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OLDER DECWARE GEAR SUPPORT >> The ZEN TABOO >> Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
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Message started by Don W on 03/21/12 at 06:26:31

Title: Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
Post by Don W on 03/21/12 at 06:26:31

Just wondering if anyone has experience with the Taboo and Audeze LCD-3 headphones. I have the LCD-2s and love them with the Taboo. But fortunately or unfortunately, I can't stop thinking about the 3s and how they might perform with the Taboo. Any brave soul out there tried this combo yet?

Title: Re: Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
Post by Rivieraranch on 03/21/12 at 22:34:42

The folks over at Head Fi are more out front with their headphone experiences with the TABOO.

Title: Re: Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
Post by Don W on 03/22/12 at 02:39:11

Thanks. I searched around over there and could not find any post by someone who has heard the combination. I posted the question in the Decware appriciation thread. There must be someone running these two together.

Title: Re: Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
Post by Don W on 04/19/12 at 04:06:43

Well, I had to find out for myself :-) I can report with confidence that the Taboo + LCD-3s is a very great combination. Add the CSP2+ and it is even better. No issues with background noise, which was a little bit of a concern since the LCD-3s are slightly more efficient than the 2s. The background is dead silent.

Title: Re: Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
Post by Rita Rodriguez on 04/23/12 at 02:22:51

Keep the LCD-2's before getting the LCD-3's. Testimony on them is mixed, some people preferring the LCD-2 and some the other way.

Title: Re: Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
Post by Don W on 04/23/12 at 16:34:07

When I first got them, the 3s were weaker than the 2s in the mids and highs. They had a certain silky-smooth tonal quality that I liked but all in all I preferred the 2s. This didn't seem right to me so I did some looking around and found out on Head-Fi that some people had returned their 3s to Audeze for repair, saying that they sounded "veiled". This sounded like mine so I called Audeze and without any trouble at all RMA'd them. They came back repaired with new drivers, and a new graph.

I think the repaired 3s are better than the 2s in most every way, although admittedly not by a lot. I like to say the 2s are amazing, but the 3s are sublime. The real difference is in the feeling they bring to the music. The highs and mids are back and they still have that silky smooth tonal quality. Their bass is stronger yet somehow stays in the background when it isn't meant to be center stage. I'd describe them as more 3-dimensional, subtly bring forward the music's main focus - often vocals. And they have a kind of intimacy that the 2s don't have, making it easier for me to "disappear" into the music.

I still have the 2s but they are available if anyone wants to buy them :-)

Title: Re: Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
Post by Rita Rodriguez on 04/24/12 at 18:08:39

Oh yea undoubtedly the LCD-3s are better and thats without trying them out. I would just assume they are from a technology perspective.

But when you get this high up in the audio change the situation kinda strays from that argument and moves towards whether you like one sound over an other. So I can totally see someone preferring the LCD-2's or someone like you preferring the 3's but I think it would be a mistake to blindly get the 3's. Thats what I am going to do at least, try them both out and make the determination of whats being sold and whats staying.

Title: Re: Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
Post by Don W on 04/24/12 at 18:18:40

Oh yea it is definitely worth checking both out if you can swing it. I started with the 2s, before the 3s came out. At that time I thought I'd lost my mind spending that much money on headphones! At first I was overwhelmed by how good the 2s were. But after a while curiosity about the 3s set in - I just had to see what the difference could possibly be... The difference isn't huge, by any means. And I imagine it makes a difference what amp you have, whether it is able to bring out the best of the 3s over the 2s. There are always those kinds of things to think about...

If you can try them both, definitely do it, and let us know which one you choose!

Title: Re: Anyone using the Taboo with LCD-3s?
Post by Pale Rider on 01/28/13 at 20:55:07

Interesting. I had tried the 3 at a meet shortly after their announcement, and my initial reaction was similar to Don's. I love my LCD-2s—which I listen to on both the Taboo and Liquid Fire, neither of which were available at that meet—and my memory told me that for $1945, I liked my 2s better. ;-) I tend to go in and out of Head-Fi, so I had not followed the "3 fix" issue. May have to try them again, especially with an LCD-optimized Taboo on the way.