[ajzepp]

Glad you're enjoying those Audezes, Milford 

[FullRangeMan]

Milford,
A transcendental question:
Do you take the real wood case or the travel case??

[milford3]

Audeze no longer offers the wood case with the LCD2's.  But the plastic case is very well made.  I have Steves Decware Zen Head amp so the LCD2's travel very well indeed.   

[ajzepp]

I was in awe of the wood case when it first came out, but there's absolutely no way I'd want anything other than the Pelican case at this point. This thing is so damn solid, I would never fear taking my Audezes with me on the road. The utility value of this case is off the charts.

[FullRangeMan]

Audeze no longer offers the wood case with the LCD2's.  But the plastic case is very well made.  I have Steves Decware Zen Head amp so the LCD2's travel very well indeed.   

Its my favorite also, I need one right now to store and travel the HE400 without removing the 3 metres cord;

[Wig]

Guys,

Which headphones would you recommend that doesn't require an amplifier? Currently using Grado SR60 and Shure 840, I listen primarily to violin, cello and acoustic guitar. Listening is done through my ModWright tube Sony 5400 CD player.

Thanks,
Wig

[FullRangeMan]

Iam running HE400(93dB/35 ohms) with the PC output with good results.

[milford3]

The Grado RS1's work very well without an amp  But I would recommend amping  any headphone.  There are many tiny, teenie amps on the market that travel well.

[milford3]

I received my Blue Dragon headphone cable today.  The results are immediately better.  Since the Audezes are still new (break in ongoing) their was a shrill in the upper Hz range.  With the new cable the shrill is all but gone.  I think connecting good cables to poor sounding speakers still makes the poor speakers sound bad.  Connecting good cables to high end drivers does make a difference.

[FireGuy]

I received my Blue Dragon headphone cable today.  The results are immediately better.  Since the Audezes are still new (break in ongoing) their was a shrill in the upper Hz range.  With the new cable the shrill is all but gone.  I think connecting good cables to poor sounding speakers still makes the poor speakers sound bad.  Connecting good cables to high end drivers does make a difference.

Good first impression.  When you can finesse a greater audio level such as this,  especially at relatively low cost, is a nice upgrade.

[ajzepp]

So I was checking out some recent posts over at head-fi this morning, when I came across someone who was pointing out that Audeze typically recommends 1-4 wpc into their headphones in order for them to sound their absolute best. It got me thinking that I honestly had no idea what my Meier Corda Classic amp was capable of. I know that this amp paired beautifully with the LCD-2s, and even better with the LCD-Xs currently, but what sort of current they were giving these beautiful headphones I had no clue.

I usually have an email chat with jan Meier once every month or two, so I shot off an email to Germany and he got back to me right away. He said that the Classic puts out just under 2wpc into the 60 ohm LCD-2s, and over 4wpc into the 22 ohm LCD-Xs. I was shocked at this...I had no idea the Classic was this powerful of an amp! It's been my "end game" for over 9 months now, but jan's website doesn't mention the output specs for some reason.

So anyway, now I have a little more understanding of why these planar phones love the Meier gear so much...the Classic is driving the balls out of them 

[FullRangeMan]

I received my Blue Dragon headphone cable today.  The results are immediately better.  Since the Audezes are still new (break in ongoing) their was a shrill in the upper Hz range.  With the new cable the shrill is all but gone.  I think connecting good cables to poor sounding speakers still makes the poor speakers sound bad.  Connecting good cables to high end drivers does make a difference.

Hi,
I ordered a short 1,5M silver/copper cable from head-direct to the HE400.
What is the lenght of this your new cable??
Its balanced??
Do you would say the new cable enlarge the soundstage??
Thanks

[xxmartinxx]

A few weeks ago I went to a local shop to audition the 2.2's versus the 3's versus the closed back X's.  I was impressed with all three.  The 2's sound great.  The closed back X's have more bass punch, but lacks the soundstage of the other two, and the 3's just sound perfect.  The 3's also had a significantly more comfortable feel.  If I had to quantify the sonic difference between the 2's and 3's, I'd say that the 3's were maybe 5% better sounding but infinitely more comfortable.  You really can't go wrong with any of them.

[xxmartinxx]

I should also say that I tried them out with a few different amps (HiFi Man EF6, Schiit Lyr, Schiit Valhalla, Burson Soloist, and Triode TRV35SE tube integrated stereo).  The Triode sounded good.  The HiFi Man EF6 probably sounded the best.  The Burson Soloist had a very similar sound and was a deal at much lower price.  I was pretty disappointed with the Schiit stuff.  The Lyr sounded blah.  The Valhalla sounded better, but was kind of dark for my liking.  I was really ready to be impressed with the Schiit amps and I was bummed out that I didn't like them more. 

[ajzepp]

Martin: If you get a chance, give a listen to the LCD-X, as well. As you said, it's hard to go wrong with any of them, but there are a lot of people on head-fi who have experience with several of the Audezes that feel the X is the best of the lot 

Also, if you happen to really like the 2s, make sure they sell you a pair that has the newer ear pads on them. Audeze made that change several months ago, but some dealers may still have older stock that has the older pads, and from what I understand they weren't all that comfortable. The current pads are amazing, though. When I bought the 2s last Fall, I couldn't understand at first why everyone was complaining about comfort...to me they were fantastic! Turns out I had bought my pair just after they started using the nicer pads on the 2s.