Let me start by saying I am a new member and new to quality headphones. I came to Head-Fi for research and advice on my first pair of quality headphones. Everyone for the most part has been very, very friendly and helpful.
Before joining Head-Fi I bought a pair of Beats Pros from Best Buy. From my limited headphone experience I was very impressed with the sound of them especially the bass. The fit I felt was too tight though and uncomfortable. I went online to research my buy and came across many, many threads on Head-Fi with several people saying Beats is basically a fashion statement and that there are much better options for the same price or cheaper. Not being one that conforms to the wills of fashion I returned the Beats the next day.
After much research and feedback from many helpful members I decided to go with a pair of Denon 2000's. That is when I came across this for sale thread http://www.head-fi.org/t/649291/modded-denon-d2000-great-condition-sale-or-trade by SwimSonny
I had been looking at Lawton mods so I really liked the idea if the upgraded 2k's.
I pm'ed SwimSonny and he suggested we speak over skype which I felt to be a good idea.
He has nearly 4,000 posts on Head-Fi so I never felt worried about him as a seller. We talked about his headphones and my needs. We settled on a price. And I paid via Paypay as a Gift as he requested (My first mistake). In addition, because this was my first big purchase and because I had never heard Denons before I wanted to be certain that if I was not satisfied I could return them for a refund. He agreed that he would refund minus shipping if I was not satisfied.
All was well, until I received my Denons. My first reaction was sheer excitement when they arrived... I wanted them to be everything I had hoped they would be. At first listen I wanted them to sound good, but after a few minutes I thought these sounded kinda dampened. I decided to take my time and listen further to see if quality improved. At this time the only thing I had to compare these to were some Me Electronics SP-51's which sounded much better then the 2k's. I let several people listen without saying anything. All agreed the IEM's sounded better. In addition to the sound the headphone muffs smelled of smoke. I could smell them while listening and it was def another turn off.
I started to voice my concerns to SwimSonny. He blamed me. Not having anyone in my area that I know of who is familiar with Denons I decided to ship my Denons off to Mark Lawton, the mod master himself, for analysis. Either way, I told SwimSonny that I was not satisfied with this unit.... Either the unit was defected in which case I would want a refund OR I simply was not satisfied with the sound of Denons. Either way I was not happy with my purchase and requested a refund as promised.
He said he would not offer a refund. I reminded him of his word...
We can’t remove any of the excess damping that is contributing to dull sound.
Removing the cotton material will help a lot but we can’t restore them to what we would do.
The cable work is quite poor really, and the wire is very flimsy and not secured with real strain relief.
If you want a great sounding denon (that will last for you), I can’t recommend this unit. I don’t think the cable is secure either.
You are much better off with a new unit.
Mark
Blaming me for being a rookie is plausible but I don't think arguing with Mark Lawton's analysis is. I spent nearly $100 for shipping and analysis to confirm this simply because I didn't want to blame SwimSonny. But now it is obvious.
Facts
I purchased a set of modded Denon 2000's from SwimSonny
SwimSonny promised me a refund if I was not satisfied.
SwimSonny then went back on his word and denied me a refund.
Unit was proven defective by the expert Mark Lawton himself.
Conclusion
I learned what not to do when making a paypal payment... NEVER pay via Paypal gift. That was MY mistake and should have been my first red flag. At least this way I could have disputed the sell.
Don't trust SwimSonny. His word isn't worth a thing.
