S.E.X. vs Mainline for Audeze LCD-2/LCD-X, and should it replace Crack?

[ChetJettison]

Hey all!
I built a Crack kit last year, and I've used it regularly with my HD650s. Since then, my headphone collection has grown somewhat, and I now have many headphones ranging in impedance from 32 to 250 ohms. Generally, any headphone that doesn't play nice with my Crack gets used with my Loxjie P20. But I'm planning to pick up a pair of Audeze LCD-2 or LCD-X planars, and I'm not sure if the P20 will be a great match for them. I've heard of people using the S.E.X. with LCD-2s and so on, but I really like that the Mainline is balanced since most of my headphones have balanced Hart Audio cables. So I'm wondering if you Bottlehead folks can weigh in on the issue.
I like the price tag of the S.E.X. quite a bit. It's affordable enough that I could probably pick one up within a few weeks. The Mainline on the other hand is more luxury item, price-wise, so I'd have to save up for that one over a few months.
With a collection of headphones ranging in impedance, soon-to-be-including a pair of Audeze planars which will be the highest high-end headphone in my collection thus far, which Bottlehead amp makes more sense for me?
And lastly, would it make sense to sell off my Crack if I pick up one of those other amps? It could offset the cost by a bit. Could the S.E.X. or Mainline treat my HD650s as well as the Crack?
Any input (balanced or unbalanced  ) is welcome!

[Paul Joppa]

The S.E.X. amp can be wired as balanced, though it may be  a challenge to get the right connector installed. It can put 450mW into a 70-ohm load (LCD-2) and 2 watts into 20 ohms (LCD-X).

Mainline still sounds a bit better, of course, but as you say it's the luxury product.

[Doc B.]

Either amp will work well with Audezes and Sennheisers.

[ChetJettison]

The S.E.X. amp can be wired as balanced, though it may be  a challenge to get the right connector installed. It can put 450mW into a 70-ohm load (LCD-2) and 2 watts into 20 ohms (LCD-X).

Mainline still sounds a bit better, of course, but as you say it's the luxury product.

I’m curious about wiring the SEX for balanced. I’d love to know more about that.

[Paul Joppa]

There are two tapped windings for the secondary of the output transformer. In parallel you can use the tap to drive 4 ohm speakers and the whole for 8. In series, at the taps it drives 16 ohms and end to end it's 32 ohms. In the construction manual there are directions for wiring the transformer secondaries.

At 16 or 32 ohms, the center connection can be grounded, leaving the ends as balanced symmetrical outputs. (wired for 4 or 8 ohms, a centertap can be faked with a couple of resistors.