptop ( on battery ) did not do either them justice, so gave up and went with the Torus Power Supply and Melco N1Z.

I tried Dave with the preamp and two mono-blocks and then with the mono-blocks.

But in the end head to head the Questyle edged out, Dave very transparent, Questyle had something magical which I preferred when testing, close call either way.

In my testing found the synergy of the stack must be used together for the Questyle DAC to perform at its best.

If your interested I will post up more detail but I can only reiterate power supply and high end server ( not connected to a network as it injects noise into the server ) if you must connect to a router use it with a Torus or similar off your network.

I have tested HiFiMAN Shangri-La and Sennheiser HE 1, the Questyle or Dave rig I descried above with LCD4 are in the same ball park IMO.

The Questyle gold stack sounded very nice indeed when I tried them. But it is also very expensive

But one problem I have with Questyle, is that their gear is tuned for the balanced output. I heard that with their lower end models that the balanced output was superior than the single ended output. So basically you have to replace all cables with balanced cables if you want to get the most out of it.