[Blue Boat]

Hmm, $120 for these very sexy looking drivers. I'm very tempted to get some.
I just came back from demoing SR60 w/ yellow pads, SR60 w/ bowls, and SR225 w/ bowls.
 
SR225 is just way better than the SR60 for critical listening. I think they're clearer, less congested in the mids
and have a little bit more detail than the SR60. But for day to day use, SR60 with bowl pads is definitely WIN.
Smaller profile, costs a lot less and the cables are less thick.
 
Daym. $120 for all metal drivers... ~$50 for used Grado cups.
 
 
 
 

 

[wje]

Quote:

That would interest me as well. Measurements by purrin of the V2.5 drivers seem to show a superiority of the Magnums over the RS1's. But I think you would have to A/B the cans to find out for yourself what signature you prefer. But, in consideration of the costs of an RS1 over here, that will never happen to me. Maybe one of you guys in the States might get hold of an RS1 used or on loan to do an A/B. Or twinster, who owns an MS-PRO, will certainly have something interesting to say when/if he gets hold of Magnums.

Fortunately, I had my chance to demo the MS-Pro headphones in my home for a period of a week or so.  The Allesandro/Grado drivers had great bass,  but some of that Grado detail that I love was missing.  I thought that for a $699 pair of headphones, there would be more to them.  I couldn't justify spending the money for a sound that was good, but not great.  Also, for me, the MS-Pros wouldn't be fun.  They'd be all finished and there would be relatively little that I could do to tweak it.  Certainly, at $699, you wouldn't want to ruin the resale value for such a pair of headphones by applying modifications.
 
So, now, we have the Magnums.  Yes, they are a departure from Grado.  However, they're built to the same size specs as a Grado driver so fortunately, we can use them in virtually any of our cups.  If I were to own a sports car and replaced the main computer unit with one that was tuned correctly for more performance, would that mean that my sports car was no longer of the same pedigree when originally purchased?  Not really.  99% of the same vehicle would be there, but that last 1% improvement being the computer update, could dramatically change things and often does.  Such changes take over from where the manufacturer left off.  In the case of the Magnums, let's assume the Rhydon is spending $50 per pair to have them manufactured.  Then, let's take a quick look at Grado.  They have to be profitable as they have quite a few staff members to support.  However, they might also have some pretty good pricing agreements due to the volume that they purchase.  However, they probably get their drivers for $25.00 a pair.  But, somewhere in the middle, there is that "extra" bit of attention that was paid to the components that make up a Magnum driver.  That extra $20 or $25 that went into the components where companies like Grado would opt not to spend that extra money and instead stay profitable.  However, a company like Grado would take that driver and instead of installing it into the SR-325is and making it a killer headphone, they would use it in their PS-5000 headphones and nearly double the cost.
 

 

[stratocaster]

Yeah, Grado for sure must make a profit. So must Rhydon. And anybody else who has a business.
And Grado could have made a profit from selling me high-end drivers separately. At a fair price. I probably would never have taken the Magnum road if I could have got hold of RS1 or PS1000 drivers separately. I accept their company policies, their pricing policies overseas etc. That way they are waiving some good money. Even if they sold parts separately, I do not think lots of people would be running around only buying and tweaking Grado drivers. There would be as many customers buying the stock Grados as before. But they would make additional money by keeping the enthusiast DIY folks happy. They will certainly not listen to people like me, fair enough, so I am spending my money on Magnums. And I think I am spending money on something well worth it.
 

 

[GravitySmacked]

Quote:

If I were to own a sports car and replaced the main computer unit with one that was tuned correctly for more performance, would that mean that my sports car was no longer of the same pedigree when originally purchased? 

But surely if your changing the driver, cups etc wouldn't it be more akin to changing the engine and chassis? That's not to say they would sound bad, not at all, just that it's fundamentally like a new set of cans.

 

[stratocaster]

Quote:

But surely if your changing the driver, cups etc wouldn't it be more akin to changing the engine and chassis? That's not to say they would sound bad, not at all, just that it's fundamentally like a new set of cans.

You are right. But people have repeatedly reported that there are often quite significant differences within each Grado product line indicating that in fact no pair of drivers sounds exactly the same as another set of drivers. So I guess you might end up with woodie Magnums sounding very similar to an RS1 and another RS1 sounding more different from the first RS1 than the Magnums do.
As for me, I absolutely do not care if my phones bear the label GRADO or ODARG or MAGNUM or MUNGAM ... What really counts for me is the sound the phones produce. And with the Magnum drivers I cannot only enjoy their sound, but also keep on modding and thinking of further improvements/setups. That's what I find coolest. And when I think that by having manufactured every single component of my cocobolos myself and by having Rhydon's fantastic drivers power them  I have come up with a kind of STRATOMAGNUM, what better thing may happen to a dedicated modder 
 

 

[GravitySmacked]

I must admit I quite fancy the idea of building a set of cans, using the magnums, without even touching a set of grados; I find that idea very appealing.

When funds allow I may well give it a go.

 

[xaval]

Quote:

I must admit I quite fancy the idea of building a set of cans, using the magnums, without even touching a set of grados; I find that idea very appealing.

When funds allow I may well give it a go.

You can do it in steps. Get some used SR60s + woodies (used?) + Magnum drivers. It should sound great for starters
From there it's just a matter of degradoing: recable, leather headband and a set of custom gimbals/rods, one at a time.
 
 
 

 

[stratocaster]

Quote:

I must admit I quite fancy the idea of building a set of cans, using the magnums, without even touching a set of grados; I find that idea very appealing.
When funds allow I may well give it a go.

You would't regret it. I can say I am quite happy about having built my own set of headphones

 

[khaos974]

Quote:

Here's a full price list as of a few days ago:
 
SYMPHONES PARTS PRICING - (Shipping is Additional)
 
Magnum V4 Drivers
120.00/pair
 
Magnum Aluminum Air Chambers- Anodized + Damping material, each complete with 6 SS mounting screws
140.00/pair
 
Magnum Gimbal Assembly, Anodized Aluminum, 2x side mounting pins, 1x10 degree pin+ SS Rod Stock headband mount, Anodized Rod Tips, & quarter cut out for cable lead
190.00/pair
 
Magnum "M" emblem
20.00/pair

I'm pretty sure Grado doesn't sell their drivers alone, how can Symphones be be selling the drivers as a separate product?
 
 

 

[Chris_Himself]

Quote:

I'm pretty sure Grado doesn't sell their drivers alone, how can Symphones be be selling the drivers as a separate product?
 
 

They used to reservice existing Grado drivers, now the V4 is built in-house I believe
 

 

[GravitySmacked]

Quote:

You can do it in steps. Get some used SR60s + woodies (used?) + Magnum drivers. It should sound great for starters
From there it's just a matter of degradoing: recable, leather headband and a set of custom gimbals/rods, one at a time. 
 
 

 
 
I'll have to keep a look out for a cheap set of second hand SR60's then.
 
I've already got some SR60i's with a nice leather headnad and some flats and I love the sound; I wouldn't want to mess around with that set.
 
Quote:

You would't regret it. I can say I am quite happy about having built my own set of headphones

 
I guess it's a similar experience to building / modding your own PC; you get a real feeling of accomplishment.

 
 

 

[xaval]

Quote:

 
I guess it's a similar experience to building / modding your own PC; you get a real feeling of accomplishment.

 

You can definetly relate to that as I've built my own continously for years. It's just diferent gear, although I still have a long way to go with modding cans. At least I've bought a few tools that allow me to make some experiments... still a LONG way into making shells, if I'll ever come to that.
 
 

 

[Blue Boat]

 
Quote:

They used to reservice existing Grado drivers, now the V4 is built in-house I believe
 

 
So Symphones is pretty much making high quality legally manufactured "knock-offs" of Grado drivers... lol 

Is there a difference between the versions? Grade quality? Is it like Grado [ the best drivers go to the higher
end models while the ones that were not within spec were housed in lower end models ]
 
 
 
 

 

[khaos974]

Quote:

They used to reservice existing Grado drivers, now the V4 is built in-house I believe

That would be surprising, why would they ask people their original Grados to upgrade to magnums then?
They change the housing, the cups, the headband, if they also manufactured the drivers (instead of tweaking an existing one), absolutely nothing of the original headphones would remain... and they would ask people for their original grados to upgrade then.
 
 

 

[Blue Boat]

 
Quote:

That would be surprising, why would they ask people their original Grados to upgrade to magnums then?
They change the housing, the cups, the headband, if they also manufactured the drivers (instead of tweaking an existing one), absolutely nothing of the original headphones would remain... and they would ask people for their original grados to upgrade then.
 
 

 
I think you should shoot Rhydon a pm or email him.
 
*looks at wallet... only got 70 bucks ._.* damn.