| In my experience (I have a few Ns, well had) the older vintage 421s sound
significantly different to the new ones. Mine had a lot less low end then more
current 4s or 5s, so they didn't work in a kick so well for me. They're also a little more
aggressive sounding IMO, not as smooth. Whether that's how they were from the
start I don't know, but apparently they can loose some low end due to aging.
More significantly, two of my three old ones have died, also due to age (I treat them well, I was unlucky). The moving coil has started to develop some friction, they now start rolling off below 800 and sound really thin. To my knowledge you can only fix them by putting a new (current) capsule in, but then you might as well buy a new 421, because the caps are just a little less.
But the old ones do sound good in an interesting way I think, IMHO a little more interesting than the new ones on amps for example. It's a definite tone. They've just lived long hard lives already and haven't always been kept well and dry.
If I were buying now, i'd probably get new ones. They still have the character, work
better on kick and bass for me, and they'd last longer. |