So I heard the:
HE-1s
Audeze LCD-4z
LCD-5
ModHouse Tungston
Stax 007 MKii
009s
Among quite a few others…
Man where do i even begin.
The Stax are LUDICROUSLY fun.
Granted…the DAC/streamer and amp are $10k+ EACH…but i didn’t think Electrostatics would be as good as that.
It’s so fast and precise and enjoyable.
There’s more bass than I thought there would be.
At first I liked the 007s and then I put the 009s back on and I realized exactly what the 009s were doing. Both VERY fun.
Now here’s the crappy part. I don’t think I can give every other headphone an honest opinion, because when I tried the Stax… It so happened to be in a quiet room for once.
I brought my buddy with me, who isn’t even an audiophile btw… The very first place I got him into was to listen to the HE-1.
I had to literally let everyone else go ahead of us in that room because I was trying to get him to listen to the HD600s, then the 660v2s, and then the HD820s, just so he has a beginner’s reference LELEL.
The HE-1s almost made him cry… Guess what other headphone actually got close to him crying…The Modhouse Tungstons.
Me and him were listening to both Stax Headphones at the same time. Just JAMMING. Switching headphones. Had a blast!
For sure, though, I will say… This event has made me appreciate my setup a lot more. Cause its really not that far off from the uber high end im hearing. And that is enough for me
EDIT:
Also the LCD-5s compared to the 4z… For fun listening? I would definitely pick the 4z. For the unflattering, honest truth, the LCD-5s. And I do mean unflattering.
I’m so used to the T60RP argons which are basically an exaggerated caricature of what I like. So the first thing I think to myself is “Why do the LCD-5s sound small?”
I wish ZMF and Final Audio were there though. Somehow I feel like they would show up in the New York Can Jam
EDIT2:
Another thing I forgot to mention: They had a non electrostatic version of that viva tube amp. That’s what I used to listen to the Abyss Phi TC and the Modhouse Tungsten. The guy at that booth told me it’s only 4 watts. What?!