Audeze confirms that I have the 2015 version on their support. They also confirm there is a sound improvement in the 2016 version of LCD3.
And that is upsetting me. paying full price for a product that at the time already was old generation and the new one been shipped for 4 months at the time of purchase.
Just there I lost value of my cans. believing it was the latest version.
If you ask me, this is a scandal. not letting consumers knowing that there is a better version of the same product!
It definetely breaks the Norwegian consumer laws, and I do believe it breaks the US consumer and marketing laws too.
Better is subjective. I can agree with everyone else here that it would be less confusing if they used an obvious identifier for any modifications or upgrades that occur during a product's lifetime. It is a more transparent way of running a business and informing potential customers.
However, I think you are overreacting. You did not lose the value of your headphones. Well, that's not exactly true, the fact that you purchased a new set of headphones (similarly, if you purchase a brand new car and drive it off the dealership lot) means that its resale value has been affected and has depreciated.
Do you enjoy the LCD-3 that you own? Does it sound the way you imagined it would when you purchased it? Then that's all that matters.
Once again, better is subjective. Many users prefer the sound of the non-fazor LCD-2.1 and 2.2 as well as the LCD-3 to the updated LCD-2F and LCD-3F. I would personally prefer to have the coloration of the LCD-XC to make it stand apart from the LCD-X that I own. If they were both indistinguishable from one another, then I've made a redundant purchase.
Also, you don't know if those differences will be apparent. If they respond to you and say that they'd charge you $250 to replace your 2015 drivers with 2016 drivers and you take them up on their offer only to realize that you can't pinpoint the exact change, is it worth the $250? Well, you have the peace of mind that you own an early 2016 Audeze LCD-3, but what happens when the mid-2016 Audeze LCD-3 comes out? What happens when the rose gold Audeze LCD-3 comes out?
Again, I get your point, and I understand your frustrations. I think there should be a reasonable response.
If Audeze were to post a fact sheet to their website that included a detailed list of changes of all revisions to all models that would be helpful. If they then provided an upgrade service for customers who purchased new headphones directly from their website or an authorized dealer that would be ideal. You could have price brackets for different upgrades (such as upgrading the stainless steel connector of the original LCD-X and LCD-XC to the black powder coated version) and can then determine if it would be worth the money. However, I imagine this isn't feasible and would cause many headaches as well as production delays.