glenda
Whoops, I was banned before.
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Is Symphone's closed for the Holidays? Anyone heard from Ryydon recently ?
Symphones Magnum upgrade for Grado SR325 and Alessandro MS2
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sluker
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sluker
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It's also known as a Dark Voice 339.
it's made by the guy who used to design the Dark Voice amps but went on his own. Very transparent, dual mono design, can handle some of the planar headphones (lcd2, HE-500...).
Best place to learn more is a thread here under Dark Voice 339. To order one you would need to get in touch with the maker.
it's made by the guy who used to design the Dark Voice amps but went on his own. Very transparent, dual mono design, can handle some of the planar headphones (lcd2, HE-500...).
Best place to learn more is a thread here under Dark Voice 339. To order one you would need to get in touch with the maker.
t-crisis
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devouringone3
Headphoneus Supremus
Yes, black anodization, I knew that day would come! I wish I had a job or a money income... I've just KILLED my wallet on a red SR100 and I was already poor.
Rhydon somewhere in april I want to send you my goldies, I bought them just for that and to get your anodized parts! I will ask for a recabling too... it's just that my studies are slowing me down with money.
Rhydon somewhere in april I want to send you my goldies, I bought them just for that and to get your anodized parts! I will ask for a recabling too... it's just that my studies are slowing me down with money.
fray92
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I notice that my SR325is has been laid on my desk for a long time and i think that i will be a good opportunity to upgrade it to magnum.
Can someone please provide me a link for the comparison between the stock SR325is and the recent v4 magnum one?
I only review could be found belong to Currawong, i would like to have more opinion about this.
If i send it to Symphones now, will it be modded with the v4 driver?
Btw, have anyone tried the mod "MS1000-MS2000-MSUltimate" on these magnum cans?
Can someone please provide me a link for the comparison between the stock SR325is and the recent v4 magnum one?
I only review could be found belong to Currawong, i would like to have more opinion about this.
If i send it to Symphones now, will it be modded with the v4 driver?
Btw, have anyone tried the mod "MS1000-MS2000-MSUltimate" on these magnum cans?
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Quote:
Have you been looking for a job at hifi stores in montreal recently...? It's not everyday I see someone from Quebec with a red sr100... and the other day some guy told me he had just bought a pair!
wje
Unmodified = Not worth listening to.
Quote:
Not to my knowledge at all. This past Monday, he mailed out a pair of v.4 drivers to me, which I received today. Plus, we were in communication at the end of the previous week regarding a driver color selection that I had to make. Apparently, the v.4 drivers are now available in both grey and black colors. The black makes the driver look even more Grado-ish, but the mesh isn't as white / light as the mesh Grado uses to protect the holes closes to your ears. Also, Rhydon's Magnum seems to feature a looser weave on the net - which appears to me to be less restrictive than the standard Grado issue. Also, the rear of the drivers are supposed to be marked with v.4, etc. I pulled mine out of the package too quick, that I haven't taken a good look at the rear of the drivers yet.
Nick01
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devouringone3
Headphoneus Supremus
I realize it is the first time I mention it but yeah, I bought them from Vancouverian Vincent on Canuckaudiomart, and he is also a head-fier but I don't know his pseudo. He had himself bought them on eBay from the first said-to-be owner, so I don't believe there are any traces of my headphone on this forum. I still have the receipt, it was bought on 02/11/1993 by (supposedly) the gentleman on eBay, that was living in Pennsylvania at the time, and from Audio Advisor shop, Michigan.
I never expected to be congratulated for spending 750 CAD on a headphone that was worth US149.95$ in 1993 though (*edit: wow, by someone I would in return congratulate even more, and then ask to try his HP2 and PS1000! hehehe), but thank you very much. My mother almost fainted out when I told her that. But I never told her anything actually. I wonder why, and damn it, why she got to look into my internet bank account two days before christmas, out of curiosity. She would have been overall happier in life without minding about the idea that I was now permanently 750$ poorer. I say "permanently" because, even though I told her I could sell them anytime, she knows as well as I do that when I become attached to a very precise object I take good care of it and eventually when I can clearly say it has become mine, I just can't let it go anymore. Compared to a discontinued and rare item from a brand I am a fan of (debatable), and that still holds up and operate fine even today, money is next worthless to me... because money can't playback music, of course! lol... nah there's a bit more to this opinion than that joking reason, like a psychological disorder, maybe, or at least that what my mom's think now... me I just turned my back and got back to working my ass off. Money is something you collect and trade; it is relatively obtainable, commonly obtained, what a red SR100 is not (and HP1000 drivers either).
(One less red SR100 on the face of the earth for the mortal people who don't break into people's door and beat them to steal their headphones)(but who could also just wait for me to leave in the morning to go to school, before breaking in)
I really like them and if they are to continue to live long and sing loud and low for me whenever I feel like it, I will say it was entirely worth it.
The red paint and the black grills are still impeccable and the headphone isn't dusty at all -- dust sometimes accumulate itself in the "in side" of the plastic grado gimbals, but here, it isn't the case: it was either cleaned up or kept into it's box all the time). Speaking and the 1993 box, is in great condition and the blue foam in it is not green, lol, for those who have seen pictures of it degrading..
The SR100 with HP1000 drivers is a bassy Grado headphone, and with the Standard Laboratory cable (which I have read about here was the most bassy of the two with the Ultra Wide Bandwitdh) and flat pads, the bass is "very" thick. It shocked me a little at first because it wasn't good sounding enough this way and because it was so different from the Grado sound I got used to and liked. In the long run, I my eardrums got fatigued from being pushed and pulled so hard.
I don't like bass much, personally, but I also think most cheap headphones are failing at it trying to accentuate it overly (to a point it becomes unrealistic bass) just to cover up for their inability to reproduce accurately the lowest notes. They are trying to make you "feel" bass when they can't even let you just hear it the real way a driver of this size and purpose can only best reproduce it.
So I played around with the pads (just tonight actually), changed them to L-cushes, which sounded great but it left my SR325i behind and naked, and I don't like to use this little guy with flats (which I still do, really). So I took out my forgotten sennHD414 pads (not modified) out Serge Alex's headphone bag and put them on the SR100 (yep, that's my name you just read). To my own surprise I prefered the latter to the L-cush. The L-cush had that effect of bringing the HP1000 driver closer to (let's say) a SR325i driver, judge by yourself if that's something you'd want.
I found the HD414 stock pads a lot more fitting and better sounding than on my RS1 or my SR325i, which combination I didn't like much (too compromising of the clarity and extension, when not quarter modded at least...). They make the SR100 sound FUN, and I don't think I'll ever be fatigued by them anymore: the spongy mass cleared up the fatiguing and fairly loose bass that was, in some way, acting like a fog for the higher frequencies. I realized that -- and now I want you to recall that the HP1000 drivers never were meant to be housed in such a small and all plastic-made body -- the cymbals with the flats were either not there or splashy and confounded / melted in the background, instead of being crisp and separated, just like they sound in real life. The HD414 pads solved this issue also, believe it or not (because it had the opposite effect, when added, stock and veiling, onto a John Grado headphone, of dimming the highs). It was the compromise in having 50% of the punchiness and bass of the flats and 50% of the details and the John Grado-like highs of the bowl pads and headphones. The mids of a HP1000 drivers however -- and inside a SR100, too -- were always top notch and a lot more present than on my two other Grados. In that respect Joseph Grado has won my love. ((I also owe it to the Fostex T50RP who made me rediscover and appreciate mids)). I'm sure Joseph Grado cares about my love.
Check it out, I have yet to try them out with comfies and bagels (now THAT would look FUNKY!), which I do not own:
(with the "to-be-Magnumed" next summer on top ;P )
I planned my things to have enough money for the two university trimesters, until summer where I could work again, but that 750 CAD hole in my budget means I might have to go borrow from a bank to eat in the last 1.5 months (the exams month, I need to stay alive in the exams month). And I really don't think I can have decent grades and work at the same time (I'm not fast enough, I need my time to relax and read on the internet).
But I must say I am charmed by the idea of working at Coup de Foudre, Moog Audio, Audio Club, Filtronique, Codell Audio, Layton Audio or Audio d'occasion I first telephoned in september to see which price they would sell me a SR325is or a RS1i as my first Grado headphone.. ("500, 900 CAD?(!)", "(no way!)", *types in "Grado for sale" on google*, *discovers and subcribes to head-fi*, *buys a RS1, buys a SR325i, buys a Furutech GT40...* and *tells himself he is not gonna spend another penny for audio equipment, ever*.. glurps)... Thank you, I had never thought about that working at a Hi-Fi store idea. I come from a small city where they don't have stores selling high-end headphones, DACs or Amps, and I don't know about "high-end" speakers (maybe).
I never expected to be congratulated for spending 750 CAD on a headphone that was worth US149.95$ in 1993 though
(*edit: wow, by someone I would in return congratulate even more, and then ask to try his HP2 and PS1000! hehehe), but thank you very much. My mother almost fainted out when I told her that. But I never told her anything actually. I wonder why, and damn it, why she got to look into my internet bank account two days before christmas, out of curiosity. She would have been overall happier in life without minding about the idea that I was now permanently 750$ poorer. I say "permanently" because, even though I told her I could sell them anytime, she knows as well as I do that when I become attached to a very precise object I take good care of it and eventually when I can clearly say it has become mine, I just can't let it go anymore. Compared to a discontinued and rare item from a brand I am a fan of (debatable), and that still holds up and operate fine even today, money is next worthless to me... because money can't playback music, of course! lol... nah there's a bit more to this opinion than that joking reason, like a psychological disorder, maybe, or at least that what my mom's think now... me I just turned my back and got back to working my ass off. Money is something you collect and trade; it is relatively obtainable, commonly obtained, what a red SR100 is not (and HP1000 drivers either).(One less red SR100 on the face of the earth for the mortal people who don't break into people's door and beat them to steal their headphones)(but who could also just wait for me to leave in the morning to go to school, before breaking in)
I really like them and if they are to continue to live long and sing loud and low for me whenever I feel like it, I will say it was entirely worth it.
The red paint and the black grills are still impeccable and the headphone isn't dusty at all -- dust sometimes accumulate itself in the "in side" of the plastic grado gimbals, but here, it isn't the case: it was either cleaned up or kept into it's box all the time). Speaking and the 1993 box, is in great condition and the blue foam in it is not green, lol, for those who have seen pictures of it degrading..
The SR100 with HP1000 drivers is a bassy Grado headphone, and with the Standard Laboratory cable (which I have read about here was the most bassy of the two with the Ultra Wide Bandwitdh) and flat pads, the bass is "very" thick. It shocked me a little at first because it wasn't good sounding enough this way and because it was so different from the Grado sound I got used to and liked. In the long run, I my eardrums got fatigued from being pushed and pulled so hard.
I don't like bass much, personally, but I also think most cheap headphones are failing at it trying to accentuate it overly (to a point it becomes unrealistic bass) just to cover up for their inability to reproduce accurately the lowest notes. They are trying to make you "feel" bass when they can't even let you just hear it the real way a driver of this size and purpose can only best reproduce it.
So I played around with the pads (just tonight actually), changed them to L-cushes, which sounded great but it left my SR325i behind and naked, and I don't like to use this little guy with flats (which I still do, really). So I took out my forgotten sennHD414 pads (not modified) out Serge Alex's headphone bag and put them on the SR100 (yep, that's my name you just read). To my own surprise I prefered the latter to the L-cush. The L-cush had that effect of bringing the HP1000 driver closer to (let's say) a SR325i driver, judge by yourself if that's something you'd want.
I found the HD414 stock pads a lot more fitting and better sounding than on my RS1 or my SR325i, which combination I didn't like much (too compromising of the clarity and extension, when not quarter modded at least...). They make the SR100 sound FUN, and I don't think I'll ever be fatigued by them anymore: the spongy mass cleared up the fatiguing and fairly loose bass that was, in some way, acting like a fog for the higher frequencies. I realized that -- and now I want you to recall that the HP1000 drivers never were meant to be housed in such a small and all plastic-made body -- the cymbals with the flats were either not there or splashy and confounded / melted in the background, instead of being crisp and separated, just like they sound in real life. The HD414 pads solved this issue also, believe it or not (because it had the opposite effect, when added, stock and veiling, onto a John Grado headphone, of dimming the highs). It was the compromise in having 50% of the punchiness and bass of the flats and 50% of the details and the John Grado-like highs of the bowl pads and headphones. The mids of a HP1000 drivers however -- and inside a SR100, too -- were always top notch and a lot more present than on my two other Grados. In that respect Joseph Grado has won my love. ((I also owe it to the Fostex T50RP who made me rediscover and appreciate mids)). I'm sure Joseph Grado cares about my love.
Check it out, I have yet to try them out with comfies and bagels (now THAT would look FUNKY!), which I do not own:
I planned my things to have enough money for the two university trimesters, until summer where I could work again, but that 750 CAD hole in my budget means I might have to go borrow from a bank to eat in the last 1.5 months (the exams month, I need to stay alive in the exams month). And I really don't think I can have decent grades and work at the same time (I'm not fast enough, I need my time to relax and read on the internet).
But I must say I am charmed by the idea of working at Coup de Foudre, Moog Audio, Audio Club, Filtronique, Codell Audio, Layton Audio or Audio d'occasion I first telephoned in september to see which price they would sell me a SR325is or a RS1i as my first Grado headphone.. ("500, 900 CAD?(!)", "(no way!)", *types in "Grado for sale" on google*, *discovers and subcribes to head-fi*, *buys a RS1, buys a SR325i, buys a Furutech GT40...* and *tells himself he is not gonna spend another penny for audio equipment, ever*.. glurps)... Thank you, I had never thought about that working at a Hi-Fi store idea. I come from a small city where they don't have stores selling high-end headphones, DACs or Amps, and I don't know about "high-end" speakers (maybe).
devouringone3
Headphoneus Supremus
Can't wait to see newer pictures of the Magnums.
A black SR325 with black metal gimbals and "black drivers" (I should say "black mesh for the drivers" but don't we all say "pink drivers"? ) would be the stealthiest and the most badass looking Grado... almost entirely made out of metal.
A black SR325 with black metal gimbals and "black drivers" (I should say "black mesh for the drivers" but don't we all say "pink drivers"?
) would be the stealthiest and the most badass looking Grado... almost entirely made out of metal.
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I work at one of those stores you mentioned
The prices are pretty steep for customers, but on the other hand, I got a brand new Hifiman HE500 for a ridiculously good price, which was a big win for me. Employees get a big advantage.
devouringone3
Headphoneus Supremus
Quote:
I work at one of those stores you mentioned
Ohhh, employee advantage wow, I had not thought about this either (I'll start sounding like a guy who doesn't think, lol).
Yes, I'm making it sound dramatic but most sellers who considered me as a real customer (and not just a wannabe an audiophile kid, even though that was pretty much the case 5 months ago when I craved for a Grado headphone just for the look of it) were aware that Grado Labs' Canadian MSRPs had been the same for ages and told me the Grado distributors and Grado still hadn't bothered to adapt their pricelist to our current time and economy, where the Canadian dollar is worth just as much as the US one, most of the time.
Almost all of the employees and "shop's Grado expert" ("Hello, I would like to know if you guys sell the Grado Labs SR325is, I want the chromed 2011 one... or maybe a RS1i, too, because I haven't decided on which one yet" "Oh wait a second I'll go ask my headphone guy") I've talked to empathically told me to come and ask them for a better (normaler) price, that they were flexible enough to give it to me.
Denis Leblanc? Danny Leblanc? Diane (wow) Leblanc? Hehe I'll see if I can find you one day. Soon I want to tour around all those stores in Montréal (now that I can actually hear differences between headphones, and describe how I think it feels), with me my favorite CD to demo headphones. I'll be the guy with a... hum, SR325i around the neck (as a starting point / reference... but I hesitated in employing the word "reference" just here)... or maybe a very plain looking T50RP (that is in reality a modded powerhouse
).Yeah a T50RP. Grado's doesn't isolate well enough and the drivers are exposed if it starts to rain... or snow.
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