[sillysally]

Quote:

Frequency response wise maybe, but source gear does play a big role for the LCD3 especially in the details department. It still sounds good on my previous portable setup for the LCD2, but the difference between the portable rig and my home rig is so big for the LCD3 now  that I immediately ordered the Cavalli Liquid Fire and got a Rega Saturn player for it at office so as not to waste the potential of the LCD3. The highest end gear I have read so far in the other thread is dCS Puccini into Liquid Fire and I think that is something which will do the LCD3 some real justice.

IMO
 
Up until I got my LCD-3's I was calling the Liquid Fire a amp that all my headphones sounded the best they ever have. However after using both my very maxxed out WA5LE and my Liquid Fire with very high end tubes, so far I would agree with LFF about the LCD-3's. That said, if you are a bass junkie then you probably will like the LCD-3's.
 
Tonight I will roll in to my Liquid Fire a quad nos matched very strong set of Siemens/Rohre E88CC from 1974 and hear what happens.
On a side note. imo the Liquid Fire should be a very good amp for a bass heavy headphone, when folks first got there Liquid Fire a few said that the Liquid Fire was on the bright side, I never thought that even with the stock JJ tubes using my HE6's.

 

[googleli]

Thanks Sally. Looking forward to your impressions on the Siemens E88CC. If you still find it too mid/bass heavy, maybe it's time to try some Amperex Bugle Boys.

 

[Olias of Sunhillow]

Thanks for your continuing impressions of the LCD-3, sillysally... especially with the LF. I'm on a waiting list for the next Liquid Fire batch and want to be "tubed up" when it arrives. I have plenty of pairs of appropriate tubes (from my Lyr and WA2), but only one quad -- some Mullard CV2493s that I fear will be too smooth on the top end for the LCD-3s. We'll see.

 

[googleli]

On my Leben the Mullards sound right - but my preference is the Sylvania 12AX7s. Not sure the characteristics of 6922's will match my experience with 12AX7s and EL84s, but if so, try Telefunkens with a more neutral sound, Amperex with a brighter signature, Mullards for smoothness in treble and also more bass (but slow), and lastly my favourite Sylvania's for a lusher mid.

 

[googleli]

Still have some time until my Cavalli Liquid Fire arrives, so I am going to do some more testing with my portable amps with the LCD-3. As I said they don't do any justice to the LCD3 but I guess for those interested it will be useful.

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

In the similar vein of Stax vs. X, the LCD3 vs R10 doesn't make sense either. Totally different approaches.

Yes, but the LCD/R10 can be driven from the same exact setup so that would be a comparison I would like to read/hear as opposed to a LCD/Stax comparison.
 
 
Quote:

One weakness I have to state about the LCD3 though - the "cabinet" sound. In the speaker world, it is a big no-no if you feel that the sound is coming from speakers, rather than a 3D sound stage placed in front of you. In some bass and low-mid dominated music, the LCD3 does have that "cabinet" sound I mentinoed - you feel that the sound is coming from the drivers.  That does not happen to the 009 - the sound is "just there" as opposed to sounding from the drivers. I guess it is a trade off for the great bass the LCD3 has. 

As much as I like my rev.1, that is an area that the HD800 is quite superior as well.

 

[googleli]

OK the result is so clear that it took less than half an hour for me to tell for sure which portable amp in my collection is best for the LCD3.
 
Test gear:
Rega Saturn -> QED RCA to 3.5mm cable -> SR71A/SR71B(single ended input)/ Meier Stepdance (regulated by Energizer XP8000 off grid at 15V).
 
SR71B uses balanced output cable to LCD3. Both SR71B cablesand single ended cable are the new Norse Litz cables.
 
The winner is Meier Stepdance (15V regulated). Dynamics, trebles and clarity are all above both of the RSA amps. Instrument separation department also goes to Stepdance - this is very clear. SR71A comes close second, and SR71B comes last - too bright for my liking.
 
 

 

[googleli]

Wait. This is not right. How can a portable amp sound so good with the LCD3? Still quite far away from the home rig I'd say, but much better than the SR71B at least IMO. And the Stepdance is cheaper than the SR71A or SR71B. I haven't used the Stepdance much since I tried it with the CLAS and LCD2. Sounded a bit too clean to me. But apparently, at 15V, it just has the magic with the LCD3. I suggest everyone who has the Stepdance (with a 15V DC input) to give it a try with the LCD3. 

 

[sillysally]

Quote:

Thanks Sally. Looking forward to your impressions on the Siemens E88CC. If you still find it too mid/bass heavy, maybe it's time to try some Amperex Bugle Boys.

I think the Amperex BB's are 6DJ8/ ECC88, the heater voltage is higher than the E88CC's/6922/CCa. I did ask Dr. Cavalli about the ECC88 and he said not to use them.
I do have a very strong matched nos pair of Amperex E88CC (orange) that I have only tried for about 5 hours.
 

 

[Asr]

Quote:

The highest end gear I have read so far in the other thread is dCS Puccini into Liquid Fire and I think that is something which will do the LCD3 some real justice.

Not so sure about dCS gear myself. I owned their P8i (which also uses their proprietary discrete Ring DAC) at the same time as my Plinius CD-101 once, and the Plinius beat the dCS hands down, wasn't even close. Of course the P8i is an obsolete model now though and has since been superceded by the Puccini (among dCS' other source components). Would like to maybe audition the Puccini someday, preferrably against my CD-101 for a re-match.

 
Quote:

I would like to hear a controlled LCD3 vs. 007 comparison with same source both optimally powered. Heck, let the LCD3 be feed from a few different TOTL amps while at it.

Someone send me a B22, Balancing Act, and Liquid Fire and I'll make this happen.

Or alternately if everything could be assembled in SoCal, I'd probably make it out there....
 

 

[Noirceur]

AUDEZE LCD : Headphone monitoring, real&neutral bass, sound like Speaker. It's for Engineer
 
STAX 007/009 : Hifi Headphone. Best Details&Sentations. It's for Audiophiles. 
 
Comparison is useless. 

 

[tupac0306]

Just watched the episode Jude talking about the best headphone ever made: SR 009. And now it has become his second best since LCD 3 took that place. Wow. This really makes me wanna try it.
 
I didn't know how people were taking the LCD 2 when it first came out. But LCD 3 is definitely not for everyone's taste since there are certain number of dislikes.
 

 

[James]

Quote:

I've heard a few good headphones in my time, and, of those currently in production, the LCD-3 is my favorite of all headphones not called the SR-009.

(My emphasis)
 
Quote:

Just watched the episode Jude talking about the best headphone ever made: SR 009. And now it has become his second best since LCD 3 took that place. Wow. This really makes me wanna try it.
 

This is exactly why people are justified for being verbal sticklers: it appears you missed the last four words of Jude's sentence.

 

[googleli]

I think he means not including the SR009, LCD-3 is the best - from the context of the following paragraphs. This is exactly why people are justified for being verbal sticklers.

 

[tupac0306]

My bad english made me a fool again..

 I thought he meant his best headphone is called LCD 3, not called SR009