My suggestion - If you're going to go the modded Fostex route, just contact Smeggy and have him make you a pair of TP1s. Not to take anything at all away from all those other, smart, talented folks doing their own mods with the Fostexes; as I'm sure many of them sound great, maybe even better than mine. But as someone who doesn't know the first thing about modding a headphone, I went with TPs and haven't looked back. Smeggy's mods to me are a no-brainer because he has the process down to a science. And also if you do go that route, try to get yourself one of the very reasonably priced amps that are known to have great synergy with these cans, like the Hifiman EF5 or Cavalli Tube Hybrid. There are others too but I forget off the top of my head.
I spent a good long while comparing my TPs to several of the mid-range Hifimans like the HE-5LE and HE-4, as well as the LCD-2 Rev1 (although admittedly the amp I used with the LCD-2 was probably not ideal) and I still find my TPs to be the best headphones I've ever had the pleasure to own. (But it's practically a toss-up compared to LCD-2)
I should also mention though, that I was actively communicating my expectations as to how the TPs should sound to suit my preferences throughout the time that Smegs took to build them. When they were finally complete, I was overjoyed. And still am. Probably won't buy another ortho unless I come upon a monetary windfall and can afford LCD-3s or decide to try electrostats and get a STAX rig.
