LeMat
100+ Head-Fier
I have the same Focal studio monitors connected to a Yggdrasil DAC - Pretty awesome combination IMO!
In fact, they are so good together that I've pretty much given up on headphone listening... (I know, I should be banished from these forums... Lol).
For volume attenuation I use the Emotiva Control Freak "Balanced" - passive volume control.
Same experience here ! Some problem with my B22 and the addition of those speakers took me away from the head-fi world for some time ! I had a crazy good setup before, Moon 600i & Dynaudio Focus, but when I found out about what studio monitors can do for a 5th of the price, I've sold my setup !
Anyway, it seems I can't stay away from this passion for too long ! This emotiva thing is really interesting !
Hey LeMat interesting thread. I feel it the same to get something adult final but not for cosmic price. I had LCD2 older version in past and I used it with unknown quality DAC out of his preamp and I have to say LCD2 sounded very nice universal with quality clear system, even I didn't think about buying separate amp for them because I was satisified. What I wanted say is I liked LCD2 a lot but definitely their potentiality is limited due to their character and in my opinion the most important for them is clear energetic system.
So I think better idea would be upgrade try more headphones at least LCDX which is more open, if you like Audeze like me..
If I had moneyI would look at Meitner MA1 demo peice which can be seen sometimes for much much nicer price or unknown GredAudio pDAC-2 which looks phenomenal for around 3000euro and many others as Crashem said..
Thanks ! Indeed I like the Audeze's sound. I've owned many cans, grado, HD800 but settled on the LCD2. I should try the higher-end model, especially the LCD-X that is constantly mentioned everywhere. I'm quite curious about the new HD800S. In balanced mode, they might have what was missing before, the slam and energy of the Audeze (or at least before they introduce the fazor). Otherwise I loved the comfort and soundstage of those.
Meitner... sure I bet it's really good but it almost fall in the esoteric hifi category ! I also love the design of the MSB analog DAC but I won't even consider it. Too $$
Bottom line, there seems to be a consensus on the Yggy here. Sure it's a bit big but it's not that much of a problem. I've read good things about the Auralic Vega. Anybody had a chance to compare those 2 ?
Regarding the amp, violectric products look really well built but I'm a bit concerned about their value. Are they really reference class products ? Since I'd prefer a balanced output, I'd need the V281. 2300$ looks steep. Worth it ?