Hi guys, this is a cross-posting from the General Purchase thread, but since I’m eyeing the Clear Mg I’m really interested in informed opinions whether it might fit the bill…
EDIT: Someone suggested me the HEDDphone, which I find interesting but also very intimidating due to weight…
Now that I got a Phonitor X, I’m looking to graduate from my HD600 to a more upscale pair of open-back around-ear headphones. Lately I’ve been auditioning a friend’s Sennheiser HD800 (Anax1/SDR), HifiMan HE500, along with my HiFiMan EditionXX and a pair of LCD2 fazor bamboo which was suggested as a potential candidate to join my roster. Unfortunately, none of these actually tick all my boxes: the HD800 sounds more accurate and is the most resolving of the bunch (as I found comparing on complex passages such as Theo Currentzis’ Beethoven’s 5th), but lacks the planars’ bottom-end extension; the LCD2 sounds tonally correct and creates a scene in the front rather than in my ears —which I like— but objectively lacks top-end extension; the Edition XX is more forward and extended at the top but lacks some resolution and feels very shouty to my ears; and the HE500 sounds just fine but still lacks the HD800’s capability for speed and resolution…
So, what do you say? My price range is around $1000 - $1500 including second-hand offerings and I mostly like to listen to classical, jazz, pop-rock, soul, etc. in order of preference (Qobuz Studio and my own hi-res files). I will be using them for home auditions. Reading around for over 5-6 years I’m generally tempted by the LCD-X, the new Clear Mg and/or the original Clear, the HiFiMan Ananda & Arya, and the Dan Clark Aeon II Open —none of which I ever had the chance of auditioning— but I’m also open to other suggestions.Full disclosure, in my recent past I did spend a couple of months with a pair of Final D8000 and I also had the chance to audition both the Susvara and the Abyss1266 mk1 so maybe I’m spoiled from how summit-fi sounds like. Still, all of these units are going to be way out of my budget for the foreseeable future so I just hope I can find a good all-rounder that will offer good value at the asking price…