The reshelled DBAs touched down at my house about an hour and a half ago.. 1964Ears, once again, did a fantastic job.. the fit is perfect and feels identical to my Quads. Full range of motion with my jaw/mouth w/o losing the seal. From them receiving my DBAs to delivery today, the lead time was three weeks and a day... review after the pics..
In the last pic, you can see that 1964 included the filter from the original DBAs.. which was very attentive of them to do. As has been discussed, those missing the filter on their DBA/B2 experienced a lot of sibilance and distortion in the overall sound.
All listening was done unamped, from the iPhone 4. BlueSkyBlackDeath's "Noir" was the music I used to run the reshelled DBA through it's paces.
Sound wise, no
drastic changes... which I feel is a good thing.. but the DBA most definitely improved in (some important) places. 1964Ears said they verify that the original tuning and fq response is in tact after reshelling. To my ears, they followed through on that promise in spades. The signature DBA sound is 100% there, but the reshelled version sounds cleaner, more dynamic, natural, and better balanced than its former (universal) incarnation.
Bass impact hasn't changed immensely to my ears, but the custom fit certainly improved the overall presence and clarity. I can probably attribute this improvement to a custom seal more than any (real or perceived) tuning changes. Note: I got a very good seal with the original DBA and was quite happy with the punchy, fast bass. The reshelled DBA does present lower bass frequencies with improved clarity. The entire bass FQ range (the mid-bass, in particular) has better body & balance, to my ears.
The midrange and treble sound very very balanced to my ears.. this is where I hear the most change/improvement vs. the universal. The signature BA crispness is there in all it's glory.. but there is a very slight (and welcome) touch of smoothness. To my ears, the aggressiveness of the stock DBA led to some grainy, rough edges in sound.. not so with the reshelled version. Both the midrange & treble sound noticeably better to my ears. Both areas.. much like the bass.. sound more "rounded" with better body & weight. This was really nice to hear cause one of the chief complaints of the DBA was a thinness in the overall sound. The reshelled DBA seem to go a long way in remedying this.
Soundstage has improved to my ears too. It isn't on the Silver Bullet level or anything, but it certainly doesn't sound as closed in as the stock DBA did. I'd say it's slightly wider than average. "Noir" is an excellent album to listen to for this cause there are lots of sweeps, imaging cues, and ambient sounds.
To summarize.. reshelling the DBA resulted in better overall clarity, dynamics, note body, bass presence, and tonal balance. The increased "fullness" in the bass response combined with a slight touch of smoothness in the overall sound led to a more natural listening experience. Instruments have more weight and sound more rounded. The soundstage is wider and imaging improves. In many ways, it sounds like the stock/universal DBA got a high quality amp installed in each driver, along with the benefits that come with a custom fit.
Did I find the reshell worth the cost in terms of sound and service? Absolutely. This is obviously going to be a subjective, qualitative opinion but in my case, I felt the DBA (noticeably) improved in all the places it needed to and the overall customer service experience with 1964 was worth the premium.