[dBel84]

Quote:

Is there a reason I shouldn't place an order for the new T50RPs and place these rare T20s in storage?

akin to owning a porsche and driving a jetta
 
IMO the original T20 is better stock (and even better modded) than the stock T50rpmkII . So if you plan on doing anything, mod the T20v2 and you will not have to be worried about cold ears this winter as you wil never want to take them off. ( that said - winters are most likely similar to a nice spring day down in NSW

)
 
..dB

 

 

[SP Wild]

Quote:

^^Try sticking a couple of felt pieces behind the driver & be prepared to be gobsmacked even more.

I just hope this seemingly friendly community won't tell me to "read the thread" when the time comes and I need help!

 
Quote:

akin to owning a porsche and driving a jetta
 
IMO the original T20 is better stock (and even better modded) than the stock T50rpmkII . So if you plan on doing anything, mod the T20v2 and you will not have to be worried about cold ears this winter as you wil never want to take them off. ( that said - winters are most likely similar to a nice spring day down in NSW

" class="bbcode_smiley" height="" src="http://files.head-fi.org/images/smilies//http://hfimage.head-fi.org/smilies/biggrin.gif" title="

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..dB

 

I was thinking, because these have the round driver that is out of production, they will get rare and keeping them boxed up in storage, or am I being stupid for wasting such a beautiful sounding can?  Perhaps it's better to mod the still in production T50RPMK2?
 
Also, with the current line of Fostex T20, T40 and T50 - are there any consensus with the sound qualities of these.  According to the website, the T50 is a damped version of the T20 (whatever that means) and the T40 is a purely closed as opposed to semi-closed design.
 
Its too late, I'm going to have to try one of the current production ones, not sure which one.

 
These T20 V2s stock...I wouldn't be lying if I said that off all my cans the ranking reads ortho 1-2, LCD2 then Fostex coming in second riding solely on its seductive midrange - I have no doubt the Smeggy  Thunderpants is as good as people say.
 
I only have a few more weeks of enjoying this wonderful vintage ortho, when summer comes, can usage is out of the question due to the heat.

 

[dBel84]

And this is the lure of the vintage orthos - they are seriously addictive. I would recommend looking for a small yamaha next , the YH2 / HP2 or HP50 / HP3  if you can find one. I have not heard the new T20rpmkII and thus cannot comment but if you are goign to get a new one - go for the T50rpmkII. That way if you are not happy with the possible stock or mods , you can go all the way and TP them. There is even a "kit" cups / baffles for sale on the TP thread at the moment - $35 iirc , an absolute bargain to get all the materials needed to make a TP.
 
The advantage of the smaller yamahas is that they are supra aural, less of a problem in the heat. Those T20v2's are killers as far as sweaty ears go - even keep a look out for the T10, one of my favourite fostex - real big sound from a small headphone.
 
 
As for modding instructions, first stop would be the wiki and then use ludoo's search tool to find variations on the theme.
 
..dB

 

[Kabeer]

Quote:

I just hope this seemingly friendly community won't tell me to "read the thread" when the time comes and I need help!

Check out my signature. Click the Ludoo search engine and you can find nearly everything you want

.

 

[SP Wild]

Cool man!!! thanks.

 

[SP Wild]

Quote:

And this is the lure of the vintage orthos - they are seriously addictive. I would recommend looking for a small yamaha next , the YH2 / HP2 or HP50 / HP3  if you can find one. I have not heard the new T20rpmkII and thus cannot comment but if you are goign to get a new one - go for the T50rpmkII. That way if you are not happy with the possible stock or mods , you can go all the way and TP them. There is even a "kit" cups / baffles for sale on the TP thread at the moment - $35 iirc , an absolute bargain to get all the materials needed to make a TP.
 
The advantage of the smaller yamahas is that they are supra aural, less of a problem in the heat. Those T20v2's are killers as far as sweaty ears go - even keep a look out for the T10, one of my favourite fostex - real big sound from a small headphone.
 
 
As for modding instructions, first stop would be the wiki and then use ludoo's search tool to find variations on the theme.
 
..dB

I really feel I've found that "missing link" I've been looking for with headphones.  Seriously addictive sound quality these things.  Thanks for all that extra info.

 

[Sambones]

Hey, the T20's might be rare, and might go for $80ish, but Fostex still sells replacement drivers for the old ones. They cost $40 per, with shipping on top of that.
 
You end up paying $80+, but you would if you bought a pair from eBay, anyway.

 

[wualta]

Yes, this thread would be useless without a good search engine. HF used to have one, then misplaced it somehow. When the New HF came up, the search function was even worse than before. So Ludo's gift to us has made it possible to throw all this accumulated knowledge into one big bucket and still pull out just what we need, and that's why a link to it is in post #1.
 
Before Fostex USA closed down, you could indeed get parts to repair or modify your RP headphone, but now..? Sambones, where did you see this?
 

 

[SP Wild]

I placed an order for the new T50RP...I am not sure if it will be the ones with the newer ear pads. I hope so.  Will be interesting to see how these stackup - mostly negative impressions on these stock.

 

[SP Wild]

Some more thoughts on these Fostex T20s.  I am listening to my new obsession - solo violin with piano.  This gets weird.  These cans cost me 80 bucks on ebay - now with this genre, they sound so much more precise, recreating both violin and piano with much superior definition to my HD650s or K701s.  These drivers are significantly faster than those highly regarded cans.  The Fostex loses out in soundstage and imaging and 3 dimensionality...however I can pick out more with the fostex.  I can hear every minute shifts in tone of the violin which the others miss - the piano which comes off blurred and messy at the lower mids with the others are clearly separated with far greater precision and definition on the Fostex.
 
The only traditional dynamic can to rival the T20s in driver speed are the Denon D7000s...but the problem is their tipped up treble which renders the piano and violin at what sounds like miles away, the tonality is just far too tipped up in frequency response that I lose a lot of the full bodied midrange....where there is an abundance of pitch variation in the violin which the Denons completely miss out on from what sounds like excessive distance...but in reality is an insufficient lower mid presence.  This is not acceptable, with out the full mids, I lose a lot of the musical details - the details in the minute pitch variations in the midrange...these details are important emotional messages which I miss on other cans.  Excessive "air" kills the violin period.  These T20s are more "neutral" than the HD650 in that they have more upper mids - but a smoother upper mid, the treble is not veiled like either HD650 or K701.  At the same time as being more neutral, they are also warmer and fuller - a contradiction that doesn't make sense, but is true...just like its senior the LCD2.
 
I feel more connected to the music with these 80 buck fostex than any other conventional dynamic I have.  The D7000s costed me $1700 in Australia, just to put things in perspective.  My HD650s costed me 580 bucks, the K701s costed me 800 bucks.  These Fostex T20s were made more than twenty years ago...this is messed up right there.
 
Can you see how things are starting to warp in my mind...things I cannot comprehend. (other than the fact that Australia is a rip off when it comes to purchasing cans from audio retailers)

 

[sachu]

cool man..we never knew.

 

[SP Wild]

Analogue sound.  That's what it is.  Orthodynamics have a genuine analogue sound, with all the precision of digital.  When I keep switching cans...the HD650s come of more...digital sounding.  These HD650s are renowned for sounding tube like.  Ortho's don't sound tube like...they sound analogue.  Period.
 

 

[Sambones]

You can't purchase the parts directly, and the customer service is either outsourced or under a different name. However, you need to contact a licensed Fostex dealer, and ask them to order the parts for you. the lowest quote I found was from Sweetwater.com, but that was $40 per driver with $6-8 shipping. Just send them an email asking for the following part:
 
Part number: 1471300400
description: replacement driver for T20RP
 
Quote:

 
Before Fostex USA closed down, you could indeed get parts to repair or modify your RP headphone, but now..? Sambones, where did you see this?
 

 

[Kabeer]

Quote:

Analogue sound.  That's what it is.  Orthodynamics have a genuine analogue sound, with all the precision of digital.  When I keep switching cans...the HD650s come of more...digital sounding.  These HD650s are renowned for sounding tube like.  Ortho's don't sound tube like...they sound analogue.  Period.
 

Thats it! Thats how i viewed Orthos when I first got into them.
To me it was like viewing the smoothness of analogue vs digital blockyness/sharpness

 

[malldian]

Anyone got a link to the TP kit?  Cant seem to find it.