[rgs9200m]

Hi again cacatalysis. I actually did use different preamps for the Staxes for a while, and they did transform the sound, but there was always some sort of a wall or fogginess there, even with the best preamps, so I gave up on those (even passive preamps
like Placettes had a curtain-like affect). But the Staxes (Omegas with the 007t amp) didn't really need any warming up, as they were maybe the least fatiguing phones I ever had (sort of miss them...). I used an Accuphase DP75V cdp for them and the sound was 
easygoing and musical and well defined, if not very dramatic or spacious. They were very un-speakerlike, but nice on their own terms, very intimate and close-up, like first-row listening. I liked them much better than the HD650s I had at the time,
which I could never warm up to, and found them claustrophobic.
 
The Pinnacle with the right 6ns7 tube deals well with glare. (Thank goodness there is just one tube to roll, a real advantage to the Pinnacle if you like tube rolling. The PX4 tubes are really not replaceable.)
The B52 has a reputation of being warm, but from a glare perspective, it is about the same as the Pinnacle, even with Mullard tubes. (The B52 is a fine amp too, but that's too deep a subject for now.)
The Rudistor is about the warmest of the solid state amps I have heard, and for some reason the Rudistor seems to match very well with certain headphones, but not with others, with taming shrill highs part of the goodness.
(I really like the Rudistor with Denons [D7000s] and Senn HD800s. Beyer T1s can scream a bit with the Rudistor.)
 
Just to digress, I think the particular amps seem to mate well with particular phones for whatever mysterious reason.
 
But after all this thrashing around and experimenting, I've settled on Audezes for now with the Pinnacle for letting me forget about gear and just listening to music for it's own sake.
(I also listen to speakers, those little-known Lahave monitors in my avatar, using the Pinnacle as a really state-of-the-art preamp. Just IMHO, those little 30-pound speakers sound as nice and coherent overall as the megabuck monitors I heard at shows, like TADs for instance.)
 
 

 

[cacatalysis]

Hi, rgs9200m, Thanks for your impressions and comments.  When you say the PX4 is not replaceble, does that mean Pinnacle is uniquelly turned for Sophia PX4?  How about roll KR PX4, Marconi PX4?  The B52 is not too bad for tube rolling, getting 12AU7s and 5687s are not nearly as bad as playing with 300B and PX4.  Have you ever tried 6085 (E80CC) tubes in substitution for 12AU7? (I will PM you more on that topic, so this one willl not be derailed.   
 
An extremely thin curtain is still there for me because at the highest octave there is a tiny roll off (recess?), that is the last thing I hope to address for 007 MK I.  Based on Asr's comments the BHSE may be able to do it.  We will see in a few months (hopefully).

 

[rgs9200m]

Hi again, 
The best thing for the B52 for me were some Bendix 6900s to replace the 5687 tubes. No I never tried 6085s (not familiar with them).
As far a Pinnacle rolling goes, I really did not look into it, but other owners and TTVJ led me to believe that there are no practical alternatives, but I did not investigate further, as I am pretty happy with it.

 

[cacatalysis]

Pinnacle looks to be a good value as a top-notch pre-amp, head amp and no tube rolling.  An ECBA or WA5 (with all the upgrades) and a few best pairs of 300b will push over the cost of a pinnacle.  Is Pinnacle clearly better for LCDs vs B52? 

 

[Chefguru]

Quote:

Pinnacle looks to be a good value as a top-notch pre-amp, head amp and no tube rolling.  An ECBA or WA5 (with all the upgrades) and a few best pairs of 300b will push over the cost of a pinnacle.  Is Pinnacle clearly better for LCDs vs B52? 

While I have not tested it with the lcd-2, in my experience the b52 does not even come close to the apex pinnacle with the hd800.
 
[Moderator note: Thread locked by request]
 

 

[jujuju]

A great read and very insightful !!! - I to am wondering about going from LCD 2 (Rev 2) to LCD 3 but i feel that i may now stick with what i have - The gut feeling i get is that i could be disappointed !! - I absolutely love the way voices/vocals come across on the LCD 2 and maybe the LCD 3 will be similar but just more expense !!! 

 

[Argo Duck]

^ Been a lot of water under the bridge in the 2.5 years since this review, not least because LCD3 (and 2) is now fazored. Not to mention other tweaks along the way.

I recently went from LCD2 (r1) to LCD3F - haven't heard the rev 2. Improvements such as micro-detail and extra bass information makes the 3F a completely different beast from the 2r1...