[Currawong]

Duckman: There's still quite a bass kick, a bit more than I'd like, but not as stupid as you get with, say, ED8s.  If I had plenty of spare cash, I would have bought someone's V1s to go along with my V2s, just for the variety.

 

[aimlink]

Quote:

Duckman: There's still quite a bass kick, a bit more than I'd like, but not as stupid as you get with, say, ED8s.  If I had plenty of spare cash, I would have bought someone's V1s to go along with my V2s, just for the variety.

My V1's are here for the taking. 

 

[feckn_eejit]

Quote:

Duckman: There's still quite a bass kick, a bit more than I'd like, but not as stupid as you get with, say, ED8s.  If I had plenty of spare cash, I would have bought someone's V1s to go along with my V2s, just for the variety.

I felt the same way for a long time... but now that the V2s seem to have stopped sounding different (after at least 600 hours of high volume techno torture...), I don't miss the V1s any longer... save for on really bass heavy albums--Walter Becker's _Circus Money_, or Air's _10,000Hz Legend) for example.
 
Just threw on China Crisis' 1985 effort, _Flaunt the Imperfection_ (produced by Walter Becker, incidentally) and each track is eargasm after eargasm... from the very start, it's abundantly apparent that the kick drum and bass guitar have a real, palpable presence that I just am not used to from headphones!  This album sounded TOTALLY unlistenable up to at least 300 hours... but now there's so much usable and valuable bass information!  It was boomy intrusion and pain in the beginning but has evolved into this, which I'm appreciating more and more.  Certain notes on the bass guitar seemed really peaky for the first several hundred hours... this problem is completely gone.  The low end is pretty serious, but it doesn't detract from the rest any longer.
 
Just switched to a track where I helped with the mixing and mastering processes... have never heard the low end on this on headphones sound so much like it does out of the Genelec 1032A monitors in the studio...
 
One problem they do have--they seem to have that Stax problem for me where I am so tempted to creep the volume up higher and higher... speaking of Stax, these do echo/reverb effect and room information unlike any Grados I've heard, and considerably better than the V1s.
 
I really did believe I'd put a few hundred hours on these, and then be begging Rhydon for my V1 drivers back... I absolutely hated them.  I've been listening to my MG-IIIa speakers throughout the whole V2 break in experience to keep me grounded, and I can't believe it, but hey really did take this long to break in...

 

[regal]

I have a pair of used V2's coming (if the seller ever gets them in the mail.)
 
Is there anyway to verify that they are indeed Magnum V2 drivers and not stock Grado drivers?

 

[XXII]

Quote:

I have a pair of used V2's coming (if the seller ever gets them in the mail.)
 
Is there anyway to verify that they are indeed Magnum V2 drivers and not stock Grado drivers?

The color of the screen is different:
 
stock grado: white
magnums: black.
 

 

[regal]

Quote:

The color of the screen is different:
 
stock grado: white
magnums: black.
 

thanks

 

[BaboonGuy]

Sorry I think I read this earlier in a review, but am feeling too lazy to click through and look. Plus maybe your impressions have changed since then....
 
How's the speed and decay on these? I really love my HF2's but they are tooooo slow. I also love the HF2 amount of bass, and loveee the comfort of them (funny eh? say this because clamp headphones really suck for me, big head). So I'm thinking if the speed and decay are top notch, then I will really want to get these.

 

[shawn_low]

@ currawong

One can probably reduce the bass by plugging up the holes in the driver. The ones round the sides.

@ Regal

Grado drivers sometimes says 'Grado 32ohm' at the back. Depends on what version was used for the mod.

 

[Currawong]

Grado drivers are assembled sloppily and even the sides are painted badly. The don't drop cleanly into the cups on the Magnums either. The Syphones drivers are assembled beautifully and the cones have a dark grey tint.

 

[regal]

The title of this thread is all wrong.  These aren't an upgrade,  these are the finest Grados I've ever heard.  Never have I listened to a headphone that has tight well articulated bass and life-like midrange.  These things aren't boomy at all,  you got to use flats as Grados are meant to wear and the bass is just stunning.  I'd have never known about these weren't for this forum,  got a deal on them used here.  If you absolutely can't tolerate flats then use comfies,  bowls are out for these true Grados.  Can't wait for the weekend.  Thanks for those who recommended trying these,  amazing to here a Grado not struggle with complex rock wearing flats.

 

[XXII]

Quote:

The title of this thread is all wrong.  These aren't an upgrade,  these are the finest Grados I've ever heard.  Never have I listened to a headphone that has tight well articulated bass and life-like midrange.  These things aren't boomy at all,  you got to use flats as Grados are meant to wear and the bass is just stunning.  I'd have never known about these weren't for this forum,  got a deal on them used here.  If you absolutely can't tolerate flats then use comfies,  bowls are out for these true Grados.  Can't wait for the weekend.  Thanks for those who recommended trying these,  amazing to here a Grado not struggle with complex rock wearing flats.

 
Congrats! For the price you paid nothing beats them. Have you heard HP1000s?

 

[SemiAudiophile]

Quote:

The title of this thread is all wrong.  These aren't an upgrade,  these are the finest Grados I've ever heard.  Never have I listened to a headphone that has tight well articulated bass and life-like midrange.  These things aren't boomy at all,  you got to use flats as Grados are meant to wear and the bass is just stunning.  I'd have never known about these weren't for this forum,  got a deal on them used here.  If you absolutely can't tolerate flats then use comfies,  bowls are out for these true Grados.  Can't wait for the weekend.  Thanks for those who recommended trying these,  amazing to here a Grado not struggle with complex rock wearing flats.

Congrats!, I haven't tried them extensively with flats yet. Actually, I just moved, so I've been without my headphones for about a month now. 

 
So how do you think they compare to the mspros? I was always curious what the alessandro music series sounded like since they're suppose to be more "neutral". 

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Congrats! For the price you paid nothing beats them. Have you head HP1000s?

My curiousity is piqued again.  Does anyone have impressions versus the HP1000 to offer?

 

[regal]

Quote:

Congrats!, I haven't tried them extensively with flats yet. Actually, I just moved, so I've been without my headphones for about a month now. 

 
So how do you think they compare to the mspros? I was always curious what the alessandro music series sounded like since they're suppose to be more "neutral". 

 
[size=10pt]Glad you asked I related to your impressions in this thread more than the others.   [/size]
 
[size=10pt]Anyway,  the thing about the Magnums vs the MS-Pros is there is a certain point where the MS-Pros just lose steam and get mushy.  I listen to the Grateful Dead who have some of the best audio quality live rock recordings made.   The Dead were famous for dynamics/transients.  With the Magnums a passage just goes from nice and mellow and shoots up to breathtaking levels without going muddy.  That impressed me alot.  What also impressed me was the bass guitar was full and real, individual notes easily discernable with the bass drum pounding,  this I have never heard done right on headphones until now.  I intend to do further comparisons with Jazz, female vocals, etc this weekend.   But for well mastered rock these Magnums are the ones to beat.[/size]
[size=10pt]The complaints of boominess in the bass I believe are loudness war CD's,  it is very common to have compressed/limited sub 100hz mastered rock/pop these days and on a high end speaker or headphone these tracks will be boomy,  its just poor mastering even the most respected mastering engineers are doing it.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Also another issue with the bass is damping factor,  I believe these magnums require an amp with a very low output impedance.  This means tube amps are out,  you need a hybrid like a stacker, sohaII, or Millet if you want a tube in your amp, JMHO.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]I've also owned RS2is , MS1is, and HF-2's.   I just don't get the posts earlier in this thread that said these magnums were very similiar to RS2's.  Couldn't be farther from the turth,  the two headphones are like night and day.  I got rid of my RS2is because they couldn't handle any power and were off pitch.  The HF2's to me are a Sennheiser,  the lead guitar is distant, mud with flats, so I got rid of them fast.  I've been very happy with the MS-Pros for quite a while and had low expectations for the magnums but took a chance cause family life doesn't afford HP-1000's.    I guarantee these magnums will hit a cult status in a few years.  All the stumbles and changes turned these into a dark horse,  hope Rydon can stay in business but I doubt it,  I'll bet he is losing money on each pair he modifies.[/size]
 
[size=10pt]Also the last email I got from him suggests he is only doing magnum lite mods and very few full magnum mods,  those with the full magnum mods are sitting on a future goldmine.[/size]
 

 

[volume]

Quote:

 
Congrats! For the price you paid nothing beats them. Have you heard HP1000s?

what was the price