Damn, the new magnums suck. Why the fuck are there dt-770 levels of bass now?

Probably because having a fair whack of bass is more appealing to more people. Not a bad idea might be for him to offer both the V1 and V2. I wonder what he is going to do now, as I haven't seen anything about the next batch being made. He has missed the boat though with all the delays I think, the LCD-2s being FOTM now.

For whatever it's worth, after a good 500 hours of shit-loud bass-heavy break in, I now really like the V2s. The bottom has lost its bloatiness and has become beautifully integrated!

Walter Becker's Circus Money and Air's 10,000Hz Legend were unlistenable up to 250 hours or so at which point they became basically bearable... now they're totally enjoyable.

On the other end of the bass spectrum, Aztec Camera's High Land, Hard Rain (thanks 'stretch!) was also absolutely unlistenable at the beginning, sounding like it was coming from one of those Civics with a pair of poorly ported 15s in the rattley trunk... now it sounds more or less like it did with the V1s, but with more impact in the low end.

If I had to zero in on one major thing the V2s do better than what I'm used to from headphones (caveat: I have very limited O2 time), it'd be resolving information related to bass instruments.

Mick Fleetwood's kick drum on "Brown Eyes" sounds amazing yet isn't overpowering and decays forever... fucking beautiful...

John McVie's bass in the end bit of "The Chain" never stops sounding as growley and awesome as it does when it's solo right before everything explodes into the end/fadeout of the song -- all the information is there the whole way through...

Carmine Rojas' wicked, deliciously grindey-sounding bass line over David Bowie's cover of Metro's "Criminal World" on Let's Dance absolutely slays...

So many goosebump moments!

Oh, and just got through "Til I Die" from Surf's Up... speaking of goosebumps...

You know, when I used to A/B my Pass D1 and SFD-2 Mk.III DACs through headphones, I'd like the D1 better as the bass was tighter and deeper... but on the tweaked MG-IIIa speakers with the X250.5 driving them, I'd prefer the SF's ability to just reach in and drag that much more spatial/textural information out of redbook, helped along considerably by the D2D-1 upsampling to 24/96. I think I will have to claw the D1 back from my buddy I sold it to to try it again with the V2s, but based on what I'm hearing out of the Digital Lens/D2D-1/SFD-2 Mk.III rig through the V2s now, I'm reasonably sure I'll prefer the SF.

I've had the luxury of hearing an album I helped mix from the first generation 24-track analog masters right down to the 16/44.1 two channel mix (through Genelec monitors), and even with great converters used carefully, there's always this huge difference in how the final 16/44.1 master sounds; so much magic disappears... the Lens/D2D-1/D2Mk.3 rig really does seem to get a lot of that kind of magic back... no clue how it does it, probably witchcraft... but through the V2s it's really appreciable! I've had plenty of "I can't fucking believe this is red book" moments over the last few days of heavy listening.

In conclusion, the V2s are a flavour that isn't going away for me any time soon. So much music to get around to re-hearing for the first time!

Ain't it grand what the brain can convince us of? No offense, eejit, but unlistenable to goosebump-inducing in 250 or 500 or 5000 hours really doesn't make sense to me any other way.

I know, I know... I've listened to other gear the whole time to try to keep some sort of orientation... I mean I honestly thought that given how hard these sucked from the start that maybe they'd get a bit better but mostly stay sucky and that I'd be begging Rhydon for my V1 drivers back, as I thought those were awesome from day 1.

Anyway, I'm not looking for any sort of conformation; here's my experience as I perceive it, take it or leave it!

Ain't it grand what the brain can convince us of? No offense, eejit, but unlistenable to goosebump-inducing in 250 or 500 or 5000 hours really doesn't make sense to me any other way.

Did your brain convince you of that?

Did your brain convince you of that?

Why do people take that as a slam. It seems to me that burn-in is a combination of mechanical accommodation of drivers and psycho-acoustical accommodation of the brain. In any specific case, one may predominate over the other.

So how long did you have to play your Rickenbacker thru these for break-in? Used to play with a bass player who used one of those... always loved the sound of those basses

I was being a smart-ass, but people forget that it's not just what they hear that is affected, but what they believe in (and subsequently argue loads of bullshit in a certain Unsound Science forum). I remember when I was a child, sitting in the back seat of my parents' car going places, I used to be able to change the pitch of the indicator clicks in my mind.

Anyhow, I am liking the bass on the Magnums more so now, though some of that would be to do with listening to the LCD-2s a lot recently. I know that, over the last few months, I've altered what I enjoy in headphones, somewhat the fault of listening with the Magnums and 404LEs a lot. I'm heading back towards liking more bass than usual, as I've sold off the HD-800s and the 404LEs became unlistenable.

So how long did you have to play your Rickenbacker thru these for break-in? Used to play with a bass player who used one of those... always loved the sound of those basses

Hardee har har. Mm, they do sound pretty cool, wish I had a couple more so I could keep flats on a couple for when I feel like thumping it out Macca style

Magnum ordering has re-opened. He is only doing the Lite version this time, for $300 and of course cost of the Grados you want to mod. I put in my order with a 325is

Also said 3-4 weeks to ship out Magnum after he gets the Grados.

Magnum ordering has re-opened. He is only doing the Lite version this time, for $300 and of course cost of the Grados you want to mod. I put in my order with a 325is

Also said 3-4 weeks to ship out Magnum after he gets the Grados.

Correction to this, $249 for Lite + all the other cost. I just ordered mine with the 325is. Pretty excited.

That was a long 3-4 weeks...

Very long, haha. There were definitely many delays. Though I have to say the communication was always good and he upgraded me to overnight shipping for free. I'm really happy with these. They are spectacular so far. I like them better than my JH-13's.

Just curious, what other products have you owned during your HiFi career?

Source is USB Pico DAC to Sheer Audio HA-006++ (dynalo, gain set at 1) playing FLAC through foobar

other stuff I have:

-Smeggy Thunderpants

-JH-13

-Rockbox'd Clip+

-AKG K702 (ew)

-Sennheiser PX-100-II

-Adam A5 monitors

-Sheer Audio HA-006+

-Etymotics ER-4P

Stuff I have had:

-Grado HF-2

-Earsonics SM-3

-Beyer DT440

-Beyer DT880 32 ohm (briefly)

-Koss KSC-35

-Koss KSC-75

The clarity and soundstage on these Magnums is beautiful. I am loving them. They are definitely bassier than neutral though. I like it, though I think on some songs I could do with a bit less bass. Mental burn-in FTW hopefully

Edited January 11, 201115 yr by LarsMarkelson

How do you like the A5s? Was thinking about getting the A7(x)s at some point if I don't build something myself.

How do you like the A5s? Was thinking about getting the A7(x)s at some point if I don't build something myself.

Doesn't Patrick82 have a lot of experience with those two?

Source is USB Pico DAC to Sheer Audio HA-006++ (dynalo, gain set at 1) playing FLAC through foobar

other stuff I have:

-Smeggy Thunderpants

-JH-13

-Rockbox'd Clip+

-AKG K702 (ew)

-Sennheiser PX-100-II

-Adam A5 monitors

-Sheer Audio HA-006+

-Etymotics ER-4P

Stuff I have had:

-Grado HF-2

-Earsonics SM-3

-Beyer DT440

-Beyer DT880 32 ohm (briefly)

-Koss KSC-35

-Koss KSC-75

The clarity and soundstage on these Magnums is beautiful. I am loving them. They are definitely bassier than neutral though. I like it, though I think on some songs I could do with a bit less bass. Mental burn-in FTW hopefully

did you have the v1 and v2 magnums before?

How do you like the A5s? Was thinking about getting the A7(x)s at some point if I don't build something myself.

did you have the v1 and v2 magnums before?

I like the A5s a lot, but they are a bit bright for my liking, and don't go low enough as well. I really am interested in the A7x, or A8x (uber loudness plz).

I did not have the V1/V2 Magnums, this is the first time I've heard the Magnum.

Thanks for the info. The A8x would be nice for midfield (if it sounds good) but imo too big for nearfield/desktop use.

Doesn't Patrick82 have a lot of experience with those two?

Why do you think I'm interested in them?

I kinda stopped following the threads on the Symphones in HF. How long is the average waiting time for this nowadays?

No idea. Best way is to email Rhydon, he's pretty responsive ime. Mine was a whole new cycle, and what ended being a new version (thought I was getting V2 2nd batch), and it ended up taking a few months. I'd be prepared to wait, but it could be shorter.

too bad the price for the lite modification is up to $299 now. :~

interesting that the lite mod went from 199 -> 249 -> 299, while it looks like the full mod has stayed at $399 the whole time?

edit: maybe the full mod price has increased as well and the website is just out of date.