Maxvla

Ah yes. Been a while since our last meet.

What is pabbi1 doing with this beast?

Just a page or two ago people were telling me the pinnacle is not a smart match for the LCD3.

Did my taxes a couple weeks ago. Took me about 10 minutes with the 1040EZ and state form. Being single, simple, and boring has it's advantages.. sometimes.

All in the marketing, as Beats clearly showed.

This got me laughing so hard it brought me to tears. Haven't laughed quite that hard in a long time. Thanks Tyll.

Right. I think the OP was mostly getting at the point that the top of the line is now $1000+ by default for all major headphone companies, not just a handful.

Sony's current top end is not too high, you're right. $500 a piece retail for the Z1000 and EX1000. AKG just released $1300 earbuds, however. Beyer T1: $1300 Sennheiser HD700/HD800: $1000 and $1500 Audeze LCD2/3 $1000 and $2000 Hifiman HE-6: $1300 Grado GS1000 PS1000: $1000 $1700 Fostex's new cans: $2000 Ultrasone (no stranger to high prices I admit) Edition 10: $2750 Various custom IEM makers: $1000-2000 AudioTechnica W5000: $1000 Stax SR507 SR007 SR009 $1050, $2700, $5000 .. starting to get hard to think of other companies. Denon and Sony seem to be the only mainstream brands without a top end current production model over $1000, or even near it really. In the time frame you were talking about, certainly there were the Stax and other stats, Ultrasone and the Sony R10s that were over $1000, but really nothing else. This was as recent as 5-6 years ago. Now it's hard to name a mainstream company that isn't at $1000 or well over it. The trend is easy to see.

I will admit, the thought of going energizer/stax and avoiding the quality control of Audeze is fairly appealing. So many failures on a $2000 product has added to my hesitancy in going ahead with an LCD3 rig.

Thanks. More things to think about...

Mostly just here for alternative (and more realistic) opinions and gear suggestions. I've browsed quite a bit, but not posted much. You guys would probably prefer that, heh. For my purchases what I hear is the ultimate decider, but my ego is not in the way of listening to others with more experience and (certainly) more knowledge than I have. As abrupt as this forum can be, I also like how you guys cut the BS and get right to it.

Yeah it makes sense after the fact. I agree about the RWA amp, it just sounded dull and lifeless. Any input on the energizer suggestion? I don't know how all the impedances and such match up with the Bifrost > SX9 > WEE > SR507/HE60. I will be in the hunt for a much better source soon, but the Bifrost is what I have for now. The SX9 is a class A-B amp if I recall correctly, so probably not ideal (class A). I can get all the details when I get home from work from the service manual.

Yeah I couldn't spot it. I don't really know much about the guts of these devices. I assumed the vendors would put good amps with the headphones they are showing. I was for the most part at the mercy of whatever they put on the table. Getting to take the LCD3 to another table just once was like pulling teeth.

I have a 1983 Pioneer SX9 (totl 125wpc) in mint condition I use with my speakers. Not sure how that helps me with something like a LCD3 though. I tried the headphone output with HD600 and HE-6 and neither sounded all that great from it. Not a big fan of K1000, but your mention of an energizer for stats has my attention. I really like the SR507, 007, and HE-60. For energizer is the Woo WEE good? That with the 507 and my speaker amp seems to be a nice budget rig.

On different sources I heard the LCD3 with these amps: RSA Darkstar $3,000 Cavalli Liquid Fire $3250 Eddie Current 2A3 $2,800 RWA Audeze Edition (amp+DAC) $3,950 Apex Pinnacle $10,000 As you can see the Darkstar was nearly the cheapest amp I heard them with. Ironically I preferred them in almost reverse order of price. From worst to best was 10000, 3950, 3250 = 2800, 3,000. And yes I know the casing cost a lot of the amp's price. Probably $1000 just in the case. Don't you worry though, you guys already have me second guessing myself. Starting to look at stuff like GS-1/GS-X for ultra clean power. Only problem is time, especially going the X route since Justin's site says 12 weeks for that one. I'm in no hurry currently, but when I'm ready to go it's going to be a pain to wait 3 months or more for it if I go that route.

Is that true? Sounded fine, but that's really high distortion.

Unlikely.

I have (but not all that much recently) and by trying to avoid it, it appears I've brought it upon myself. I have a thick skin so I don't mind it too much. Being a more realistic forum doesn't mean you have to be rude when you correct or offer alternatives to someone, though. Going through some of the links I'm already finding good stuff nobody mentions at the other place, quality criticisms of the Objective 2 and alternatives that are better, in this case.

Sorry, after being attacked in the LCD3 thread I was on the defensive and assumed it was more of the same. I'm a pretty easy going person, but I stay focused on task so the social graces elude me often. Kind of a rough crowd here, seems if you aren't a DIYer or someone with real electronics knowledge you aren't very welcome. Hard to break in as a person who just enjoys quality sound and gets through gear upgrades by simply trying stuff instead of understanding it.

Not sure what you mean? Still - would mean I have previously and pimping - would mean I have. Neither of these is true. As for RSA gear, I don't have any and never have. I liked what I heard at RMAF and posted that I did. If that is pimping, everyone is guilty of it.

Was the best sound I heard at the show. I'm not one to compromise often so I find what I want and save up to get it. Doesn't really matter what it costs so long as it's reachable with my income. Not just in audio either, my current car was about $6k more than I anticipated spending for a car, but I tried it at a dealer and loved it so I saved longer and got it. Just to prove I'm not just an endless money bag I'm really looking forward to trying one of the Objective 2 amps that are less than $200 assembled. I like the measurements first approach and want to give it a try. I'll try anything and if it's bad and expensive I'll certainly talk about it just as much as if it is great and cheap. The whole 'expensive stuff is always better' approach you see too often at HF is pretty damaging, but take care crashing down the other side. Whatever sound preferences people have, it's their preference. Advice is great, but several posts in a row of 'wow you're an idiot for liking that amp' is almost as bad as the fluff from HF. If you talk to me or read my posts you'd see I'm just as critical of a product no matter the price, or especially because of the price in the case of high priced very poor performing gear. I like reading Tyll's site because he tells it like it is yet is still willing to try anything just as I am.

I see people comment about the R2s and 3s being very similar. I've been needing a full size headphone but I'm having a very difficult time compromising due to budget constraints. My 'affordable' but not yet setup is the LCD3 + Darkstar and a good source which is $5k + source. If the R2s indeed sound like the 3s that would significantly reduce my time waiting for money. At RMAF I listened to several LCD2s but I never knew which version they were so I couldn't be sure about my opinion of them. The 2s I heard on Ray's Darkstar setup were excellent, but I don't know if that is because of the high end source, the great amp, or them being R2s. I recall the 3s being better on the same setup, but I was listening to them on different days. The other option is just to tank the budget and get something cheap ($200-300, say Philips Fidelio) and new to play around with, but after putting my HD600s on for the first time since I got my UERM.. I don't know if that's wise.

Dear lord.. Just saw this picture for the first time. Don't frequent HC all that much. Makes me even more glad I lost 75lbs last year. Still have room to go, but I've been holding steady at 195-200 for the last 3 months while not doing much more than eating fairly cleanly. If I make it to HF's Austin meet in March and some of you are there you might not recognize me!

Got my HE-6 tonight and am quite impressed. Looking forward to comparing to the LCD-2 at some point.

Shelly, do you think you might be able to make it to the Dallas HF meet this January? No date yet, but usually one of the last 2 Saturdays of the month. Would be great to hear your LCD-2 along side my HE-6 I'll be ordering this week, as well as your other phones.