I use Shures instead of Sennheisers as my mid-fi pair, for the closed back bass. Their sound stage is comparable to that of the Clears, at a much lower price point. The level of detail available with Focals makes them all worth what they cost, to me (though I didn't want to spend as much as what the Utopias cost). I will be looking for a warmer pair soon as well to supplement them (because, after all, why should any metal driver not sound cold?). The Audezes I found all had wider sound stages, but those have their own set of issues (like the LCD-X being heavy enough to give me back problems). The E 2 will highlight that problem, all the more.
Abyss had clearly set out to make the world's best headphone, with that model you have.
It would be nice if there was a one size fits all headphone that works well with every piece of music, but as long as there are dark recordings and shouty recording, and brassy recordings, I will continue to prefer owning more than one pair. If only HiFiMan would improve their reliability.
