I haven't seen much talk about how these sound for a while, so I thought I'd chime in. I got my new LCD-2 with Fazor about two weeks ago and I am so impressed with the sound - it was even better than I expected. I'm surprised to see that they're described as dark and lacking soundstage or imaging, but I guess that applies a lot more toward the pre-Fazor version. The new ones, IMO, are quite neutral and have great imaging and soundstage. If there's any darkness, it's in the lower treble region (somewhere around 2-6 KHz) where it's a little quieter than most headphones. It's a slight thing though, it's not way off neutral. This is exactly what I prefer since it makes them a little less harsh and, to me, more natural. The upper treble is very much there.
It's much better than my HD598 and SA5000 and makes them obsolete, so I won't compare it more with them. I'll say a little about it versus my JH13 though, which I think are great with few flaws, and I was sceptical that the LCD-2 would be worth buying from a sound perspective. After getting the LCD-2 though, I was immediately impressed and I like it a fair bit more than the JH13. The IEMs are pretty quiet in the upper midrange/lower treble region (kind of like the LCD-2 but much more so, to me), and they also suffer from the usual IEM lack of interaction with your ear that shapes the sound to be more natural. None of these were a problem at all until I heard the LCD-2, which really trumps the IEMs there. The imaging and soundstage is much better, and it sounds more transparent. The JH13 do have pretty good imaging and soundstage too, but the coloration puts you into some sort of virtual room with its own feel, while the LCD-2 sound more natural and realistic.
I also auditioned a few other headphones when I initially tried out the LCD-2, although listening conditions were pretty bad. I thought the HD800 (with its counterpart amp/DAC in balanced connection) sounded amazing with some types of music, including trance, which is one of my main genres. However, I think it's overall flawed, being harsh, with too much treble, and thin sounding. I don't dismiss this as just being revealing of bad recordings - real recordings are not all designed to hide harshness that's inherent to a lot of music like metal, and I don't consider only listening to pleasant recordings an option. LCD-2 handle any genre that I listen to well. Some songs of course still sound harsh or bad, but that's because that's how they are and the LCD-2 doesn't hide it, unlike the HD800 which I think just exaggerates it instead and brings it out where it shouldn't happen. Also, when I tried the LCD-3 at the same time, I didn't think it sounded significantly better than the LCD-2, but that could change with longer and better comparison.
