Comments on Profile Post by YMO

Haha I remember hearing the LCD-2 when they launched at Canjam Chicago, downstairs on the cavalli gear! That was also when the JH3A were first demo’d

First time I heard LCD-2 at a friends shack with big ass Maggies playing Grace Jones, I said DA BASS. Then I said my head/neck hurts.

Sorry if I didn't notice already. But what's your daily driver nowadays?

Click on my Forum Profile and Press Information. It'll explain the two setups.

I used to think planars were the coolest things on the planet. Then I came running back to dynamic drivers thanks to @zach915m

I still consider 1k expensive. I think the most innovation has been the budget and mid-tier area in the last 10 years. Hobby's slowly becoming more accessible.

In a world of $2k+ headphones, I feel personally $1k is chump change. Super crazy....

The HD650 was the hot shit around town when I was getting into audio gear, before the HD800 had released. I remember drooling over the OG Zana Deux and HD650 combo as a poor college kid.

The most I've ever spent for headphones is still $400. But then I am poor and half deaf.

I remember back in 2003-ish selling my HD600s to fund HD650 purchase and being so worried the dreaded veil was going to come kill me in my sleep. More nostalgia: digging around in attic, found OG Asgaard, SN0000347. Should plug it in to see if still working.

It still is. The only headphone I own over $1000 is one I don't like most of the time (HD800) and the two others I'm looking at are at or near $1000 (Elear and Aeon 2). I rented an LCD2 from the Cable Company and the clamp was too much (and the sound wasn't worth it).

@yotacowboy, I mean, it might make a nice space heater this winter.

I remember listening to a pre-production Liquid Fire and an LCD-2 at a meet at ALO Audio around 2010. And realizing that sounds really good, but the price is crazy. Both Alex Cavalli and Alex Rosson were there. Guess what I'm listening to now? A Liquid Fire and LCD-2 and I now consider that normal.

@Hammy I remember back in 2010 I was an uber Grado shill due to I believe lower weight headphones sound better, but was jelly on the LCD-2 bass response. Then hearing HD600 on an old Audio-GD setup I had back in 2012, geez I'm old and young.

What's funny is that Alex Cavalli asked me at that meet how much he should price the amp at. I said as much as is necessary to make it viable as a business. Little did I know at the time that I priced myself out of being able to afford his amps. To afford them I've bought used.

For my first 20 years in the hobby I never had enough cash to get any headphones over $120. It wasn’t so bad.

The HD800 broke the $1K barrier for a common popular audiophile headphone. And it looks like the Apple Air Pod Max is going to break the $500 barrier for a consumer headphone. Once those barriers are broken the flood gates are open. Now we're at $4K+ for audiophile headphones.

Which is why I said LCD-2 for $1k is no longer expensive in this hobby anymore. Kind of sad.

Wasn’t the R10 in $4K+ territory back then too, after inflation?

There were $1K+ headphones back in the day. The R10, various Stax, AKG K1000 (at msrp), and a few others. But they weren't common normal audiophile headphones. Now the price range for the HD800 and above is normal and lots of people own them.

They've priced out a lot of potential customers, I feel. Hifiman was always a brand I could deal with their quirks because the value and SQ was there. Now that they are commanding a premium price...nah

Prices have actually gone down in some areas. The LCD-2 Classic is $800 instead of the original $999 that the LCD-2 were. I bought my LCD-2 Classic for $600 at $100 discount when they were first released. That's what was a $1000 headphone for $600 brand new. Not everything is getting more expensive.

I still don't own a headphone worth over $1K MSRP. What broke my $1K audio cherry were the Cavalli amps. Liquid Fire and Glass. And Gungnir MB DAC. Once I discovered that the Cavalli amps get the LCD-2 to sound better than the LCD-3 to me with other amps I spent more on amps than headphones.