[Currawong]

Shawn: When one of the HF admins went to a factory tour at Grado a year or two ago, he was told that the drivers are made in-house.  They may not have been before, but they are now. I found the same info about the Singaporean manufacturer. Grado is, as far as I know, a family business, so it may not be more expensive to ship their own drivers out to wherever iGrados are made.  Rhydon has either duplicated what Grado do, or has found someone else who can do that, but with much better quality.

 

[regal]

Quote:

  Rhydon has either duplicated what Grado do, or has found someone else who can do that, but with much better quality.

heresay, lets see if Rhydon is around in 20 years.

 

[feckn_eejit]

About 150 hours of burning in with loud techno on my V2s now.  I'm able to sit down and actually do some serious listening now--on all but the bassiest material, they're becoming seriously enjoyable!  The one-note-bass effect is nearly eliminated.  I can see why Currawong likes them for jazz... never imagined I'd hear the stand up bass sound like this on headphones... stuff with a normal amount of low end sounds amazing and not at the expense of the rest of the performance.  Still hoping they will mellow out more...

 

[BaboonGuy]

Dang, sounds nice. I like my bass though I think more than an HF2 would be too much. I prefer excess bass to high end fatigue in terms of weaknesses.

 

[stang]

I dunno how many hours the magnums I tried had on them, but their treble was more tamed/less bright than that of my burned in HF-2. The magnums also had a LOT more bass. I am pretty sure these were the V2...BTW I used PS3>Zero>MAD Ear+ HD.
 
Nothing about sound, but when I held them, after about 5 minutes, I think my hand turned to ice. They were freeeeeeeeeezing. Very shiny too

 

[regal]

Quote:

I dunno how many hours the magnums I tried had on them, but their treble was more tamed/less bright than that of my burned in HF-2. The magnums also had a LOT more bass. I am pretty sure these were the V2...BTW I used PS3>Zero>MAD Ear+ HD.
 
 

For my tastes the HF-2's were too distant and mellow in the mids,  these are sounding more like senns by the day?
 

 

[stang]

Well nonetheless, I think if I were to buy another Grado, it would either be RS1 vintage or the Magnums. I am trading my MAD Ear+ HD and Grado HF-2 for Patrick82's Valhalla cabled AKG K1000. The K1000 aren't in the  condition, but if I were to put the stock outer grilles back on, I don't think I would regret doing the trade at all. I just can't stand the HF-2, nor any Grado (I think) for that matter. I get really fatigued after about 3 minutes and can't concentrate on anything.
 
Just to add: The magnums were significantly more comfortable than my HF-2. The bowls hugged my ears more, with the driver further from my ear. This can't have been because the bowls on the magnums were new, because I never felt that with my brand new A-stock HF-2 when I got them.

 

[regal]

Quote:

Well nonetheless, I think if I were to buy another Grado, it would either be RS1 vintage or the Magnums..

Confused as the way you discribe the magnums is completely opposite RS1's?  I guess maybe you just have to hear them.  I love MS-Pros/RS1's  and despise the HF2s and anything named Senn,  but everyone hears differently.
 

 

[stang]

Well I dislike HF-2 (well, not hate, but I can't really stand them) and Magnums were fine (meet conditions, I am more energetic and thus am not as sensitive to harshness on headphones). RS1 Vintage are supposed to sound very nice and not nearly as 'bright' as the newer RS1's (ie: RS1i).

 

[Currawong]

With the V1 Magnums, going from most bass/least treble to least bass/most treble, the order of Grados I had at hand was: HF-2, HF-1, Magnums.  With the V2, the tone is similar to the HF-1s.  It's certainly not got more bass than the HF-2s, though my impressions of the treble could be interfering with my impression of the bass, but both HFs are gone now so I can't compare again.

 

[shawn_low]

Shawn: When one of the HF admins went to a factory tour at Grado a year or two ago, he was told that the drivers are made in-house.  They may not have been before, but they are now. I found the same info about the Singaporean manufacturer. Grado is, as far as I know, a family business, so it may not be more expensive to ship their own drivers out to wherever iGrados are made.  Rhydon has either duplicated what Grado do, or has found someone else who can do that, but with much better quality.

Noted. There was great debate on this issue. The thread showed drivers sitting in a plastic egg tray. Rhydon, from memory, was quite vocal about thinking the drivers weren't made in-house.

But that's OT.

Stang: I've gotta listen to your K1000 when you get them!

When did you listen to the Manum v1?

 

[stang]

It would be a pleasure. I think there are quite a few people interested in trying them. I won't be ready for about a month from now, as I have to burn the HLLY Tamp-20 in and am getting a pair of 40cm Valkyrja RCA interconnects w/ Eichmann Silver Bullets made soon.
 
Dunno how we would go about it. Maybe another mini meet, or a large meet again? No idea right now haha.
 
The Magnums I listened to were actually (if I am not mistaken, David/Duckman had/has them) your pair of Magnum's. We both compared to HF-2 on my MAD Ear+ HD. 
 
But by no means are the K1000 in perfect shape. Here are three vids Patrick82 made for me via request: 
 
http://www.youtube.com/user/Patrick821#p/u/1/6HRsFJYVFSM
 
http://www.youtube.com/user/Patrick821#p/u/2/Ao3aWInGz2I
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cgNe_L7QTs
 
I was originally going to get that Sonic Impact T-Amp from Patrick for no extra charge, but I declined the offer and bought this: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HLLY-TAMP-20-Class-T-AMP-AMPLIFIER-Tripath-TA2020-chip-/150468699736?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2308a22658#ht_5606wt_911
 
It has a lot more power is a lot better built too. Plus, I got it for a steal 

 Are about $130aud BIN. 
 

 

[shawn_low]

Quote:

It would be a pleasure. I think there are quite a few people interested in trying them. I won't be ready for about a month from now, as I have to burn the HLLY Tamp-20 in and am getting a pair of 40cm Valkyrja RCA interconnects w/ Eichmann Silver Bullets made soon.
 
Dunno how we would go about it. Maybe another mini meet, or a large meet again? No idea right now haha.
 
The Magnums I listened to were actually (if I am not mistaken, David/Duckman had/has them) your pair of Magnum's. We both compared to HF-2 on my MAD Ear+ HD. 
 
I was originally going to get that Sonic Impact T-Amp from Patrick for no extra charge, but I declined the offer and bought this: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/HLLY-TAMP-20-Class-T-AMP-AMPLIFIER-Tripath-TA2020-chip-/150468699736?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2308a22658#ht_5606wt_911
 
It has a lot more power is a lot better built too. Plus, I got it for a steal 

 Are about $130aud BIN. 
 

@ Stang. 
 
Nice rig.
 
When we do get that mini meet going, you can try the K1000, single ended (assuming it has the relevant cable) on a B22 I have. It drove a bass-heavy K1000 with relative easy. Fantastic on classical.
 
Never thought you'd have parted with that Mad Ear amp. Hah. 
 
Can't wait to get my hands on all my gear.

 

[BaboonGuy]

Quote:

With the V1 Magnums, going from most bass/least treble to least bass/most treble, the order of Grados I had at hand was: HF-2, HF-1, Magnums.  With the V2, the tone is similar to the HF-1s.  It's certainly not got more bass than the HF-2s, though my impressions of the treble could be interfering with my impression of the bass, but both HFs are gone now so I can't compare again.

Very nice! I'll be on the hunt for these V2's then.

 

[theryaner]

Alright, so, V1 vs V2? Reviews for the V1 were great from the start and the V2 needed a bit of time for people to have anything positive to say, So which of the two is better?