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What are your impressions and comparisons?
I only had about half or so before I had to get a tram ride back to Swin for my next lab. But here are some impressions in a nut shell (not in detail)
(Note: I only auditioned the V200 because I currently own a V100 (on loan to a friend) and had to give the V200 a listen to see if it's that much of a justifiable upgrade over the V100). I also asked about whether or not the V200 is suitable for opamp rolling as it accomodates the OPAMP2134 or something by stock default, the rep (need to grab his name sometime I visit again) said that few have experimented with rolling better opamp's, some have reported that there is a slight sound quality change for the better, but the rep said, in the end, unit's opened up and modded voids the warranty and the Violectric guys at Germany won't like it as other damage caused such as DC offset by opamp rolling can come into play etc etc.
So Setup 1 I chose all the part's to mimic what I have at home:
Violectric V200 > HD800 using what looks like a 8 strand braid (4 ground, 4(2) for channels) ALO custom cable's > Some custom Red RCA to 3.5mm jack > source is my laptop as I came unprepared
No gain settings (gain for both channels on neutral), volume at recommended 12 o'Clock
Ok first thing is first and from experience, the V200 (like my V100) just sound "ok" with the HD800's but there was a bit rumble to the low-end whilst playing some electronic music and ambient music, this low-end rumble isn't what I call sub-bass but it's hard to describe as I only had about 2 songs playing. I asked for the LCD2's next which is what I prefer my Violectric's for and pairs extremely well with.
Swapped the HD800's for LCD2 rev.2's using the stock cable (the non Canare one). Unfortunately I couldn't get a good seal with the right side due to the hinges being a bit busted so I had to have one hand pushing the cup inwards my ear's to get a decent seal.
With the LCD2's, the difference is a bit more then say 10%(slightly better mid's, presentation retains the same, no change to soundstage, treble sounds "oh-my-god") for about 30% of the price increase from the V100 to the V200. Playing the same songs (all FLAC) gave me a few moments of which I don't remember hearing from my V100's > my LCD2 rev.1 before. The LCD2's showed there is a slightly noticable gap between the sound quality of the V100 and V200's, the latter having a slight edge over the V100. The Violectric range is still what I recommend for LCD2 owner's, I haven't heard the LCD3 yet so I cannot recommend them.
Few other things to clear up with people's mind's, by default V200's don't come with the DAC module board, you can buy them separately (about $180) and the V100 and V181 is the same except the V181 has a 4 pin balanced XLR output for balanced can's.
Final verdict:
Will I be getting the V200's? I told the rep I will be back soon with my own gear prepared for an onslaught battle between my soon-to-be-modded V100's and the V200's, so possibly yes I might get them. At this stage I'm unsure as I've spent quarter of my wallet savings on some Piccolino wire today, so the V200 is forseeable as being on my to buy list for the moment.
Final note 2 myself:
Thank god I bought the LCD2 rev.1's and not the rev.2's. My LCD2 rev.1's were one of the last few rev.1 production models before the rev.2 came out, the difference between the rev.1 and rev.2 in my ear is, rev.1 slightly darker (blind testing will show no difference between the two types of signatures), rev.1 has slightly bit more bass presence, rev.2 is all about the treble, slightly more neutral and smooth at the end's but no more then 5-8% difference between the two for the treble. Once I get my V100 back from my chick mate, I will be playing around with the gain settings for each channel and most likely opamp rolling, modding it as the usual thing I do
P.S. The cables used with the HD800 during the audition process is quite expensive:
http://www.addictedtoaudio.com.au/ALO-Audio-CHS1872SP-Sennheiser-HD800-Headphone-Cable-6ft
