But you seem to like the LCD2 so there is thatā¦Oh and it does wonders for that headphoneā¦ although I really like the ā2ā on the MLP
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I tried the MLP next to the CTH, and I preferred the CTH. Weāll see what the RNHP is like. Iāve got a couple of other things that I am trying now as well. Maybe once I decide what stays I can sell off enough stuff to justify a BF2.
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Good ideaā¦ I need to trim this desktop a little myself
I have the RNHP and the Lake People G111 that I bounced between and while the rnhp does an okay job with the 2pf, I do greatly prefer the g111 for them. Just something else for you to possibly consider.
Thanks for the rec. Iāll keep that in mind if I decide the RNHP isnāt for me.
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Yes, I like the LCD2pf with the Bf2+LP too.
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The RNHP struggles a bit with harder-to-drive planars, of which the LCD2PF is one. Just food for thought there. I echo @Delta9K, @Jetman, and @j.fopps, tho. The BF2 will take your LCD2PF to another level on performance. I use mine with BF2 + MLP and it is 
The LCD2PFās ability to be both relaxed and subtly detailed is really remarkable at its price point.
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Hello. I have an Audeze LCD-2.2 (Pre-Fazor) I bought at the end of 2011. Itās working fine and the rosewood hasnāt cracked (despite never oiling it). I am still using the same gear I originally bought alongside it: a Violectric V200 amp and a rega DAC. The sound is warm which I preferred at the time though I think Iād like it a little more open now. I believe both are pretty dated now in terms of tech.
Iām not up to date on the latest gear out there. What can I upgrade to so I can get a fuller sound out of these? It seems a lot like the Monoprice Liquid Platinum and the Schiit Bifrost 2 in balanced. Is that amongst the best combo for the old LCD or is there a step-up beyond that? Iāve really been out of the loop and I want something better but Iām clueless now lol. Thank you.
Iām sure a lot of people would recommend that set up, but honestly, Iām not sure how much of an improvement there would actually be. I demoed the LCD2PF with the MLP, but I preferred my CTH. Havenāt had the pleasure of hearing the BF2 yet, but my experience thus far with sub $200 DACs is I can barely tell the difference between them (and any of that might be placebo).
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I also have the ā2ā but rev. 1ā¦ I find a real joy with the Bifrost 2 and the Liquid platinum as a good combo for that set. Then again using it with my Asgard 3 or Feliks audio echo OTL amp is pretty sweet as well. I do not have experience with the Vio 200 but it is still pretty fairly regarded. I believe if you step āUPā with your dac you will find a whole new love for your rig!!
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Hi, welcome to the forum. I would probably go with amp first if you want to change your sound via hardware. With the stock tubes burned-in, the CTH is a funner sound with a slightly wider soundstage than the LP while the LP is more technically capable. With NOS tubes, the LP pulls ahead of the CTH by quite a bit and the soundstage advantage that the CTH had with stock tubes is gone. The stock tubes really do not do either the amps (especially the LP) justice. Of course, that opens a whole new can of worms called tube rolling, a hobby within a hobby (some may call it an addiction) (see below for my current stash for the CTH/LP).
As a fellow LCD-2.2pf owner (see below) (and an LCD-2.1pf owner also), I would recommend some of the more technically capable and neutral sounding tubes such as the 7308ās or some of the 5814Aās for the LP over the stock tubes. For my Hifimanās, I typically use warmer tubes like the Bugle Boy Amperex 6DJ8. If you stick with stock tubes, I would probably go with the CTH by a hair but if you decide to tube roll, then the LP would be my choice. The 30d moneyback guarantee and multi-year warranty from Monoprice is a nice thing to have. I already had the CTH when I purchased the LP for around $430 brand new thinking that Iād return the LP before the 30d period was up. I ended keeping the LP and am happier for it.
Then again, if a computer feeds into your DAC, then you may want to look into software EQ to tweak the sound of your current setup to match your liking. Thereās cheap hardwire EQ in the form of Schittās Loki. While the Loki looks convenient, it doesnāt offer the fine granular control that parametric software EQ can offer. I seldom EQ myself despite having several Equalizer Apo profiles for various cans. The cans that I have to EQ do not usually stay too long in my stable.
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Wow, dude, that is quite a tube collection. Yes, I imagine you are correct that the MLP is more technically capable than the CTH. However, for me, I decided the cheaper CTH, and the cheaper tube rolling (1 vs 2) would be preferable for the time being. I may try the MLP again sometime down the road.
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Curious how often you use the 789 and CTH.
Thanks for the reply. So regarding tubes for the LP something like this and I would need 2 of them? Iāve considered tube rolling from the very start but just avoided it for simplicity. I am looking to change up the sound but, like you, I donāt like to EQ. At the time I was trying to get a warm vinyl sound, but my ears have changed, and I prefer a little more detail (though not too bright!). Whenever I listen it just sounds like to me that I could get more out of it with newer tech. Also, the V200 is not loud enough for me sometimes. Thatās something to do with aging 10 years, but I listen to YouTube rock a lot and even video game music sometimes, and I wish this thing could go louder. Even 80s FLAC albums donāt go high enough and sound restricted. I also need a new cable as my Q is falling apart lol. My setup is connected to a Creative Titanium HD on my PC.
Oh yes, those aspects absolutely should be taken into consideration. It is far easier on the budget to tube roll with the CTH since one needs to make sure to look for matched pairs of tubes for the LP. Furthermore, I experienced more noisy, despite supposedly being well-measuring, matched tube pairs on my LP than individual tubes on my CTH.
With regards to the 789, I barely use it anymore. I use it mostly to evaluate loaner headphones that come my way. For my HE-6, I run it off of a speaker amp (Bryston 3B-ST). For my other headphones, it is either the CTH, LP, or a Marantz MM7025. Also, it is reminder of what Iām not looking for in a solid-state amp.
@DevarikaWoulf, both CTH and LP have their minuses with respect to their builds since it is clear that both are built to a budget to keep their respective BOMās as low as possible. My main beef with them is their shitty volume potentiometers (albeit for different reasons). This issue is something that is more predictable with the budget-minded CTH. In my experience, the CTH volume pot started to get scratchy when adjusting its volume after one month of ownership. Fortunately, this issue is an easy DIY fix.
With the $799 LP, however, it is inexcusable that Monoprice did not budget a better volume pot because, on some of its pots, the LP has a tendency to exhibit channel imbalance at moderate to loud listening volumes, which renders the LP useless unless you have a preamp or passive pre in the signal path. I returned my LP to Monoprice for this very reason and they promptly shipped me another LP that did not exhibit this channel imbalance issue at my listening volumes. Still, after 5-6 months of owning the second LP, the volume pot is starting to exhibit scratchiness during volume changes similar to the CTH but not to the extent the CTH had before I fixed that issue myself.
Yes, youāll need two and they must be matched but please do not overpay for them. I was lucky to find a deal on Head-Fi and paid $100 for an Amperex 7308 pair. But lord no, I wouldnāt pay that much for a single tube let alone a pair. Get a matched pair of CBS/Hytron 5814Aās (poor manās 7308) as shown in my pic for $40-80 (depending how strong they are) and a pair of 12AU7 to 6922/ECC88 adapters. Iām listening to Mudhoneyās āHere Comes Sicknessā (Sub Pop SP 44, Dynamic Range = 13) with my LCD-2.2pf and the LP with these tubes right now and it sounds great on my setup (Bifrost 2 to Liquid Platinum), punchy and clear yet still having body to the sound.
On my LP, I canāt go beyond 11 oāclock on the volume knob with any of my headphones except my HE-6, so it should be fine for you.
Would you mind linking to that CTH volume pot fix?
Just replace THX AAA 789 with CTH in my instructions:
Are those also the OG suede ear pads? I always wanted the old wood prefazors since they were totl 12 years ago. I have a lcd-24 now but i dont spend much time with it so i always toy with selling it, going prefazor and using the money elsewhere.
But im afraid ill miss something from the 24 and need to put that āsavedā money into something that can drive the pf.
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Yup, those are Audeze vegan pads on my LCD-2.2pf. The previous owner may have ordered the LCD-2 from Audeze with the vegans selected as his pad of choice back in 2012. The vegan pads are so old that the outer edge lining or sheathe that holds the structural ring started to split. This splitting saw the ring (and the pad) start to come apart from the earcup. I may be kicking myself later, but I glued this ring back onto the portion of the pad material that was still glued to the earcup. The glue saved the earpad from splitting any further. I wish Audeze made the outer edge lining of the pads out of stronger material rather than pleather that they settled on.
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