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Lawton Audio LA2000 impressions - Page 4

post #46 of 55
1/22/09 at 10:16pm
well this is interesting. although I actually cant see the LA7000 being that different from LA2000 to be honest. I agree though the construction of the denon headphones is dodgy as its only once they are modded that they are even half decent in that regard. so I sprung for a set of the lawnton tasmanian black wood cu[s in Gen 4 shape. and my D2000 are already partfial modded. i'll finish that abd re-cabl;e them with jena 18AWG myself. I cant wait to finally own one of the worlds top diynamic headphones.
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Grace - m902 - Reference Headphone Amplifier
post #47 of 55
1/23/09 at 12:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by qusp View Post
well this is interesting. although I actually cant see the LA7000 being that different from LA2000 to be honest. I agree though the construction of the denon headphones is dodgy as its only once they are modded that they are even half decent in that regard. so I sprung for a set of the lawnton tasmanian black wood cu[s in Gen 4 shape. and my D2000 are already partfial modded. i'll finish that abd re-cabl;e them with jena 18AWG myself. I cant wait to finally own one of the worlds top diynamic headphones.
The spec on the 7000 driver is different (aka different driver) with larger magnet and higher sensitivity.
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post #48 of 55
1/23/09 at 2:06am
The difference in the drivers I'm sure has caused markl some grief when adjusting the amount of padding in certain places in the D7000 as opposed to the D2000/D5000. For instance, if you wanted a level of bass impact similar to the D2000 from the D7000 (in finished modded products respectively), you'd need to put less padding in the enclosure of the D7000 in order to (under)compensate for the lesser bass response from the D7000 driver, and more padding into the D2000 as well to help even things out.

This is just one obvious difference. I'm sure markl has run into many other interesting quirks between the two different drivers.
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post #49 of 55
1/23/09 at 4:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by achristilaw View Post
The spec on the 7000 driver is different (aka different driver) with larger magnet and higher sensitivity.
I realize they have different drivers. but I still cant see them being worth the extra money over LA2000. and from the initial responses of the stock D7000 vs stock D5000 (which of course has the same drivers as D2000) that kind-of confirmed it for me. no-one was really that blown away by them. so i'm pretty happy with my DIY MD2000 with LA cups. now I just need to find somewhere in oz that will sell me just a couple of sq" of dynamat extreme to finish the markl mod on the driver housing. everywhere that i've found it including ebay here in OZ only sells it in huge packs for acoustically treating your car boot etc.
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post #50 of 55
1/23/09 at 6:20am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by qusp View Post
I realize they have different drivers. but I still cant see them being worth the extra money over LA2000.
I agree qusp. The "donor" D2000s on which the LA2000s are based cost $249, whereas the D7000s run $999, so with my cups the LA7000s would have cost $1952. Aside the more luxurious packaging every other upgraded part (cable, cups etc.) is discarded in the mod, so you are in effect, paying $750 for those 10% stronger magnets.

Note also that margins on the D2000 are much slimmer as the street price has been eroded by discounters. Denon is trying to shore up the street price of the D7000s by restricting supply (just as Sennheiser is with the HD800). So in reality, a much larger slice of what you pay for the D7000 flows straight to Denon's, and their distribution partners' bottom lines rather than ending up in your cans.

I don't begrudge Denon their profits in any way and I have no doubt that the LA7000s sound better, but given that ordering the Lawtons was a leap of faith anyway (I had never heard them, only read about them) I decided to go for the "value" option. That, after all, is one of the key rules of the game, right? Everyone gets to vote with their own pocketbook.

Now in normal times my OCD would have me jonesin' for the 7000s already but I am happy to say that nothing could be further from the truth. I am delighted with both the performance and the price-performance of the LA2000s and can see myself hanging onto them for a very long time.

My grin stretches all the way from the left earcup to the right one.
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post #51 of 55
1/23/09 at 2:07pm
Quote:
The difference in the drivers I'm sure has caused markl some grief when adjusting the amount of padding in certain places in the D7000 as opposed to the D2000/D5000.
Having done about a hundred of these now, I have indeed developed different mods for each model. Even the wood used in our custom cups can influence mod stategy.

I went through 5 different kinds of damping material (it's amazing how differently they perform), and ended up with two that I use; one more heavy-duty, and one a bit thinner and less robust. Heavy duty and light are often mixed on the same phone, deploying each in the appropriate places.

The upshot is that each phone has a different FR curve and has to be tuned differently to insure best result.
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post #52 of 55
1/26/09 at 2:32am

Interesting

As a long time woodies fan, I have found the whole thread interesting. I will need to look further into these modified Denon's.
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post #53 of 55
9/2/09 at 6:28pm
I recently had the opportunity hear Struts' LA2000 headphones while in Stockholm. They sounded very good to me and better than the DX1000 and the W1000, both of which I used go own. I'm now considering a set for myself. The question is: Which wood....?
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post #54 of 55
9/2/09 at 7:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Donald North View Post
I recently had the opportunity hear Struts' LA2000 headphones while in Stockholm. They sounded very good to me and better than the DX1000 and the W1000, both of which I used go own. I'm now considering a set for myself. The question is: Which wood....?
I kinda like the Mahogany myself, but...

I love my LA7000, which are a little fuller in the mids and treble than my old D2000 with mahogany cups and APS V2 cable, so they don't sound as recessed. My old D2000 didn't have the markl/Lawton Audio mods, just the cable, cups and stuffed ear pads, but they were still so much better than stock. I think donunus is selling his LA2000 for a good price because he thinks they still sound too closed, but my LA7000 don't sound closed at all.
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post #55 of 55
8/22/11 at 8:48am

It's interesting that this thread has gone dead with only 4 pages. Can someone please comment on their isolation? Do they leak a lot of sound after the mods as they do stock? 

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Gear mentioned in this thread:

Grace - m902 - Reference Headphone Amplifier
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