Quote:
Originally Posted by jhildred
The LCD-2's don't have the same build quality and stunning looks as the ED-10's but they do have stunning sound. I love how much bass they give and still keep absolute definition . . having said that I've never heard the Ultrasones so I'm sure it's a matter of personal taste.
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These things are always a matter of personal tastes. The design and build quality of the UE10 is fabulous. The LCD2 is not a pretty or refined design. The UE10 is orthodynamic and the LCD2 is planar magnetic and these two technologies don't sound the same. The UE10 is a beautiful product to look at but middling in sound quality, especially at its price point (my opinion). The LCD2 is rather ugly but is among the finest sounding headphones ever made at about 1/3 the cost. The UE10 has a much better warranty (7 versus 1 year). When I first heard the LCD2, my reaction was "Holy Cow!" what amazing sound. When I first heard the UE10, my reaction was "Hmmph. What's the big deal?".
I personally view the UE10 as a trophy phone. If your principal interest is impressing your friends with your ability to spend nearly $3000 for headphones, then there are few, if any, better choices (I also think the UE8 actually sounds better than the UE10, and for about 1/2 its price). If your principal interest is impressing yourself with among the finest sounds ever produced by a headphone, then the LCD2 is a better choice but it will impress fewer friends whom you want to impress with your disposable income and it will impress nobody whose main interest in headphones is how good they look versus how good they sound or anyone who thinks that you always get what you pay for so something that costs three times as much must be three times better. Nope. It might not even be 1/3 as good sounding. Again, just my opinion.
As I said, I own them both. Having listened to them, I find myself almost always reaching for the LCD2 and rarely reaching for the UE10. But on my display shelves of headphones, the UE10 sits in front of the LCD2 for the reasons stated above. If you have virtually unlimited funds, go ahead and get the UE10. They're not bad; it's just that they're not better sounding and probably not as good sounding than at least two or three other headphones on my shelves that cost less, much less, the LCD2 principal among them.
If your funds are not virtually unlimited, in my opinion, you could spend your money more wisely and enjoy your music more but you won't impress your friends as much if what they want to know about you is how much money you have as opposed to how much you value the highest quality in sound reproduction. Most people, I suspect, really care just about how much money their friends appear to have, not how smartly they spend it.
In fact, if you have enough money to buy the UE10, you probably have enough to buy both the UE10 and the LCD2. For you folks, I'd recommend buying both so you can compare them side by side. If, like me, you conclude that your UE10 money was essentially wasted, well, we'll just keep that our little secret and you can listen to your LCD2 whenever no one is looking, just as I do.