Audeze LCD-2 Rev 1 vs Rev 2

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Audioclyde

Audeze LCD-2 Rev 1 vs Rev 2
« on: 30 Nov 2011, 03:26 am »
Does anyone have any experience/comparison between the rev 1 vs the rev 2 versions?  I have read that maybe the rev 1 is warmer but at the expense of not quite as clear....

I have a chance to maybe purchase a nice pair of rev 1's at a decent price, but as I haven't listened to the rev 2's I wonder if the savings compared to new rev 2's would be worth it.     Any input appreciated.

Thanks,

Randy

Tyson

Re: Audeze LCD-2 Rev 1 vs Rev 2
« Reply #1 on: 30 Nov 2011, 03:39 am »
Heard them both at RMAF this year.  Rev 1 is not bad, but I would not buy it.  Rev 2 is much, much better, definitely capable of hanging with the Beyer T1's and Senn 800's.

cujobob

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Re: Audeze LCD-2 Rev 1 vs Rev 2
« Reply #2 on: 30 Nov 2011, 03:46 am »
Yeah I've heard that the Rev 2s are a good step up.

adydula

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Re: Audeze LCD-2 Rev 1 vs Rev 2
« Reply #3 on: 30 Nov 2011, 03:47 am »
Hello!!

Gee where to start???

I have a set of LCD2's the R2's. Absolutley stunning.

I have never heard the R1's but have read hundreds and hundreds of posts on the headfi.com site....there are strong opinions on both directions.

The difference between the 2 in my humble opinion is not that great at all. If you dont really have a great ear, material and souce etc...you probably will not really hear the differences....the freq plots are almost identical, the impedance is a bit different but not by much.

The thing I would be concerned with is there were some R1's that were made with defective drivers, not all just some that had some defective material in them....they fail sometime etc..I would contact Audeze with the serial number to make sure your R1's are not in this area and if so can they be fixed or updated etc.

There are many R1's that dont have this issue and are working wonderfully.

The price to me would have to be at least $300 lower than the R2's to make me intested othewise I would get the R2's no doubt.

There are many, many posts between the 2 on the other site....many opinions but most of the opinions are just that...full of flowery adjectives etc...it gets really thick if you know what I mean...lol.

I really like the LCD 2's R2..and dont even think I am missing something at all. They are very efficient and dont require a high dollar amp, they work well in my preamp head section (AVA Insight +) but I do have a Schiit Lyr with 6N1P tubes and a few other types as well.

Either way R1 or R2 you will be very happy with these fine transducers of sound...u will be amazed at the bass OMG good!

Good Luck!
Alex

Figo

Re: Audeze LCD-2 Rev 1 vs Rev 2
« Reply #4 on: 30 Nov 2011, 04:12 am »
I prefer the Rev. 1 easily.. I find the sound far more natural.  The midrange is simply stunning, at the expense of some HF clarity.  I'll make that trade any day.

Personal preference plays a strong role here... I sold my Merlin VSMs for DeVore Gibbon 8 and couldn't be happier.  I'm sure others would much prefer the Rev. 2 and the Merlins...

shandy

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Re: Audeze LCD-2 Rev 1 vs Rev 2
« Reply #5 on: 1 Dec 2011, 06:19 am »
I have the Rev1's but I will be even more specific as the ones I have are not like other Rev1's and this has been missed on other posts as I have one from a very small batch that came out in response to the driver failure issue which my first pair had. They replaced them with the ones I have now which underwent much stricter QC and driver matching than the previous pair I had. They came out just before the Rev2's. When I got my pair back they were already shipping the Rev2's so I asked Alex which pair I had as they sounded different to my first pair.

He confirmed I had the drivers that underwent the stricter QC and were Rev1. I wish others could hear these as they seem to me to combine the positive traits of the original Rev1's and the new Rev2's. I love them!

As for Rev1's not being as good on detail..Hmm. Well, I just got my SR71-B and am currently listening via the single ended output until my balanced cable arrives, source is CLAS/Classic and I have silver strand LOD-USB and mini to mini.
Last night I put on one of my favourite albums which I have owned for 15 years, Ry Cooder and VM Bhatt's a meeting by the river.

I must have heard Ganges delta blues hundreds of times on various equipment. With my recent cable upgrade I noticed the Tabla note seemed to be sustained a little longer. Last night, listening through the blackbird I realized it was not sustain but the note hitting the back wall of the studio and bouncing back. I heard that clear as day on my Rev1's. I don't know how much more detail one could want! I feel the LCD's really benefit from both a good source and good amplification. They rise to the challenge wonderfully!

Audioclyde

Re: Audeze LCD-2 Rev 1 vs Rev 2
« Reply #6 on: 3 Jan 2012, 10:39 pm »
Just thought I'd update my own thread--I never got to hear any Rev 1's, but my wife & I spent the Christmas holidays in Santa Monica. I hoped to audition the LCD-2 while there, but found out that the Audeze dealer had closed.

Alex, one of the owners of Audeze, got in touch with me and brought his portable setup to our hotel for me to play with, as he was in the vicinity (fabulous customer service!!). I quickly fell in love with the LCD2's, and was so impressed with his portable ALO amp, I quickly decided my first amp would be a portable so that I could take the rig on trips.

Then my lovely wife surprised me by getting me a pair of LCD2's and the ALO Continental Mk2 portable tubed amp; they amp & headphones just arrived today!!

Randy

Noseyears

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Re: Audeze LCD-2 Rev 1 vs Rev 2
« Reply #7 on: 6 Jan 2012, 12:54 am »
Then my lovely wife surprised me by getting me a pair of LCD2's and the ALO Continental Mk2 portable tubed amp; they amp & headphones just arrived today!!

Randy

Sweet! you have a really nice rig, keep us posted on how it performs with your music (out of the box/after some burn-in)