Just wanted to chime in and give an update on how the drivers are burning in. When I first listened to them, they were quite congested honestly, the headstage was nowhere near where my old hp-2's were at. The highs lacked a bit of extension and air, bass was a bit boomy, and the mids were unnaturally boosted forward for some reason.
I've got about 20 hours or so on them, and the sound is starting to open up quite nicely. Highs for some reason today are locking in where I need and expect them to be - hp-2's are known for their silky smooth yet unlimited high end extension and air and my NOS drivers are getting there.
The mids are normal and have smooth and balanced out quite nicely. Bass is tighter and faster.
One of the coolest things im hearing with the breaking in process of these is the detail extraction. These babies can pick up amazing low level detail, the ability to extract every ounce of ambient and low level information is disgusting. These things are like microscopes, but its detail doesnt draw unncessary attention to itself. To me, it makes instruments sound more real and authentic because all of the subtleties about an instrument's timbre especially with the inner detail and harmonic structure is totally captured and kept in tact. Also, the soundstage is opening so much more, which I attribute to its ability to extract detail all the way down to the lowest level. I can hear the air and space in the venue/studio, like the sound bounces off the walls and comes back to the mics, its picking those little sound cues and gives me a bigger impression of a larger soundstage.
I'm glad I'm hearing them get to the level I know where they need to be - just have to be patient I guess
