Yeah, They're that Good!

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by jprice

Ivan, Why don't you pass them out among your friends?

Nice party gift.



I'm in line for my pair. . . .

Great Idea!

ED-10's for everyone!

[ricmiclaw]

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.

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.

[Masterlu]

What headphone Amp(s) do you use?

[ricmiclaw]

Right now, I'm limited to solid state. HeadRoom Balanced Ultra Desktop Amp, Ultra Desktop DAC and upgraded desktop power supply. Woo Audio in New York is building a fully tricked Woo Audio 5 for me along with their WEE to power the Stax SR-009 I've ordered. At some point, I'll get a balanced tube amp to complement the Woo Audio 5 but that will probably be later this year or early next year. Meanwhile, I'll be replacing the HeadRoom Ultra DAC with the PS Audio PerfectWave DAC and then wait for the PS Digital Lens to finally come out. I also have a couple of portable amps but I only use those for certain headphones that work well with portable amps such as the Denon AH-D7000, the Audio-Technica ATH-W5000 and the UE8 but not the UE10 and absolutely not the HD800, HE6 or LCD2.

[Masterlu]

I have the Benchmark DAC-1 HDR, Grace M902, & SPL Phonitor. I seem to like them all.

[KingRT]

I like the way they look! In the pictures they look 1970's throw back.
I am ready for another pair to try.

Thanks
PS
Link from the Mod Squad, would love them too!

[ricmiclaw]

Originally Posted by Masterlu

I have the Benchmark DAC-1 HDR, Grace M902, & SPL Phonitor. I seem to like them all.

All among the finest SS Amp/DAC combinations. I don't know if you have these units in different locations or all in one place. I can imagine the interconnections of having them all in one place getting quite complicated but if they are in one place, I'm sure you've got those issues resolved.

Ideally, I'd prefer to not have a DAC with every amp. These machines get very complicated and much extra work and expense gets built in to each unit to prevent noise from the DAC interfering with the amp. For a dedicated DAC without amp, I've been looking carefully at the PS PerfectWave, especially when combined with the anticipated Digital Lens, because the package offers integrated music management that takes full advantage of my NAS without having to rely on external software running on a PC or Mac. For SS, I can do better than my current amp but have been focused on my tube amp issues.

Unfortunately, it's hard to find highest quality SS amps without integrated DACs. This is a bullet I may have to bite in the future but I'll be studying these issues carefully. At some point, after I get my tube amps settled, I'll replace my current SS amp and will decide at that time what product(s) to choose based on what's in the market at the time.

[Masterlu]

I have the Benchmark and Phonitor in the Cape; opposite ends of the 2-Channel room. The Grace is in Florida.

[ricmiclaw]

Do you use any tube amps for your headphones? The answer, I'm sure, is in your equipment list but my eyes are too tired to sort through it.

[Masterlu]

Originally Posted by ricmiclaw

Do you use any tube amps for your headphones? The answer, I'm sure, is in your equipment list but my eyes are too tired to sort through it.

Not right now.