The vintage Ortho thread

I've owned the HE400, listened to HE6, LCD2/3/x but eventually setteled down with modded HP1. The modern orthos are very very mediocre technically.
Not that dynamics are any better, stock HD650 from Lehmann BCL sounded awful. HD800 was pretty good though if u get past brightness.

 

It is only because those were the HM5 pads I had - the edge that holds the pad to the cup was replaced with thin inner tubing and provides a nice snug fit , the pads themselves are not hybrid or modified in any other way.

They do need tuning with new pads, I just couldn't stand the original pads ( have 4 pairs sitting in a tub ) , the hifiman pads create a false cavernous sound unless you add a piece of closed cell foam as a spacer. (and address the damping)

..dB

 

Well, it seems to me that modding any HP has become a necessity to extract more from it. To my ears, the Yammies that you sent me sounded a bit closed-in with less resolution compared to my modded HD800. Stock HD 650 became a helluva lot better after the SBAF mods.

 

i really loved the yamaha hp1 headphone. was able audition some good mount years ago by a kind older fellow who also kindly sold his 240df's to me cheaply. he told me he only modded hem to tame midbass down a bit but, when i listened them, i used them a lot. very good planers and probably one few from vintage era i would love to own.

 

About T20v1, its one fostex Ortho I haven't tried myself but I remember some people getting nice results with O2 pads. And not sure if they are still available but I had pretty good results with other fostex planars using the ATH W11jpn earpads. These are supraaural but much more open sounding and comfortable.
@Koth Ganesh : The yh100 you tried was still in the process of being modded. I only lent it to Abhishek because he didn't have a headphone at that time. It sounds much much better now. I was actually thinking of sending it on a loaner tour if there's interest.
P.S. - The fact that you are even comparing it to hd800 in terms of resolution is a bit of win in itself.

 

Guru: Thanks for the clarification. I did not realize that the modding was incomplete at that time. I'll subscribe to the loaner tour and promise to take care of the headband ! Let me know if you want any of the modern orthos that I have.

 

I'll continue to bash the dynamics till you invite me to listen to your audio wealth.

 

Please do. Kothganesh impressions seem to be correct, but yes it was definitely improved during my last audition. Still aniso HP1 is quite a lot better in all aspects. The fact that I had to invest ~ 1hr to find out what HD800 does better than the aniso HP1 , was a win for me.

 

We want the HD800 to try on our systems. HD650 might as well. Kothganesh, only you can make it possible. We can do the SBAF thing for the insurance.

 

Alright I had a chat with Ravi and got all carried away. He has offered to ship me his modded YH100 to listen and perhaps buy. Second, I chased up the Yammy HP-1 and just bought one on ebay. Guru, as soon as I get it, I'm flying to Delhi for you know what

That's a declaration of war... I'm flying @OJneg from CA to India to straighten you out . Seriously, when are you coming to Chennai?

 

Which HP1 did you get? Hope it's the aniso. The regular version is a lot worse. Ship it to Guru and wait for 6-7 months for the modding rituals to finish.
As for Chennai visit, I am available every weekend. Lemme know whenever feasible.

 

Oh fudge ! I have no idea about whether this is the aniso or not? I saw HP1 and jumped at it. This is the kind of buying that led me to buy the LCD 3, LCD X and XC. At least I was able to trade the 3 for the SR 009...

 

Did that listing have any box pics? Black box is aniso while silver is the regular version.

 

I'll send you a PM

 

Here are the innards of T20v1 : http://www.head-fi.org/t/111193/orthodynamic-roundup/14505#post_6693727

It looks like the drivers only damped by a foam. That plus your impressions would suggest that the driver is a bit underdamped. I would suggest slapping a ring of felt in the space just behind the driver and fine tune thereafter.