Lawton Audio LA2000 impressions - Page 3

Every one of those shows as out of stock. So basically they don't exist. Good luck getting it at those prices.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS ABOUT LA7000

Hi,
I'm a newcomer from Paris, France
I'm interested in Hi-fi (with loudspeaker, I had many in the past) for about 15 years now but I'm interested in the headphones for about one year only;
I 'm not talking about the LA2000, but about it's big brother, the LA7000;
Hope it interested somebody.
If you have question, please be patient for the answer: there is time difference between US and France, and writing in English is hard for me!


FIRST IMPRESSIONS ABOUT LA7000 PHONES WITH BUBINGA CUPS


I beg your pardon for my bad English, while I’m trying to write exactly what I think.

Conditions of the test

My Hi-Fi system consists of a Musical Fidelity M1 turntable, a Cary PH302 phono-preamp, a Cary CAD300SEI amp. The cartridge is a Lyra Dorian and the analog cables are Cardas Golden Ref.

My headphone of reference to compare is a Grado GS1000, a reference phone for me!
Here in France, sadly phones like the JVC HP DX1000, Audio-Technica AT-W5000 and others are not distributed!

I listen to classical jazz and new tango.

It’s my first impressions because my LA7000 is not burn-in, I have only about ten hour of listening with it; so the sound must change and evolve.


Workmanship

I removed the pad and unscrewed the cups to see the phone even on the inside!
But it’s not an easy operation to do and I’ll dismantle only if must do it!
You have to take care when you screw to not do it too high because you can easily break the thread in plastic!

The stock Denon phone is very deceptive, made of bad parts, a lot of plastic, I expect better things from Denon! It’s Chinese made in it’s cheap and bad way! The only excellent part is the Fostex/Foster drivers.

The Mark parts make a contrast as they are excellent one:
The Markl mods
The Bubinga cups are beautiful pieces of craftsman made, single pieces of art that you proudly keep for life
The Jena Labs cable is very carefully terminated on both sides, using glue to seal them and prevent oxidation. The Furutech plug is the best plug I see!

The sound

First of all, I invite all people interested in this phone to go to a place where they can listen to the stock Denon D5000 (I do) or better, the D7000 because the sound must be in the same family: if you love this kind of sound but you want it executed better, then go for the LA7000! But don’t forget that you listen to the phones AND the Hi-Fi system!

Grado GS1000
I use the Grado for about one year, so the burn-in is made and I’m familiar with this phone.
This phone is light weight, very comfortable.
It have a really huge soundstage which is especially deep. This phone is free of long-listening fatigue at careful volume adjust. The bass is tight with good details; to sum up the sound that this phone produces is very natural.

The GS1000 use mylar diaphragms while the LA7000 use microfiber ones: that difference is the reason why I was curious to listen to the Denon phones.

LA7000
The LA7000 is more heavy, and larger than the Grado; the comfort is different, with the leather-like pads.
So I feel it much more on my head, but it’s not tiring or uncomfortable for the listening sessions, it’s just a different feeling than the Grado.

This phone has a well-balanced frequency response, with wide bass: it need an amp that have a good control of the bass to avoid it to be excessive.
With my Cary 300SEI, there is more bass than on the GS1000: it’s more possible to hear the resonance chamber of the instruments, their body.
This bass is here when there is bass on the record; the instruments are more defined with more body, so they appear more real.
With the good records, the bass are wide, readable; with other records, the bass are here but imprecise: you hear what is on your record.

The LA7000 give more information on the scene where are the musicians (outside, in a theater,…): the listener is more “here”.
The LA7000 have a more seductive sound, better tone with luscious midrange.

But this is so well done, the LA7000 is not too analytical or bright: it’s done in a natural way that permits you to have long listening without feeling hardness in your ear (always with careful sound volume adjust!).

There is one part where the GS1000 is better: the deep of the soundstage.
But the LA7000 in spite of this got an excellent soundstage: you don’t feel anything is missing.
With the GS1000 it’s like you are in the middle of the rank of the spectator, while with the LA7000 you are more near the musicians, in the first rank of the spectator: you hear a less deeper soundstage but with more information, more richer sound, instruments more define with bass well extended (and the bass, for me, are essential to the music, you miss a lot without!)


Conclusion

At this time I prefer the LA7000 over the GS1000

I think that the experience that Mark have in the headphones is the key that’s why he’s the good man able for producing one of the best-sounding phone and he done it! Good job Mark! You are in the good way!

very interesting read....the LA series seems almost legendary according to this thread

I might take a weekend in Stockholm for that and could bring most of what's in my sig.

LA7000

dum656 say: Thanks, dum656

I'm not thinking that the LA7000 is almost legendary, as the Sony R10 is because only time will tell to us for the LA;

For me the LA7000 are excellent headphone that everybody searching for a high level phone must consider;

For the sound I prefer the LA7000 over the GS1000 (and I prefer the GS1000 over the Senheiser HD595 I have), this is my opinion with my taste in my Hi-Fi system

My only complaint about this phone is about the build quality because of the Denon parts, the Grado and the others are far better than the Denon!, so this is the only problem I have with it.

But if Mark can make entirely the LA phone, then this phone can be...almost a legendary!!

The proposed weekend in february I'm unable to come but perhaps some other time. I would love to compare the L3000 to the LA2000 and HD800.

I enjoy Marks products! I have a balanced MD5000 w/ Jena cable and have a LA2k with V4 cups on order. I wimped out and am using a SE cable from a 7000...but Expenses had to be managed when the HD800 became available.

Great review.

Struts, I'm glad you're enjoying the LA2000.
But as a Lyle Lovett fan, I noticed a typo. Isn't the title of that album "I Love Everybody", instead of "I Hate Everybody"?

There's a freudian slip if I ever saw one.