pp312
Hoping to be taken seriously for once in his life
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2001
- Posts
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No, sorry to disappoint you, this isn't a thread about how much better the LCD-2 sounds when driven from the back end of a speaker amp, but of how a speaker amp used in the conventional way might be just what the LCD doctor ordered.
I have a Rev1. I don't find it dark but occasionally could use a touch more treble. I've considered the Rev2 but it's a big investment and I'm afraid of losing the special midrange magic the Rev1 has. Consequently I decided to consider a really radical possibility: a speaker amp with tone controls! (don't faint). I've never been against tone controls, I don't believe, properly designed, they introduce colouration, and I've never understood why they're shunned by the "in" audiophile crowd. Anyway, I went Ebaying and found a Rotel RA970BX at a not exorbitant price. The 970BX is a highly respected budget amp and had every chance of doing the Audeze justice, plus adding a touch of extra treble at no cost. Wrong! It sounded pretty horrible: harsh, rather hollow...just wrong. So I sold it and went back to my Muse (Aune) mini dac/amp. Maybe they're right, I thought, those venerable sages who insist that headphones should have dedicated amps. But wait, I thought. I've used integrateds with headphones before with good results, just not with planars. Maybe I'll give it one more try.
The upshot was that an Onkyo TX SR502 HT amp came up at a really good price and I grabbed it. Not really what I was looking for and I had few hopes of anything much more than reselling it at a profit. Wrong again! It sounded great--neutral, balanced, quite detailed, and what's more it allows remote control of the volume (ah, blessed convenience!). I add usually just +2 on the treble, never more than +4, and it opens the Rev1 up nicely. True, it sucks up the national grid, but hey, what do I care about that (kidding).
So, guys, this is just to encourage REV1 owners, or anyone needing a little treble lift, to consider speaker amps. They're not the evil empire, they're just amps, and many sound just as good as dedicateds--even HT amps it seems. It could be the solution you're looking for.
I have a Rev1. I don't find it dark but occasionally could use a touch more treble. I've considered the Rev2 but it's a big investment and I'm afraid of losing the special midrange magic the Rev1 has. Consequently I decided to consider a really radical possibility: a speaker amp with tone controls! (don't faint). I've never been against tone controls, I don't believe, properly designed, they introduce colouration, and I've never understood why they're shunned by the "in" audiophile crowd. Anyway, I went Ebaying and found a Rotel RA970BX at a not exorbitant price. The 970BX is a highly respected budget amp and had every chance of doing the Audeze justice, plus adding a touch of extra treble at no cost. Wrong! It sounded pretty horrible: harsh, rather hollow...just wrong. So I sold it and went back to my Muse (Aune) mini dac/amp. Maybe they're right, I thought, those venerable sages who insist that headphones should have dedicated amps. But wait, I thought. I've used integrateds with headphones before with good results, just not with planars. Maybe I'll give it one more try.
The upshot was that an Onkyo TX SR502 HT amp came up at a really good price and I grabbed it. Not really what I was looking for and I had few hopes of anything much more than reselling it at a profit. Wrong again! It sounded great--neutral, balanced, quite detailed, and what's more it allows remote control of the volume (ah, blessed convenience!). I add usually just +2 on the treble, never more than +4, and it opens the Rev1 up nicely. True, it sucks up the national grid, but hey, what do I care about that (kidding).
So, guys, this is just to encourage REV1 owners, or anyone needing a little treble lift, to consider speaker amps. They're not the evil empire, they're just amps, and many sound just as good as dedicateds--even HT amps it seems. It could be the solution you're looking for.