[Ritvik]

Hi there,
 
This is my first real thread on the forums, I've been around for a while and found so much information that I've almost never had to post to find what I wanted to know! Love the place and the people seem really nice. I'm thinking of going the custom route soon, and thought I'd get some first hand suggestions before I take the plunge.
 
Two offerings from Unique Melody fall within my budget - the mages (if I sell my TF10) and the TF10 6 driver upgrade.
 
I recently sold my IE7's and at the moment use both the Head-Direct RE-1 and the TF10. While the Mages have been reviewed quite a bit, I'm still unsure of what to expect from the 6 driver custom. 
 
UM's site says "tf10 add dual mid,dual high: 3way crossover, dual low, dual mid, dual high" would be the way they're setup. How much of an improvement would I see in the mid range? 
 
Any advice and impressions/what to expect from the 6 driver customs would be greatly appreciated.
 
If it helps any, I just bought a RSA P-51 Mustang from a member here on the forums, so that's what I'd be using with them.
 
TIA

 

[toughnut]

IMHO, get a properly tuned custom. TF10 drive upgrade sound like a frankenstein custom. Mage, JH5, Livewire are within your budget.
 
If bass your thing, try avoid Mage. It deep bass is good but bass slam less impact. Using it for movies not a pleasant experience. I like the bass impact of TF10P, still one of my fav universal.

 

[Ritvik]

Thanks, I was afraid the TF10 upgrades might come out sounding like a badly cobbled together set of IEMs too. Bass isn't too important. Looking for great mids, and good highs that aren't too piercing.

 

[toughnut]

Mage has great mids, good extended treble and bass. Just not suitable for movies/games which involved rumbling bass. Bass sounds thin on these tasks. Otherwise, it's great.
 
If you love TF10P sound signature, i'm guessing you cant go wrong with any Jerry Harvey's offering.

 

[Ritvik]

Thanks for the replies toughnut.
 
Would buying a UE13 and getting Unique Melody to do the re-shell be a bad idea (in terms of it not sounding alright)? ? From what I understand JHA won't do the remold. Which leaves me with Fischer and UM as my two options. 
 
The UM molds look close to flawless and they have tie-ups with a couple of retailers in Singapore which would make the whole process quite simple. 

 

[Rip N' Burn]

The Mage has very forward mids with bright highs and tight bass. Not much bass quantity as it was tuned for speed. The TF18 has excellent details in the highs but not as bright as the Mage, more bass quantity and impact (similar to the TF10), and a more forward midrange as compared to the TF10 but not as forward as the Mage. Wide soundstage for both but the TF18 sounds more spacious.
 
Edit: TF18 is a TF10 with the upgrade to 6 drivers

 

[Ritvik]

Ah sorry, I forgot to mention I sold the TF10's a week or so ago.
 
Decided to get either the UE13 (my budget permits a used UE13 and the remold charges, assuming $600-650 is the cost of the used UE's without the molding charges) or the mage. I listen to a lot of 60's rock and roll,the blues and the occasional classical jazz, so I'm trying to figure what would be a good buy for me. 
 
Decided to up my budget a bit and get this right first time around. I'm usually not tempted to upgrade, but I heard being on head-fi changes all that!

 

[Wildcard30]

I recently bought a used UE11 Pro and had them reshelled by Fisher and I have to say I really love them.