[mbritt]

I brought a souvenir home from Saturdays LA Meetup - a set of Mad Dog 3.2's from Mr Speakers. I've been closely watching the development of these phones since the LA meet at the airport last year. I almost pulled the plug and bought them then. The new revisions with the custom leather earpads take these phones to another level. They have become hand tuned pieces of bespoke audio gear. I equate the process of building up and upgrading parts on a stock Fostex TR50RP akin to building my stock BMW up for club racing at my local tuning shop. Improving the performance of a stock item and tuning it for a specialty purpose. In the case of Mad Dog's that purpose is audiophile sound and comfort.

First impression sound: I'm purposely not listening to other phones so that I can develop a taste for the Mad Dogs. I definitely think I can listen to complex rock like Rush and Yes for longer periods without fatigue. I think it will play out that my AKG 550's will be like a cold bottle of Corona at a lake party and the Mad Dogs will be like having a brandy in a crystal snifter sitting in a leather club chair. I'll post an update as I get more time on these and I'd like to invite anyone who bought them at the meet to add their impressions - I saw a lot of Mad Dog boxes leaving the meet.

 

[kamcok]

Looking forward to the updates. I've been considering to get them for a while now but just not willing to spend the money at the moment.

 

[Gilly87]

I was glad for the chance to hear the Mad Dogs too, they definitely outclassed anything I've owned thus far. I demo'd the LCD-3 at the meet as well and I can see for sure how the Mad Dogs garner comparisons to Audeze products; the sound was not as open, obviously, but the tonality was similar and while levels of detail weren't quite comparable, they definitely come from the same "family" of sound: both had a rich, slightly warm tonality but still showcased impressive clarity and separation. Staging was more impressive with the LCD-3 but the Mad Dogs kept pace in terms of bass depth and came surprisngly close in bass quality. The mids on the Mad Dogs felt a touch flat compared to the Audezes, and vocals were not as engaging or well-separated from instruments, but some instruments like guitars still managed to come to the forefront which was nice. A really quality pair of phones, for sure, especially considering they draw worthy comparisons to headphones that are literally 5x the price.

 

[mbritt]

How's this for an update 7 years later I'm setting here in my leather chair (see initial review above) listening to Albert King/Stevie Ray Vaughn In Session DVD Audio 44.1kHz 16 bit sent to my iPhone 6s+/Hifi Skyn through Roon to a Yulong A100 amp (newly repaired) through Mad Dog 3.2s. I'm waiting on a pair of LCD-2 Classics to ship from Audeze slowed down by Covid. The Mad Dogs have been a constant over the years as other headphones have come and gone. They don't pair well with my Peachtree desktop rig but they've seen lots of use via the Centrance Hifi Skyn dac/amp and now that I have my Yulong amp back from repair they are doing main music headphone duty. I also started podcasting this year and being closed the MDs work well for that and for video work. But man do they still shine with the right amplification and music.

Sometimes, blues rock can get fatiguing to listen too when bombarded with a wall of electric guitar riffs. In this rig the Mad Dogs tame the shrill notes and give a nice weight to the base without being muddy. Dod I mention how comfortable they are to wear for hours at a time?

I've read all the main LCD-2 Classic threads and started wondering what I initially said about the Mad Dogs on my head right now. I came across this post of mine and realized two things. First, I never came back to update it like I said I would and second, I can't believe how my writing has changed. I still write conversationally but I definitely use less flourish. Cold Corona or cognac?!? I actually don't remeber writing that and wouldn't have attributed it to myself. So here's a pandemic challenge for long time Head-fiers. Go back and read and update one of your old posts to reflect how your tastes have or have't changed.

 

[NigelJ]

...First, I never came back to update...

Well you did say you would post the update after you had more time on them, you didn't say how much time.

 

[mbritt]

Ha! You're right about that. It made me wonder how many times that happens after initial reviews.