I would like to add if the Purplehearts peak your intestest, doing the Lawton driver dampening and swapping out with the Ori pads transforms the PH’s into another HP. I wasn’t crazy about them until those two mods happened. Now they are “close” to a TOTL HP (or probably an upper tier midfi can) and I couldn’t be happier.I have the Neo and I agree with Marks description...and recommendation. I was able to borrow Fostex Purplehearts for a weekend a year or so ago and I did experience some listeners fatigue. Recently I was testing the Neo for comfort (stock pads) to see how long I could wear them continuously without needing a break. After 12 hours (!!!) I finally had to stop as it was 4am and I needed some sleep. I listened to many albums of various genres. I actually wanted to keep going!
The bass is so much cleaner, punchier and tighter, mids are pushed forward a bit and the treble is definitely tamed. My 2 cents. Then adding an extremely inexpensive pad attenuator ring in each pad made out of simple cardboard gives it a bit more punch in the bass.
I absolutely love the 99 classics and will NEVER give them up. They are IMO the best HP in this price range. Again, my opinion only. These 2 HP’s satisfy my bass needs and believe both are exceptional values in monetary value and sound. Either one you can’t go wrong with but you must do the mods on the PH’s before I would strongly recommend them.
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