fleasbaby
Member of the Trade: Wabi Sabi Headphones
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2011
- Posts
- 3,266
- Likes
- 2,108
Nice! You're getting me curious about tubes now...LOL.
Nice! You're getting me curious about tubes now...LOL.
"so what" is a good one, one of my go-to's
i think the M7 has a bit more on the high end than
the ypsilon and some of the others, without being too harsh
there's some great tube amps out there for not too much money
i'm using a little dot Mk3 with mullard preamp tubes, sounds amazing
Thanks for the review Mshenay! Glad you liked them!
Well here's the long and short of it: the V7 is the best, most natural sounding Magnum I've heard. It's completely void of the somewhat digital top end that I'e found on every other Magnum (save the V4), but still keeps the lower-extending bass that is an improvement on the Grado sound these guys often replace.
From the bottom up...
Bass:
From my 325e review, "Punchy, very textured, and dynamic. Kick drums don't sound like blobs of bass. They sound like actual drums with an initiation, sustain, and decay of sound. Electric bass through a tube amp sounds like electric bass though a tube amp, not enveloping, room-shaking bass or amorphous blobs of low frequencies." That pretty much sums it up. The low end goes lower than any Prestige and RS Grado and slightly warms the low end. Really nice.
Mids:
Here's the biggest departure from the Grado house sound. Most Grados are characterised by a forward, rich midrange. Not the case with Magnums. IMHO, they are generally V-shaped, and the V7 is no exception. The mids are just a little behind the extremes, not recessed per se, but not definitely not upfront. This makes the Mag really fun to dig on instremental music with, but won't give you quite the intimacy you get with vocal-centric tracks.
Treble:
The upper range is the best improvement over past Magums to these ears. I've found the V5 and V6 especially a little fatiguing thanks to a somewhat digital or artificial sounding upper end. I don't have the vocab to describe why it sounds that way, but I do now that I could only listen to those for long sessions if I ran them with a real smooth tube amp. The V7 gives me a really RS1-esque treble and I love it. Kudos to the boys at Symphones!
Soundstage/Imaging/Separation/WhateverYouWantToCallIt:
Pretty solid. Nothing to write home about, but not gross or compressed either. Somewhat wider than normal Grados, but nothing in the PS or GS range. In the words of Forrest Gump, "that's all I have to say about that."
Conclusion:
If you couldn't tell, I dig the V7. It's the best, most mature version of the Magnum I've heard (which it should be) and it sounds great in some beautifully-crafted @fleasbaby cups. Highly recommended.
Wabi Sabi Cups:
I'd like to make a quick comment about the quality of the custom cups that Bruce at Wabi Sabi put the Magnums in. They were an RS1 style cup (if memory serves) with a maple outer cup and a black limba inner sleeve actually holding the drivers. They are GORGEOUS. I wish I had taken pictures when I had them... but they really are a top-level set of cups. Beautiful design, finish, and craftsmanship. Check out his builds/services on the recently-launched website: wabisabiheadphones.wordpress.com
Oh I didn't know Bruce had a website, that's awesome! I was actually thinking today, If I ever get an HE 6 I might want him to make some cups for me!!
Nice review, I too loved them. Funny enough, I've got the Focal Elear, and the Elear is bringing me back to my time with that v7! The sound stage wasn't on par with the Elear or my HE 4, but overall Tone and detail were, I'm curious though @fleasbaby what would you MSRP these for?
awwww were going to miss you, I remember when Peterk changed to MoT. Still it's excellent work that your doing,@Mshenay Shoot me an email via the website and we can chat. I just noticed that my status on the site has been upgraded to MoT. Feels very official and cool, but I know there are some pretty specific rules about what I can and can't do from here on out. Basically, expect to see me adopt a lower profile.
I'll still be checking messages and threads and participating as much as I can though .
awwww were going to miss you, I remember when Peterk changed to MoT. Still it's excellent work that your doing,