I used to as well. Then I found some I like and are comfortable enough to work well.
Well, I have just finished 14 days straight of listening to these headphones. Going by the description of these, and to a lesser degree, the Gjallahorn’s I was hoping for a very clean and clear headphone with solid bass.
Right off the bat it was clean and clear, but seemed bass light. It took me a week to figure that there was lots of bass but that it was a different kind of bass. It was very clean, just like the mids and highs. So instead of being boom-boom like the Cascades or even the Elex’s, you can make out every drum strike and you can even hear the bass guitar or cello clearly, when you listen for it.
I did some very brief head to head comparisons and these seem much more clear than the Elex’s, the Grado GH2’s and the HE6se V2’s.
The mids are Awesome and crystal clear. The treble is as much as I need and the bass is different from anything else I own. There is no blur or bloom. You can hear each individual instrument.
They are SUPER light and the pads are very deep and comfortable for me. I also like the generic 3.5mm connectors. I use the Hart Audio Cables for my whole system.
All my listening is done with a system that is a Bifrost 2 feeding three amps via a switcher. My final thoughts are:
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Liquid Platinum didn’t really do it for me.
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Violectric sounded good and filled them out nicely.
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iFi Pro iCAN is AWESOME with these! I run the amp in tube mode with low gain. I set the bass boost at 20hz (middle setting) and the 3D on the first setting, 30/+.
I have gone through every section on my collection, which is almost 7,000 pieces of music. My tastes are new rock, classic rock, blues, horn jazz. Also, I am a quiet listener and rarely/never go above 75Db’s. Outside of poorly recorded music or bad copies everything sounds great.
Lastly, I was doing some ironing on Friday and so I unhooked from the system and went direct from my Sony DAP, the NW-ZX300. I used balanced out in low gain. The volume stayed around 62, out of 120. Really nice sound, but not quite as full or bassy as the full system, which is to be expected.
After just two weeks, I may still be in the shiny new phase, but I LOVE these things! I am also very curious about Kennerton open headphones now
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I have to admit that I was kind of hoping that you might not like them so much so that you would put them up for sale on CAM lol. I have been wanting to get these for while but I have too many headphones to justify buying them at full price. Current have the Clear Mg’s, Pioneer Monitor SE-5, and the Verum 1 mk 2 in my current listening rotation. Picked up the Verum’s in a trade. Hesitant to do so based on the reputation of the maker as I definitely do not approve of his views.
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I hear you as I am trying to whittle my collection down. I have two sets on CAM and may well put two more sets up by Christmas.
The Verums did interest me, but I have decided to steer wide, new or used.
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I get everything you said. I have had to talk myself down from a variety of purchases. I recently purchased the Feliks Echo Mk II and I’m loving it. At some point you just have to enjoy what you have, though I’m pretty sure I’ll get the LSA HP-2 at some point. It’s pretty much the only thing I feel that I might really like to add.
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Yeah, the HP-1 from LSA have pretty decent reviews and some raving ones too. Open back, love to try but have too many sets already for my $$$. And the closed back is where I need to stay, I keep repeating that and I’ll be fine. 
Cheers
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This basshead is very happy! lol, they do need a bit of EQ to get there for me though. Here is my EQ curve for the HP-2:
When i want that intense sub-bass rumble i go to my LCD-X, but for punchy kickdrums the HP-2 is awesome.
I am a basshead but if the set can’t deliver everything else + bass then it is a big NO for me, the HP-2 does everything extremely well!
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I think a lot of bassheads want that booming, thumping and rumble.
I am not a basshead, so I likely shouldn’t be speaking for them, but I “think” they would be much happier with the Cascades than these.
I now find that the HP-2’s are probably my most complete headphone. I am currently listening to my HE6se V2’s and two thoughts are going through my head:
- Tons of bass sound (I have boost boost jacked though)
And - The HP-2’s are So much cleaner and So much more clear.
I put on my HD660’s briefly and there was just nothing there. I have always found them very clear, neutral and transparent. I had thought that it would be interesting to compare the two, clarity wise. But after the body and depth provided by the HP-2’s and the HE6se’s, they sound painfully thin.
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Yep i agree with everything you said there, i also feel like most bassheads could not care less about soundstage, clarity, detail retrieval, etc 
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Why stop there? Get the diamond. It’s on b-stock sale currently….
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This. This is the description. I lost interest in other over ears because of this.
What surprises me is you are getting more clarity than the he6se. I didn’t have them back to back but those and the arya were way up there in clarity.
Drop ether cx beat the hp-2 in clarity for me, but not necessarily detail which is interesting. And those I did have back to back.
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As of yesterday (11-15) trebuchet had five pair, only the coloring of the finish is the reason for “B” stock. $1499 US. Wow.
I’m missing my HP-2a’ as I’m out of town until 12/3. Miss the music…
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They have outstanding clarity, right down to the bass. Incredibly impressive! I am used to moderate improvements as I go up the ladder. These are Not that.
And yes, they make the HE6se’s and Every thing else sound dull in comparison.
I put my T60 Argons on today and am enjoying them greatly. I wouldn’t dare do A-B tesing though. 
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So verdict: Any point in me getting an elex when I have the hp-2? Why would I want to use an elex over the hp-2?
No. I do love a good open back, but the HP-2’s are very open for closed backs. When I A-B’d them, the HP-2’s sounded much cleaner and more clear. Of course they have different kinds of bass.
I will wait at least another week or two before I try the Elex’s again. The quick head to head was not flattering to them.
So far, I think the HD660’s are going to go as they don’t bring anything special to the game. All my headphones now have a much higher standard to meet.
Now I have to go through my whole collection with different expectations.
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The hp-2 has been described to me as a super sennheiser (don’t remember if it was 650 or 660). I have never heard a sennheiser, so I can’t comment on it.
Gonna avoid the elex for now. Might try the celestee, but knowing focal narrow soundstage, I am not confident.
The HD660’s are my sixth, and last, set of Sennheiser headphones. I find them all too thin, too transparent, too neutral. I just don’t care for their house sound. Much like Audeze, although I have limited experience with them. No urge to go farther.
How about the Focal Clear? I have been curious about them for a long time, but will likely buy used. I am thinking OG Clear Pro. Love the red.
Have you ever tried a Grado? The cheap ones can be a little bright, but I Love my GH2’s.
I think the LSA HP-2’s may beat all of my current headphones head to head. But I do crave variety and will always own several models with different sound signatures.
I have had the HP-2 Ultra for over a year now. If you want to fix the comfort and make them sound slightly better then just get a pair of Ori pads from ZMF. If you get those pads then you don’t need to bend the headband and it will almost eliminate the sounds the headband can make too.
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The lcd-xc is worth a demo in a shop. It breaks the rules of audeze. That said, hp-2 over it anytime. It’s just one of the two over ear planars I genuinely like. The other being the drop ether cx I always mention. Next planar I really like is timeless. And I like that more than either of those because of the fun tuning.
Thus far, I am not an open back fan. Isolation is highly underrated in my opinion. In any environment, isolation puts the spotlight on the output of the headphone. Once I realized this, I kind of lost interest in open backs. An equally capable closed back ends up being better for me. I would love to compare it, but it would be more of a review and return thing most likely. No way I can justify the cost without a big jump over hp-2. Which I don’t anticipate based on peoples feedback vs elex and og clear.
Nope. I should though.
I don’t. I like having the right headphone for functional purposes, but I really only need a few headphones in my collection to accomplish that. A good IEM or two (something I wouldn’t care if it fell into a pool and a good one) and a fun over ear. I can see myself adding a more neutral headphone back into the collection. Just cause of excessive clarity, but it wouldn’t get used much as all the ones I like are not very mobile friendly. And since I am not happy with desktop sources…. Here we are.
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I have universe leather and they work as well. But something about the stock pads always brings me back to them. I think no screen at all seems to be good on the hp-2.