[nickchen]

That must be an interesting reading for our RD, as he will have 2 (!) of those beasts soon...

 

[iQEM]

 
Quote:

Smeggy has
 
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/111193/orthodynamic-roundup/4740#post_4746699

 
look nice, do smeggy still has it Kabeer ?

 
Quote:

That must be an interesting reading for our RD, as he will have 2 (!) of those beasts soon...

indeed, lets wait for RD's impression about those two...

 

[EddieE]

I think the key words here are "stock formation".
 
You can take an HP-1 driver, throw away the shell and start again and it can go from an average mid-fi offering (and I do mean with traditional damping applied as I had to mine) to just a couple of rungs below the LCD-2s and HE5LEs of the world, so I'd never say for sure any vintage ortho cannot be more than it seems.
 
If a T50v1 or clone starts off as exceptional without any tinkering, it's scary to think how far it could go if it too was reimangined from stock.
 
Of course at the same time, maybe its already at its potential. Time will tell.

 

[dBel84]

EddieE , when you finally get together with Kabeer, I would be interested in your take on the venerable Wharfedale isodynamic. To my ears it started of great and after placing it in the wood cups, it is just phenomenal. I don't get thrilled by soundstage in headphones and these present a pretty focused image but just mindboggling how good they are. In the past I always kept the K501 as a reference against which to measure damping efforts. The ortho's while superior to the K501 were always in a ballpark where the specifics could be compared. The wharfedales make the K501 sound like a cheap DJ can and just no comparison is possible due to this disparity. 
 
I still have 2 large drivers which need tinkering, just need the time to devote to it. House renovating is taking precedence. 
 
..dB

 

[nickchen]

I've had similar thoughts, Eddie. I don't know what is all still achievable with the RP18, but already now with my work-to-rule pad- and damping scheme I don't miss much.
 
Your HP1 and other more common models have one advantage though: It already sounds fairly good at low volume levels - those big T50v1 systems need quite a bit juice before they become fully awake. That issue is so distinctive that I regard it as almost as unusable for the 80 dB bat ears fraction. I personally like a bit roar, so I don't care...

 

[Kabeer]

     Quote:

look nice, do smeggy still has it Kabeer ?

Not sure actually.
 

 
Quote:

EddieE , when you finally get together with Kabeer, I would be interested in your take on the venerable Wharfedale isodynamic

Well my Wharfie is still just bare drivers with earpads on them . I barely have time these days for anything :/.
 
 

 

[rhythmdevils]

Quote:

indeed, lets wait for RD's impression about those two...

I'll let you guys know what I think, I cant wait.  I'm not sure what is happening, it's a bit strange to have 2 show up like that on the same day.  But if/when I sell one of them, I'll keep it in the "ortho family" here. 

 

[EddieE]

Before the topic shifts too far away from them, can a W11 pad owner tell me what diameter base they have and where can they be sourced from for Europeans? Wondering if they might make a match for my ET1000 (I know its not an ortho sorry!).

 

[Bigrock2150]

They should be 4 inches or about 10cm. I don't own them but every other full sized AT has 4 inch pads. Audicubes2.com is based out of Japan I believe, but if you don't get the pads directly from AT it's either ebay or audiocubes2.com. 

 

[EddieE]

Ah too big by the sounds of it then, thanks though.

 

[Ocellia]

MY take on the 'venerable Wharfedale Isodynamic' is that they hold up pretty well. My own set give me a great image and soundstage, though the Matrix amp is on 20dB setting and near full volume. They DO need some proper power to run, which is their 'weak' point, unlike the LCD-2s. But opinion I can garner suggests that they are not TOO far off the Audez'es.
I can't comment; but it HAS saved me $995 outlay!
Recent eBay activity here in U.K. suggests that Wharfies are still sought after. £97+ this weekend for ragged pair ($150-ish) Hopefully mine keep going!
 
Quote:

EddieE , when you finally get together with Kabeer, I would be interested in your take on the venerable Wharfedale isodynamic. To my ears it started of great and after placing it in the wood cups, it is just phenomenal. I don't get thrilled by soundstage in headphones and these present a pretty focused image but just mindboggling how good they are. In the past I always kept the K501 as a reference against which to measure damping efforts. The ortho's while superior to the K501 were always in a ballpark where the specifics could be compared. The wharfedales make the K501 sound like a cheap DJ can and just no comparison is possible due to this disparity. 
 
I still have 2 large drivers which need tinkering, just need the time to devote to it. House renovating is taking precedence. 
 
..dB

 

 

[apatN]

Can anyone tell me something about the Kenwood KH-33? I have a possibility to buy one. I don't believe they are orthos but in this thread some of the most knowledgeable head-fiers can be found.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Quote:

got it, Brian !

i will offer him some beverages of choice and sweet talk him a lot if i like how it sound, hopefully better than mine...
as before, i always be your biggest fans for damping schemes on YH100 Questa's..
hopefully his NAD mod ala BMF shocking me alot, like when i heard his YH100 BMF's mod...
too bad even i like his NAD + have additional materials from you, i still miss 1 or 2 item to replicate 100%...
yup, i'm still using the stock supraural pads & cable..i plan to try an eksperimen with Koss pads, MV1 to be exact...
still otw, purchase em from Koss sites, hopefully it bring more comfort & refine better than the stock one...
the W11jpn are too hard for me to buy/purchase, not to mention the price are not cheap (for me)... lol

 
Thanks man, that really means a lot to me.  I hope the Koss pads help.  I should order a set and try them just for comparison too.
 
I'll just come out and clarify a couple of points on the RP18s versus the LCD-2s.  If you hear resonances or peaks in the LCD-2s which several peeps have heard, then you will probably enjoy the RP18s far more than the LCD-2s especially when the costs are factored it.  From a straight technical perspective, assuming you don't hear the resonances, then the LCD-2s are superior unless you prefer a brighter headphone, which the Kapton RP18s can be tuned to be, while still keeping the bass. 
 
Finally with regards to how much more can we get out of the RP18s, I haven't hit the end of the line yet.  I've been tuning and trialing mine for almost two years and continue to hear improvements, though my focus is now on widening the stage while keeping the sound signature I love right now.  Custom cups will definitely tale them up another level and I have a design for a cup that will require a four piece mold for a composite layup.  My total costs for this R&D will probably exceed a pair a new LCD-2s, but for me it has bigger applications WRT to mold design and scalability to other drivers, so I'm pursuing it, though very slowly ATM as I'm also doing a lot of home renovations that suck up $$$$ at a time. 
 
 


Quote:

Can anyone tell me something about the Kenwood KH-33? I have a possibility to buy one. I don't believe they are orthos but in this thread some of the most knowledgeable head-fiers can be found.

I have a set that arrived from Germany in bad shape.  Then I scored a mint set.  They are Mylar dynamic drivers like Koss KSC-75s or Grado style.  Even stock they are an enjoyable headphone, one of two or three dynamics I still enjoy.  I'm going to try transplanting Koss KSC-75 drivers into my original pair and then I might move MB Quart drivers into them, but I think the Quart drivers are better suited to a full custom.  I say grab them and enjoy a very comfortable can.
 
 
 

 

[apatN]

Thanks BF! Unfortunately I saw pictures of the Kenwood after I posted that. Pads are in a pretty bad shape.

 

[BoilermakerFan]

Quote:

Thanks BF! Unfortunately I saw pictures of the Kenwood after I posted that. Pads are in a pretty bad shape.

Koss R10 pads are $5 and fit very well, I think the Senn HD25 pleathers will work too, but haven't tried them yet.  The HD25 pads are a little trickier and may have a detrimental effect on the sound sig. 
 
Oh yeah, I wouldn't pay more than $50 delivered for the KH33 and since the pads are rough, I'd lower that to $40 or 35Euro.  They're a fun headphone, but definitely not HiFi.  I still like them better than all current Grados up through the RS-1s though.  They don't butcher female voices like the Grados do.