So I've been considering getting a great headphone system ever since I sold my dedicated stereo system. All my internet research led me to believe that an open back planar magnetic headphone set is the bees knees and the new Audeze EL-8 looked interesting together with the Hifiman HE400i and HE560 models. Having owned a set of Grado SR225i's before and now some Sennheiser Momentum over ears I much prefer the open design's soundstaging but the Sennheiser's tonal balance.
Reeman on the forum referred me to the Audeze agent in East London a gentleman by the name of Dawie from DHHD Audio Www.dhhd-audio.com. As he was very accommodating and patient the first time I phoned him, I bothered him a few times afterwards with various questions including his thoughts on the EL-8's. A pair of LCD-2's came up on the forum here but it is a lot of money and I really wanted to hear them before considering a purchase. I mentioned the available pair to Dawie the last time I chatted to him. He asked me if I have ever listened to the LCD-2's and when I said "no", he immediately offered to courier me a demo pair together with an HP amp/DAC . I was astounded, Dawie only knows me from the few times we chatted and here he offered to send me extremely expensive kit. I did what any audio addict would do and graciously accepted.
Well, headphones and amp arrived today:
I gave the valves some time to warm up and have managed to listen to a couple of songs and my first impressions are :faint:.
No pictures can do these headphones justice. They are serious serious things, well built and heavy and I can imagine that they can be used as a centerpiece in any study.
The sound through the Jolida valve amp / DAC is absolutely glorious!! Female vocals (my favourite) are delivered with texture and emotion. The soundstage is deeper than what it is wide, but it is believable and airy. Not a trace of siblances is present and I can imagine that one can listen to this combo for a long long time (your jaw and neck muscles will give in long before your ears). The bass is the best part, tight but deep. Listening to Matthew Kahler's This time/Last time from the Jeff's Last Dance Vol 2 album, the percussion is bloody glorious and I was convinced it could not get any better until the Bodhrans in the Celtic Woman's The Contradiction started, :faint: again.
Thank you Dawie, you are a scholar and a gentleman and have put this music addict in seventh heaven.
Reeman on the forum referred me to the Audeze agent in East London a gentleman by the name of Dawie from DHHD Audio Www.dhhd-audio.com. As he was very accommodating and patient the first time I phoned him, I bothered him a few times afterwards with various questions including his thoughts on the EL-8's. A pair of LCD-2's came up on the forum here but it is a lot of money and I really wanted to hear them before considering a purchase. I mentioned the available pair to Dawie the last time I chatted to him. He asked me if I have ever listened to the LCD-2's and when I said "no", he immediately offered to courier me a demo pair together with an HP amp/DAC . I was astounded, Dawie only knows me from the few times we chatted and here he offered to send me extremely expensive kit. I did what any audio addict would do and graciously accepted.
Well, headphones and amp arrived today:
I gave the valves some time to warm up and have managed to listen to a couple of songs and my first impressions are :faint:.
No pictures can do these headphones justice. They are serious serious things, well built and heavy and I can imagine that they can be used as a centerpiece in any study.
The sound through the Jolida valve amp / DAC is absolutely glorious!! Female vocals (my favourite) are delivered with texture and emotion. The soundstage is deeper than what it is wide, but it is believable and airy. Not a trace of siblances is present and I can imagine that one can listen to this combo for a long long time (your jaw and neck muscles will give in long before your ears). The bass is the best part, tight but deep. Listening to Matthew Kahler's This time/Last time from the Jeff's Last Dance Vol 2 album, the percussion is bloody glorious and I was convinced it could not get any better until the Bodhrans in the Celtic Woman's The Contradiction started, :faint: again.
Thank you Dawie, you are a scholar and a gentleman and have put this music addict in seventh heaven.
