I just compared the Michael Tilson Thomas/SFO M3 in 24/96 (his interpretation is a bit Bernstein-esque; very dramatic and powerful, huge dynamic swings as well) on LCD-2 r1 (balanced w. Dynamite) and my severely under driven Stax O2 mk1 on the transformer box and I still end up preferring the O2 for this sort of grand symphony music. The O2 has quite good bass impact and I don't mind giving up that last bit of punch for the superior detail, fine nuance and stage depth. I think I have to hear a rev2 someday, since I prefer even my balanced HD580 to the LCD-2 for classical.