Gonna settle down for now while recovering from damage.

My next foray would be IEMs I guess. I might just indulge in 1 more headphone, probably a flagship, and be done with it.

by default, without any amping, closed cans will always have superior bass than open cans. same case goes for my ad900, i only have bass from it via my govibe peak's bass boost.

considering that, having the same amp to drive the ad2k, the default signature of the ad2k is more veiled/more towards the mid/low frequencies. which ultimately yes, much better bass.
that said, LCD3 definitely have more control and finesse over the ad2k though, which comes at a really hefty price if i may add; the worthiness of it is really subjective and to me personally, it's on the "no" side.
raw depth/bass slam though, the ad2k still wins, and bear in mind both are under the same govibe peak amp for fairness' sake.

cant comment much bout the hifimans since i dont think i've audited them. (i cant remember if jaben brought it to the KLAV, if yes then i may have audited it  )

and yes, i do admit that my opinions are very biased towards the AT AD series, because atm it is the only series/lineup that can satisfy my needs for genre bandwidth coupled with the amp i have. do remember, AT's general sound signature/coloration towards the mids and towards female vocals are a charm of its own that as far as i know, no other manufacturers can come close to it. (you may refer to their much revered woodies)

the only thing lacking is the top/bottom end, and more towards the lack of bass for the AD series being open cans (ad700 and above. anything below are just mainstream scaled down "toys" that does not have the AD line up airy sound signature) and that's where the govibe peak comes in. high gain and bass gain, and voila perfect. i get highs, lively mids, (yes, it is very much colored) and moving bass, and that airy sound signature that brings me as close as it could to a speaker setup. (as you probably didn't knew, im more towards a speaker person lol) its a combination of everything that makes it in my long list of requirements, and so far i believe the lcd3 is the only one that came close, and in other ways better than the ad900/ad2k.

admittedly, while i have not been able to audit every setup (especially the ones lurking at home with their desktop setups),  i do believe the senn HD800 is a very potential contender; and believe me i have heard a LOT of setups even the flagship headphones that are listed out on the other thread. (akabane's woodie collection is as awesome as ever ) The only problem with the hd800 is that not many have the full setup that could bring that potential in hd800 out which is quite unfortunate. the last time i get to audit a hd800, the owner's amp (schiit lyr) was sent for warranty and my govibe peak cannot drive it at all 

with all that said, id really like to try out the hifimans too given the opportunity *coughhinttscough*