[dagothur]

Having only been a Rev2 owner for a little less than six weeks, I can't help but to feel a bit cheated.  I don't have upgradeitis at this point, but I would have liked a bigger gap between the Rev2s - which are world class headphones - and an entirely new flagship.  According to Audez'e, it's a completely new headphone - Stax-brown pads and all -, so I wonder how long they were actually working on the LCD-3 with such a short time for upgrade.  Fortunately for my wallet, the LCD-3 is out of my budget unless I sell my LCD-2s and keep the money from the D7000 sale.  And until Skylab gives them his blessing, I won't be doing that any time soon.

 

[purrin]

There's always going to be something better around the corner. We are seeing and will be seeing a lot of improvements in design. Headphone design is really where speakers were in the early eighties. The LCD3 is out. Who knows, by the time you can save up and afford to buy the LCD3, a TOTL Sennheiser with sound balance more similar to the HD650 may be out. Probably at $2500 though the way things are going.

 

[shawn_low]

Quote:

Having only been a Rev2 owner for a little less than six weeks, I can't help but to feel a bit cheated.  I don't have upgradeitis at this point, but I would have liked a bigger gap between the Rev2s - which are world class headphones - and an entirely new flagship.  According to Audez'e, it's a completely new headphone - Stax-brown pads and all -, so I wonder how long they were actually working on the LCD-3 with such a short time for upgrade.  Fortunately for my wallet, the LCD-3 is out of my budget unless I sell my LCD-2s and keep the money from the D7000 sale.  And until Skylab gives them his blessing, I won't be doing that any time soon.

Hey,sorry for your wallet.
 
Seriously though, this is quite endemic of the 'flavour of the month' rage that plagues HF.
 
I've no doubt that companies like Audeze are putting out good product, but they need to keep pumping out new revisions and expand the range to keep a constant revenue stream going.
 
Audeze should perhaps offers Rev 2 owners a discount? Out of goodwill.
 
 

 

[khaos974]

Quote:

There's always going to be something better around the corner. We are seeing and will be seeing a lot of improvements in design. Headphone design is really where speakers were in the early eighties. The LCD3 is out. Who knows, by the time you can save up and afford to buy the LCD3, a TOTL Sennheiser with sound balance more similar to the HD650 may be out. Probably at $2500 though the way things are going.

I'm actually more interested in a potential HD 900 than the existing LCD-3. Maybe that will change when more information is available for the LCD-3 comes out though. I hope the new magnetic geometry of the LCD-3 allows them to really perform better than the LCD-2.
And I also hope the potential successor of the HD 800 won't be that much more expensive than the current one.
 
 

 

[purrin]

 
Quote:

Audeze should perhaps offers Rev 2 owners a discount? Out of goodwill.

Audeze probably feels the LCD3 is in a different class.
 

 

[drez]

The stax trade is scheme is smart - keeps control over the second hand market and probably works out in their favor versus people selling and buying new.
 
*wink* Audeze

 

[Argo Duck]

shawn_low is right. This is a niche, meaning small, market. Small companies with only a handful of products have to keep innovating to stay in business. It's tricky to capture new customers from an already saturated market, and keep existing customers happy.
 
You want some of those existing customers to buy your next model or perhaps the one after that, but not alienate them with something that disappoints or doesn't represent sufficient better value.
 
A tricky balancing act.

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

I'm actually more interested in a potential HD 900 than the existing LCD-3. Maybe that will change when more information is available for the LCD-3 comes out though. I hope the new magnetic geometry of the LCD-3 allows them to really perform better than the LCD-2.
And I also hope the potential successor of the HD 800 won't be that much more expensive than the current one.
 
 

It seems that the magnetic structure of the LCD-2 is one of the probable causes of the ringing/reverb some (very few actually) folks hear, me included.  I haven't heard an R2 to see if the new diaphragm fixed it, but the LCD-3 has IMO a great chance at eliminating my only complaint about the LCD-2.  Aside from the weight of course.  And whatever sorts of creatures that level of magnetic energy causes to grow in my brains. 
 

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

There's always going to be something better around the corner. We are seeing and will be seeing a lot of improvements in design. Headphone design is really where speakers were in the early eighties. The LCD3 is out. Who knows, by the time you can save up and afford to buy the LCD3, a TOTL Sennheiser with sound balance more similar to the HD650 may be out. Probably at $2500 though the way things are going.

Quote:

The Audeze Table: Spent a lot of time with Alex. Actually, we sat around till 7:30 Saturday night listening and talking long after the Fest had closed for the day. I've read a lot of the complaints here about the release of the new phones, along with their huge price increase. I also was not too thrilled myself. I busted Alex's chops quite a bit on this, and I can tell you he is not one to take a lot of crap. He doesn't have to. His short answer was "nobody is putting a gun to your head to buy them." To that, I had no reply. I did have plenty of time to pick his brains on the changes and upgrades that have been made, and their overall effect on both the sound and large cost increase. I also had breakfast Sunday morning with his head engineer/designer and peppered him as well with the same questions. All I can say is that I have a pair on order, and that should explain what I think about the way they sounded and how I feel about Alex's explanation. I hope to have them in time for the Westchester meet next month. They will mate well with the Apache.

 
This. The challenge is to be happy with what you already have.

 

[gurus]

Quote:

Hey,sorry for your wallet.
 
Seriously though, this is quite endemic of the 'flavour of the month' rage that plagues HF.
 
I've no doubt that companies like Audeze are putting out good product, but they need to keep pumping out new revisions and expand the range to keep a constant revenue stream going.
 
Audeze should perhaps offers Rev 2 owners a discount? Out of goodwill.
 
 

What? So that they lose the margin selling LCD-3s to current owners who will flood the market with used LCD-2s making it tough for Audeze and their dealers to be able to sell new units, after all LCD-2 is still a current product.
 
Double Jeopardy for Audeze! It's not gonna happen unless you want Audeze to go out of business.
 
 

 

[shawn_low]

Quote:

What? So that they lose the margin selling LCD-3s to current owners who will flood the market with used LCD-2s making it tough for Audeze and their dealers to be able to sell new units, after all LCD-2 is still a current product.
 
Double Jeopardy for Audeze! It's not gonna happen unless you want Audeze to go out of business. 
 

Didn't stop them from releasing LCD-2 rev 2 did it?
 
But LCD-3 is pitched at a higher price-point in order for there to be *some* product differentiation. Until we get final specs and details to compare and see if the extra $$$ is worth it, it's all speculation.
 
The only way they'll go out of business is if people start being HAPPY with their rig and STOP upgrading. Stop getting suckered into the 'next best' thing. Stop upgrading every time a new <insert toy here> is released.
 
Oh wait...this is HF. Won't happen. We love our toys.

 

[Uchiya]

That stock cable better be a premium cord for the lofty price of $1945.

 

[drez]

Quote:

That stock cable better be a premium cord for the lofty price of $1945.

Knowing Audeze it will probably still be a 20AWG monster, if not bigger

 

[koonhua90]

Quote:

Didn't stop them from releasing LCD-2 rev 2 did it?
 
But LCD-3 is pitched at a higher price-point in order for there to be *some* product differentiation. Until we get final specs and details to compare and see if the extra $$$ is worth it, it's all speculation.
 
The only way they'll go out of business is if people start being HAPPY with their rig and STOP upgrading. Stop getting suckered into the 'next best' thing. Stop upgrading every time a new <insert toy here> is released.
 
Oh wait...this is HF. Won't happen. We love our toys.

The rev 2 was an unplanned revision. It was some sort of design flaw or manufacturing problem that needed to be fixed. On the other hand, I believe that the LCD-3 has been in the work for a long time. 
 
Correct me if I am wrong, but I think it was mentioned somewhere in this thread.

 

[SHAHZADA123]

In as much as I empathize with folks who have recently bought the rev2, it's a little unfair for them to say that they've been cheated.
Had the difference in price been say$200-250, then it would have been understandable if people felt cheated because most of them could have easily added the extra to get the latest and apparently the best Audeze.
Not many can easily afford the rev2 in any case, therefore it's a little strange that most, if not all, could have foregone the rev2 and bought the LCD-3 for almost double the price.
 
OTOH & IMHO, the biggest mistake Audeze made was to name it the LCD-3.
They should have given it a new name, for example FLCD-1 (as in Flagship).
Given their claim that it's a totally new design, this would have CLEARLY meant a NEW headphone altogether, not an upgraded one
Moreover, and most importantly, it would not have been considered just an extension to the LCD chain; LCD-1...LCD-2 rev1...LCD-2 rev2...LCD-3....., which is exactly what it has been perceived as.
Psychologically, it would have been received very positively.