Cool old reviews, and today, like then makers are still screwing up on the basics.
I had my doubts and suspicions about the T50RP. I had a feeling the driver was good but the housing was bad. I suspected the smaller bass was due to both circum design and the smallish diaphragm.
Ok, right on some, wrong on others.
As they come they are perectly listenable, nice and better than most orthos unmodded. I did the first round of mods and they improved nicely. I was still very suspicious of the housing and I knew I couldn't fix what was wrong with it so I went on an all-out assault.
These are now top of my phone pile. The driver is outstanding and needs no on-driver damping imo. The reflex dot is good but that's it. Properly mounted and housed with just a couple of disks of medium felt lining the cups they kick everything else I own or have tried. It's a closed, largish cup with small port like all my other most successful efforts.
The treble is sweet and extended, clear and sparkly as no other ortho I've heard. Smooth, fast, detailed and bass that is now full, powerful, deep and effortless in it's presentation.
On top of that, being circum also means extremely comfy, especially with the new pads and mounting setup. It's hard to believe it's the same phone. I think I'm going to totally cease looking for oldies on the bay, these are the best planar drivers I've met of any type. Fostex still messed it up with that crappy plastic housing. These drivers are so much better than Fostex, or anyone else realises.
Incredible, just outstanding! My ortho search is over.
