I recently purchased the LCD X 2021 and i love it with eq (bass boost and treble down a little bit)
My actual gear is a schiit modimultibit dac with an smsl sp200 amp and i would like to know if it’s possible to upgrade my stack so it would deliver a more powerful punch and slam in the sound.
I tried a focal clear mg and i loved the dynamic he had but the comfort was a problem (clamp force in my jaws).
I love rock, metal and some edm/pop and my budget is around 1 000 $.
Thank you in advance for some insight because without experience in amp/dac it’s very difficult to know.
ty for the advice i will check this.
Do you know the gsx mini? I saw on a post someone 's telling it’s really punchy.
It’s 1700$ but if it’s an insane amp for the lcd x i could persuade my wife to let my hobby goes in berserk mode haha
Hello and welcome,
There are some things that work well with the Lcd X.
Bitfrost+singxer Sa1.
Burson amps are supposed to be quite good.
Bitfrost with hybrid amps like Monolith Liquid Platinum or maybe Hagerman Tuba.
Or even Woo Audio Wa6, which can play low ohm as an Otl amp.
Depends on what you want to spend and where you want to go?
I don’t remember the Mini being overly punchy. Certainly competent in macrodynamics, but not stellar. Tagging @DagoRed because he owns a mini and also had an OG LCD-X for awhile.
I wouldn’t blow up your budget, there will always be another “halo amp”.
You might think about tube hybrids, i also have the XCs and they sound pretty good on liquid plats, and CTHs. I’ve heard good things about the pairing with Audio Technica’s new tube amp, but I don’t have one yet.
So if you want an end game amp (or solid pause point) I cannot praise the GS-X mini enough. It’s far from a perfect amp but for the money it resolves exceptionally well, great slam (with the right DAC), great bass texture. If you see the review from golden sound, he will talk about the image separation isn’t exaggerated but very natural.
As an owner with a few DACs at my disposal, the mini to me is pretty transparent with what the DAC is doing. On some headphones, it’s a bright and aggressive amp (this was the case on the LCD-X and a bit with the Diana Phi). On the D8000 Pro, it was great for slam and sounded warm and yet relaxed. Power wise, this amp can handle every headphone I’ve thrown at it except for the HE6SE. While the Ab1266 Tc Phi is powered competently, toneally this headphone is not as good of a match as the Diana Phi (stock cable).
I will fully say, if you buy the ZMF Eikons, this amp is terrible as the highs sound a little distant. The highs are just a lacking a little life while being present (fault with the headphone on a few amps).
The amp seems to really enjoy my LCD-24 and this LCD-5 on loan right now.
All in all, this amp out performs the Singxer and as a former THX owner, this amp does everything the THX promised. Warming, this amp gets surprisingly hot. Like hot enough my tube amps are cooler.
Only downside: they no longer make the Mini in green and shame on head amp for discontinuing the best color!!!
many thanks guys, love this forum :).
so i think i’m gonna pull the trigger on the bifrost 2 dac and still thinking between jot2, singxer sa 1 and gs-x mini.
if i can have an endgame with the lcd x and be done with it i would be great.
For something in the 500 range the neve is pretty damn great with the lcd x, although I don’t think it would offer the most possible punch and slam (but would I think offer solid dynamics and other aspects all around). Also in the 500 ish range, the monolith liquid platinum offers pretty great slam and impact and is a solid pairing with the lcd x. At the top of your budget the burson soloist 3xp seems like a real solid choice for what you are after when it comes to slam and impact, along with being solid as an all rounder, I think if you can spring for something like that then it would be worthwhile over the neve or platinum
The gsx mini is sweet although that’s somewhat double your budget, and personally I’d rather suggest you consider something a bit lower first and hear that before jumping up to something like the mini. It is a great amp (although never tried a lcd x on it so can’t comment on that), but perhaps it might be worthwhile to work your way up the ladder a bit to more fine tune your preferences and make sure it’s actually what you are looking for. But I guess if you wanted to get the most out of your lcd x and be one and done, it would be a reasonable contender. In that same price range I also like the bryston bha-1 for great slam and impact with a bit warmer signature rather than the gsx’s slight v.
I tried the LCD-X on the Mini and it was pretty awesome. Only reason why I recommend the Neve over the Mini is that the holographic sound from the Neve with the LCD-X is SO worth it. If you’re listening to well recorded acoustic music or some electronic hybrid music, the holographic sound is so addicting with the Neve.
Not that it matters, the LCD-5 sounds amazing on the GSX Mini, so if you want an amp that scales the Mini is solid investment.
guys i wanted to thank you again and especially mon because i’ve just received the burson soloist 3xp and that’s awesome to feel this energy in the music comparing to the smsl sp200.
I didnt change the dac yet because with the soloist i was already at the top of my budget but wanna say: long life to this forum with guys willing to share their insane hifi experience!
