AmanGeorge

Faster yes, but I don't know that I'd say leaner, although I spent much more time with the LCD-2 at the show than the HE-5 and never tried to do a direct comparison, so I could be misremembering.

The LCD-2 is where the bass is at. Some of the most wonderful bass I've ever heard - deep, impactful, controlled, and fast. I'm not much of a basshead myself, but even I can learn to love.

Nope, not cheap, but fortunately for my financial situation, not mine either.

What it needs are more expensive cables.... The fact that that the cables (not mine) in the rig were probably an order of magnitude more expensive than the rest of the equipment combined was a frequent source of amusement over the weekend

It's a transformer-coupled SET headphone amp - for now it's the only one of its kind in existence right now. It's the best-looking part of my rig!

Not the most practical... certainly catches the eye though, for better or worse...

Just got back from RMAF and got a chance to listen to both the LCD-1 and 2. The Audez'e guys had the 2s running out of a Denon Cd player -> ZDT, and it sounded spectacular, especially at the $650 price point. I intend to pick up a pair when the final production version of the LCD-2 is up for sale. To my ears, the 2 was a big step up from the 1. The great quickness and detail retrieval was there in both, but the 2s had a much larger soundstage and beautifully rich and punchy bass that the 1s seemed to lack. It was nice to see tinkerers come up with a really great and innovative product in a market space that is generally dominated by large manufacturers - I think Audez'e has a winner.

Ultrasone Pro 550 or Pro 650? Have been reading a little bit and think one of these is the new headphone for me!