[El_Doug]

I only had the HE6 for a week as part of the loner program - and from what I have been told, the prototypes sound a bit different from the production model. 
 
I will admit to having initially been skeptical of the HE6.  I thought using gold was gimmicky, and that there was no way it would conduct as well as the silver in the HE5.  I was extremely stunned and impressed when it turned out that the HE6 sound leagues better than the HE5.  They have an absolutely wonderful body, great range (especially upwards), and speed once they are given enough juice out of a proper power amplifier (i used a marantz reference integrated).  When compared with the LCD-2, I feel HE6 give the sound a bit more of an artificial texture, though this is a small price to pay for their very impressive soundstage.  I'd need to listen to the HE6 more before I made any other comments. 
 
Quote:

 
Doug, you've taken a rather unusual position here and i appreciate your sharing and then further clarifying your statement. one can you did not address in your follow up post is the most obvious competitor to the lcd2, the he6. would you please give your thoughts to it's pros and cons and how you feel it compares to the lcds. thanks.
 

 

[Frank I]

I will confirm Doug they are two different headphones the prototype was no way as good as the production HE6. In my setup the hE6 is as good as it gets. The sound signature id different in the LCD2 being richer more smooth in sound. The biggest advantage with the HE6 is it soundstage where every instrument and performer is in it own space with space and air. I hear very realistic music playing out of the HE6. I own both and by far the two are better than anything else I have heard and they are both specials. What Ia appreciate is they are both different and thus a pleasure to own both. i was very critical of not liking the prototype and my review reflected such. This HE6 I find nothing to dislike and love it for all it does well,My amp ans preamp is perfect in my system to really enjoy both headphones. With the proper equipment to drive the HE6 it will satisfy any music lover.

 

[tvrboy]

I liked both of the orthos enough to buy them, and they are both amazing considering their price. In my mind the high end electrostats are better, and that's what I would build $10,000 system around. But the HiFiMAN and Aude'ze will smoke any dynamic out there and can be powered cheaply by a speaker amp or something like a Schitt Lyr. That's a big advantage as opposed to learning how to build a T2 or paying upwards of $5000 for an electrostatic amp.

 

[daveDerek]

Aaron, how do you think the lcd2 & he6 compare with your stax 507s?

 

[tvrboy]

Quote:

Aaron, how do you think the lcd2 & he6 compare with your stax 507s?

Whew... good question. I actually wrote a long post about that, but some of my opinions have changed since then. I feel the 507 is the most well-rounded headphone. It has no weaknesses and does everything very well. There is nothing objectionable about the sound. Bass is clean and realistic, the tonality is natural, soundstage great, and of course the transient speed is unmatched. To sum up my opinion about the LCD-2, it does many things well, but the tonality is slightly unnatural. Compared to headphones like the HD-800, HE-5, and HE-6, the LCD-2's tonality is a bit lacking. Also, it has a slight reverb effect, although this is only noticable with some times of music. The bass is incredible, but just a touch too prominent to be realistic. I do enjoy the lush sound signature, but it lacks some things. The HE-6 has the most natural tonality I've heard in a headphone. It's well balanced across the spectrum as well. Soundstaging from the HE-6 is...different. You seem to be in right in the middle of the instruments. Whether this is good or bad is a matter of taste. Personally, I love the transient speed of electrostats, and I feel the 507 is perfectly balanced, so it's my favorite. Detail retrieval on any of these three is top notch. I would recommend a good source and good recordings if you are gonna listen to this level of headphones. But I'm sure you already knew that! I would easily pick any of these three over any dynamic headphone ever made (except Qualia, because I haven't heard that).

 

[lyramax]

For the types of music I listen to most often (acoustic, vocal jazz) I prefer the 507 to the LCD-2 by a significant margin, say 10 to 8.5 on a scale of 10.  In particular, the resolution and the natural timbre of the string instruments rendered by the 507 is simply breathtaking.  For other types of music such as rock, my preference for the 507 is much slighter.

 

[MrGreen]

Quote:

For the types of music I listen to most often (acoustic, vocal jazz) I prefer the 507 to the LCD-2 by a significant margin, say 10 to 8.5 on a scale of 10.  In particular, the resolution and the natural timbre of the string instruments rendered by the 507 is simply breathtaking.  For other types of music such as rock, my preference for the 507 is much slighter.

That's interesting. Could you perhaps elaborate on the difference between string timbre on the LCD-2 and the Lambdas?
 
 
I have a different pair of lambdas (signature), and thought during my brief exposure to the LCD-2 they both did strings quite well, although I felt the stax had better separation of sections (particularly violins 1 and 2, as well as viola 1 and violin 2). I also felt that the timbre through the LCD-2 was somewhat heavy, or it made the instruments sound "larger" than they actually were.
 
As my 2C, I think the difference between the lambdas I own and LCD-2 is smaller on things like quartet and chamber music than it is on say a full orchestral work. I think the genre the LCD-2 did worst was Ambient/Psybient/Goa. I think the LCD-2 did very well with top40 kind of stuff with electronic bass with distortion - better than the lambda.

 

[DavidMahler]

I can't seem to get comfortable with the 507.  Something about the Lambda's irritates the outer right ear in the back for me.  It's driving me crazy because I really like the sound.

 

[tvrboy]

Quote:

I can't seem to get comfortable with the 507.  Something about the Lambda's irritates the outer right ear in the back for me.  It's driving me crazy because I really like the sound.

Psychosomatic? Lambda ear cups are huge. I can't see them irritating part of your ear, as they fit very widely around mine. Maybe you just have an inner resistance to the awesomeness of STAX.

 

[Gradofan2]

What are you driving your 507's with to achieve that level of sound quality?
 
I'm driving them with the 007t II and they do sound good... but... I think my AD2000's with my WA6 SEm sound just as good - which is great.

 

[DavidMahler]

Quote:

Psychosomatic? Lambda ear cups are huge. I can't see them irritating part of your ear, as they fit very widely around mine. Maybe you just have an inner resistance to the awesomeness of STAX.

It's definitely not psychosomatic.  These headphones irritate my right ear more than any other circumaural headphone.  I do prefer the sound quality I think over the Omega 2 so it's really a shame.  
 
 

 

[crumpler]

Quote:

It's definitely not psychosomatic.  These headphones irritate my right ear more than any other circumaural headphone.  I do prefer the sound quality I think over the Omega 2 so it's really a shame.  
 
 

I'ld have to agree with you about the comfort of the 507s. I do have pretty huge protruding ears and trying to fit them into the relatively small cups of my Z1000s can be quite an adventure sometimes. With the 507s however, my ears are definitely brushing/resting against the drivers and it does get uncomfortable after a while, just like the Z1000s.
 
The most comfy headphones to me are the HD800s, especially for jumbo ears like mine.
 

 

[ardgedee]

I've never tried Stax, but I have circumaurals that irritate my ears nonetheless; some of them have very large pads.
 
The problem is usually either because the pads rest uncomfortably on the backs of my outer ears, or the surface between the driver and my ears touches the outer ridges of my ears and feels hot and uncomfortable. I don't know if there's anything to do but chalk it up to the design being incompatible with my physiognomy.

 

[jamato8]

Try the Ed. 9. I never used to notice too much but now it is like I have to fold my ears up to get them in. Not too comfortable and they didn't think it out very well at all unless they were using elves to test them out. 

 

[dallan]

Quote:

To sum up my opinion about the LCD-2, it does many things well, but the tonality is slightly unnatural. Compared to headphones like the HD-800, HE-5, and HE-6, the LCD-2's tonality is a bit lacking. Also, it has a slight reverb effect, although this is only noticable with some times of music. The bass is incredible, but just a touch too prominent to be realistic. I do enjoy the lush sound signature, but it lacks some things. The HE-6 has the most natural tonality I've heard in a headphone. It's well balanced across the spectrum as well. Soundstaging from the HE-6 is...different. You seem to be in right in the middle of the instruments. Whether this is good or bad is a matter of taste. Personally, I love the transient speed of electrostats

 Hit the nail on the head here.  Hope i have a chance to try the HE-6 at the next meet we have after reading this.  Already know that my eventual setup will include a Blue Hawaiian and Stax of some kind..c32? Omega? 02?