[deleted]

Yes, that is a Focal Clear OG, but in an Elex body. Picked it up off someone in r/AVexchange for like $550, which is insane value.

 

I use the Cavalli Tube Hybrid primarily for the Focal Clears, as when I tried them out with this combo I’ve never wanted to unplug them. It adds so much musicality and IMO it’s hard to listen to this phone without this amp. I’ve compared them to better amps at sound stores and I prefer this hybrid tube amp over many of the nicer solid state amps that I demoed.

 

The Focal Clears are such a nice compliment to the LCD-2 Classics. I am a bit treble sensitive, so the Focal Clears are nice when I want to hear a bit of detail, but I find myself reaching for the LCDs more often than not. With that being said, the Focals (with the tube amp) handle everything I’ve thrown at them perfectly. It has nice punchy bass, very comfortable mids and bright treble. They also have very good imagining and detail retrieval that is sometimes missed on the 2Cs. I use them primarily for lighter sounding R&B (think Sade, Snoh Aalegra, and 70s soul), but I also use them for hip hop, rock, and sometimes metal.

 

The LCD-2 Classics aren’t technically the best headphone I’ve ever heard but for my preferences (a dark, bassy sound), they are my favorite, especially when paired with the Zen DAC v2. The bass boost adds a nice punch to what I find to be a very enjoyable sound signature. I purchased them for about $500 open box and when reading reviews while waiting for it to arrive, I was worried I would hate the stock tuning, but I actually enjoy it a lot, the only adjustment I left is the TrueBass button (which is on almost constantly). It is nice though that if I want to take the “muffled” sound off, all I need to do is hit a bit of EQ in the 4k region, which I do sometimes.

 

The 2Cs with no bass boost are a bit boring to me. They’re dark with not much to redeem them. However, with the bass boost, it gives exactly what I want for my preferred genres (Drum and Bass, Hip-Hop, R&B, Rock,and tons of lofi, and tons of Thundercat). The bass is nice and punchy, the vocals are buttery smooth, and the upper mids and treble is muted just enough to be soothing rather than bright (like the Focal Clear OG can sometimes be). The 2Cs are what I find myself reaching for the most often. When I first got my Focal Clears I thought they were too bright, but after listening for a couple weeks I’ve learned to appreciate them as separate entities.

 

I did get the chance to demo a few other headphones that I’ll briefly summarize.

 

LCD-X: Very good, enjoyed my time with them. I kind of prefer the tonality of the 2Cs. It’s much more detailed but, again I have the Focal Clears for when I want to listen to detail. If I didn’t already own the 2Cs I’d be looking for these, but I like the dark/bright combo I have a lot. I also greatly preferred the way the 2Cs sounded with much of the lofi music I listened to.

 

LCD-5: Honestly didn’t like these that much. Well, that’s not entirely true. I liked them, but thought they were a more technical LCD-X for roughly 9x the price I paid for my 2Cs. Given that I liked the 2Cs over the Xs because they were less technical, I only wanted to listen to a handful of songs on these before I put them down and wanted to try something else. Very impressive headphones though.

 

Hifiman He-1000: These sounded so fucking good. If I were to be lying when I said that my above combo was endgame, these would be the cans I broke them for. I asked the employee to recommend me his favorite phones and some of his favorite music and he played Dreams by Fleetwood Mac and Black Cow by Steely Dan. It was also my first time hearing these songs. They sounded incredible on the He-1000s and it felt so detailed that I felt like I could have been there.

 

All in all, I don’t think these two are the best headphones I’ve listened to and truth be told I figured I was going to want to sell the 2Cs and pick up the LCD-Xs after demoing them. However, I don’t think they are the best fit for me, for both my taste in music and the tonality I prefer. This will probably be my setup for some time.

 

Thanks for reading.

My EQ settings for when I do want to open them up a little are as follows:

 

Preamp: -3 dB

Filter 5: ON LS Fc 100 Hz Gain 3 dB

Filter 8: ON PK Fc 4000 Hz Gain 3 dB Q 2

Filter 10: ON PK Fc 8000 Hz Gain 6 dB Q 2

nice

Thanks, man.

I have something a little similar. I've endgamed on Focal Elex and Hifiman Arya v2 with a Topping E50 and L50 stack! Nice setup you've got going on too!

Oh I bet that Arya sounds fantastic. Unfortunately they only had the He-1000 there, but I think I'm a fan of the Hifiman sound also.

God damn. I've been through alot of headphones this month from every brand from the Arya to the Clear MG and only two made me tingle. That was the LCD 2C and Focal Clear OG. I was just trying to decide is it the right move selling my Arya (I HATE the cheap build) and just settling with these two as my Wombo Combo. Then your post was the first thing I saw.

Lock it in.

Gotta do it now! Funny story, I was enjoying endgame last night and while listening to Tokyo by Thundercat I heard a click in my left headphone. Tried it multiple times and thought something was wrong with my headphones. Was going to return them and pick up a 2021 pair of LCD-Xs.

So I had them all packed up and listened to the song later on my Clears and heard the same click. I rushed so quick to cancel my return because I really didn't want to get rid of the 2Cs, lol.

Weird mouse

Nice setup

I got my 2C's with Dekoni Fenestrated pads installed, I haven't actually heard them with the original pads so I'm not quite sure what the differences are. but I'm still so attached to them. I reach for them over the Arya alot.

That elex/clear combo is all time. My biggest fear with the OG's was how destroyed the pads look after half a year of use, so I got rid of them while they were worth something. I've thought about them every day since, but I'm almost leaning towards an Elex just for the all black.

can a kind soul lmk how much of a perceivable diff a tube amp like the cavalli would make with the clear OG vs a fiio k5 pro for example

I don't have a k5 pro to compare, but the cavalli is a hybrid, and apparently that's a bit different than a normal tube. But it instantly sounded more musical. Bass was tighter, seemed like the soundstage was a bit bigger and imaging was better. Vocals sounded a bit more present. That's all i got. Someone might be better with actual terms. Lol

Best office mouse imo

Hard to see the headphones. portrait mode on camera may help.

Nice pairing. Loved my old LCD-2C, sold due to "comfort-issues" (just wanted something lighter really) but absolutely loved the vocals on them.

Demoed the Clears aswell, a very nice balanced headphone with the most slam I've heard in a headphone. Timbre was the main problem on them, didn't like the metallic nature of it. Also the fact that replacement-pads cost a fortune didn't help either.

Might be a stupid question, but how do you know they're Clears in an Elex-body? I mean, couldn't the seller just say he swapped the drivers?

Yeah seller could have but I doubt it. They sounded identical to a pair of clears I demoed a day after receiving that I A/Bed. If they were, then I couldn’t tell the difference somehow even though I could between the clear og and clear mg

Oh hey that pair looks familiar. Glad you are enjoying them!

Exactly how i feel about my LCD-2C as well. The pairing with zen dac v2 w/ bass boost ON is just chef’s kiss. I often find myself cranking up the volume knob around 12 to ‘lift’ the treble without any EQ

Love them! Thanks again

I might have to buy the Clear OG.

I just got the Edition XS and they may not be for me … I’ll be posting an impression tonight or tomorrow

I had the LCD-2C for about a year as my first real Hi-end set of cans, and sold them once I got my Focal Clear pro OG's, as I felt the Clears just sound amazing with any genre (I have pretty wide range of music tastes), whereas the Audezes with their relaxed and dark tonality weren't quite as versatile.

I do miss them though, as that planar bass was addictive, and they were absolutely amazing with movie soundtracks due to the unique soundstage.

That's why I sprung for the clears at a discounted price. I knew the LCD-2cs aren't the most versatile pair but i love the sound.

I ended up adding a healthy amount of bass to mine because I like how well the LCD-2Cs emulate listening to speakers, and wanted a little more slam. The bass boost just adds so much even on top of that and the LCD-2C handles it like a champ.