[HeavyD2024]

I decided to go with the LCD-4z, and just received mine!

I have auditioned LCD-X, LCD-XC, LCD-2, LCD-3, LCD-4z, LCD-MX4, Arya, D8000, Empyrean, Ether 2, Ether Flow, ADX5000, HD800 S, Focal Clear, HE-1, HD650.
It's been quite a ride, with a repeating pattern:
1) getting interested in a headphone
2) reading rave reviews, getting more excited
3) then reading one or two negative reviews, having everything thrown into doubt again
4) getting interested in a more expensive model
and repeat

I don't doubt that the 4z isn't perfect, and that other headphones outperform these in some ways. From my experience, quality really did scale with expense, and there's a lot of headroom for that in this hobby. Happily, the 4z brought me to tears when listening to some of my favorite songs, out of the box, with no break-in - I had never head this music like this before, it feels like hearing it for the first time. They blow my Adam S2X midfield monitors out of the way.

I love it when a new piece of tech has that effect on me, even after having been around the block a few times, and becoming more difficult to impress each time.

I am not alone… I feel like you wrote this just for me,,, I know this is an older post, but thank you so much. I'm considering these headphones on the Used market. Do you by chance still have them?

 

[bagwell359]

As long as it's a transformer coupled tube amp it's fine.

Yes

OTLs might be less suited for a 15 Ohm load

Much less suited, My 38 ohm HE-500 (38 ohms) and HE-6 SE (50 ohms) sound distorted and weak on OTL amps I've used.