Comparison: Denon AH-D2000, AH-D5000, and Headphile "Darth Denon" - Page 4

Question about the D2000s highs. Do you think they are not well extended or dark sounding, or is the D5000 slightly bright in comparison? There's a difference between overemphasized highs and neutral. Just trying to figure this out a little better.

depends on whether you are talking about upper mids, lower treble, or upper treble when you say "highs"

I have had my order revised to the D5000.

nice reviews skylabs i think d2000 is a good buy as u mention not much subtle change between d5000.

Thanks much, Skylab Larry should send you the open/closed double d's when he's done with those, as well...I would really love to hear how some Vario-Darth2000's compare to stock.

I found brand new D5000s for $480...
http://www.thetwistergroup.com/produ...%20D38101.html
They are out of stock but that is a killer price.

The D2000s are $245.

PriceJapan has them now for $287.


I agree. I went with the D2000 because I couldn't justify the extra $235 for the D5000. They just seemed too similar. With your excellent review, I am really happy with my decision now.

I love Larry's work, don't get me wrong, but the stock D5000's look gorgeous; very hard to beat. I think if he had done a more sloping cut, almost DX1000-esque, it could have worked; maybe something more similar to the Darth Boobies even. I totally get the sort of mechanical look that he was going for, however. The ratcheted, sort of squarish blocks on top of the already rugged headband the D2000 is rockin' goes very well together.

Recabled D2000 "sounds" like a really nice bargain. It'd be interesting to hear a comparison between woodied CD3K's and a pair of these. They look to have fairly similar sound signatures. I wouldn't mind saving a buck or two... Haven't heard much about sound stage Skylab. What do you have to say about the "spaciousness" of either stock Denon can? That's something I simply love about my Sony's and couldn't give up.

Thanks for the review, btw. Very appreciated. You could say the new lineup has piqued my interested a fair amount!

Sending the proto pair to Skylab has added a week to any eventual date, but who could resist having all three compared?... My stock pair is in, so now I can get on with more tweaking once the DD make it back. After listening to the DD stock before I began, I thought for the price they were a nice alternative to something like AT900's... a better value. However stock D2000 are not something I would want to listen with for more than a few minutes myself (along with a "zillion" other headphones, haha).

Am I spoiled, sure... My goal was to balance the bass for starters... too much upper bass for my tastes (though at least they have bass), impact suspect and they didn't go low enough. Strange "synthetic honk" in the upper mids, a little sterile and lacking fun factor. I chose to use a V3 shaped cup (internal and external), because I'm very familar with how to tweak it. Denon has a design that's not as tweakable as Beyer, so playing with their soundstage is pretty much out of the equation. Tuning them is though... I believe I got what I could out of them, but since they are a first run proto that could change once I gather more listening myself (think V1, V2 and V3 in Beyer). I may find a different woody style works too, all still up in the air in proto stage...

I am going to speculate Skylab won't be giving up his Darth Beyers for a stable full of Denon

Denon has a value contender with it's own flavor, which will be worth owning to many (D2000)... If modding is a factor, the better value is probably Beyer, DD more of a different flavor that's good to taste once in awhile... That's the impression I got, albeit short and always the possibility that could change...

OK... I have tried my best to resist picking up a pair of these. I even avoided reading this thread for a couple of days. But, a man can only take so much before he grabs his wallet, whips out the credit card, and races over to Audio Cubes!! I chose the D-2000. Can anyone comment on hearing these through a tube amp?

I thought they might. I am looking forward to plugging them into my Doge 6210. I blame you also for talking me into my Beyer 880s, which I have sitting on my head as I type this. Ahhh.....good times...