I owed the LCD-X, HD800S, Focal Elex, Grado PS500e, Th900 all at the same time more or less, and a few others I have lost track of. The only ones I still own are the Focal Elex and the Grado PS500e.
Has have owned burson, head-amp, headroom amps, Bemchmark HDC3 (current model) and a mojo, demoed most of the woo audio line.
HD-800S: My least favorite was the HD800S. It lacks bass and sounds harsh. Very boring too. I needed to turn it up loud to hear the bass then the upper mids would shred my ears. Think older B&W speakers. Largest soundstage I have heard in a headphone.
Lcd-X. Amazing bass. Deep hard hitting and textured. I own two JL 12” subs and the bass is better on the audeze. BUT the mids are all screwed up and sound unnatural. Dips and peaks all over the place in the mids. Highs above 10k jump off a cliff. These lack the dynamic punch that Grado have a ton off.
Focal Elex: I would buy these over the ones you are looking at. Very enjoyable and “cheap” at $700. Well balanced with no real issues. Sound stage is about 60% of the HD800S’ width and about 150% of the LCD-X width. They are not hyper detailed like the HD800S but are on pair with my Thiel 2.4 speakers for detail and more detailed than the Grados.
I would take the Focal Elex over the HD800S and LCX every time. If you put a lot of value on bass give audeze a try. The focal is the most well rounded headphone I have owned. Not spectacular at anything but good at everything.
Grado PS500e: everyone needs a pair of grados. These are the best ones Grado makes. I have owned most of them and tried all most all of them. The PS500e is the best. Throw flat pads on them and they are warm and thump pretty good (not sub bass thumb). Use the stock bowls and they are open and lean like grados... they are the “horns” of the headphone world.
For amps, Honestly they pretty much sound the same.... really. Stay away from hard to drive headphones and you will not have to chase amps. I pretty much just use a mojo chord/iphone out of easy of use (don’t have to boot my computer and main system) and don’t feel like I am missing much of my main system (when I had a main headphone system anyway).
Has have owned burson, head-amp, headroom amps, Bemchmark HDC3 (current model) and a mojo, demoed most of the woo audio line.
HD-800S: My least favorite was the HD800S. It lacks bass and sounds harsh. Very boring too. I needed to turn it up loud to hear the bass then the upper mids would shred my ears. Think older B&W speakers. Largest soundstage I have heard in a headphone.
Lcd-X. Amazing bass. Deep hard hitting and textured. I own two JL 12” subs and the bass is better on the audeze. BUT the mids are all screwed up and sound unnatural. Dips and peaks all over the place in the mids. Highs above 10k jump off a cliff. These lack the dynamic punch that Grado have a ton off.
Focal Elex: I would buy these over the ones you are looking at. Very enjoyable and “cheap” at $700. Well balanced with no real issues. Sound stage is about 60% of the HD800S’ width and about 150% of the LCD-X width. They are not hyper detailed like the HD800S but are on pair with my Thiel 2.4 speakers for detail and more detailed than the Grados.
I would take the Focal Elex over the HD800S and LCX every time. If you put a lot of value on bass give audeze a try. The focal is the most well rounded headphone I have owned. Not spectacular at anything but good at everything.
Grado PS500e: everyone needs a pair of grados. These are the best ones Grado makes. I have owned most of them and tried all most all of them. The PS500e is the best. Throw flat pads on them and they are warm and thump pretty good (not sub bass thumb). Use the stock bowls and they are open and lean like grados... they are the “horns” of the headphone world.
For amps, Honestly they pretty much sound the same.... really. Stay away from hard to drive headphones and you will not have to chase amps. I pretty much just use a mojo chord/iphone out of easy of use (don’t have to boot my computer and main system) and don’t feel like I am missing much of my main system (when I had a main headphone system anyway).