What? No... What? Oh... dear... BTW I have the EMUs. Most of the time they say the EMUs are better than X00. Now I think there's a LOT of play with the magnets. And it's not just the magnetic flux issue... as the X00 Denon 2000s may be almost 1 tesla, D5000/EMU/600/610 maybe over 1, and Denon 7000/Fostex 900 maybe near 1.5.

I think there's a lot going on around driver tuning, and if u dont like the X00, you may have the Denon 2000/5000/7000/EMU taste and not the Fostex 600/610/X00/900/900MK2 taste.
 
Demo the EMU if u can sometime and tell us. BTW what is your most fav pair in this kind of a category (audiophile basser) that you own and is ur usual pick?

I say just grab a pair of CAL's and forget about the rest of them.

haahh that too. It's just an over-ear/on-ear issue then.

BTW, EMU Walnut and the CALs are the same... except for maybe the CALs dont have wooden backs. Similar 40mm biodynas.

The CAL'S are over ear just like the others.

I like the Fostex TH-X00 Purplehearts more than the Denon AH-D2000 in every respect, caveat being not with the stock pads. Have J-Money lambskin pads I bought for the D2000's long ago (have had the D2000's nearly 8 years) that are now permanent residence on the Purplehearts. They sound better than stock ones (not a fan of the stock pads, will gladly trade a little bass quantity for improvement in bass quality and better clarity and detail through the whole frequency range): get rid of the bass bloat (stock pads have TOO much bass with the Purplehearts honestly) while tighting the precision and detail, brings the mids more forward, and highs give a nice energy and present VERY fine detail. TH-X00 + J-Money pads = way awesome combo for electronica and modern symphonic movements. Piano, acoustic bass, horns, high frequency electronic sounds, and hard hitting electronic low ends sweeps are better than they ever were with the D2000's and J-Money pads, which I liked better than the stock pads.

The Denon's material is the same as the Fostex, all fake leather and magnesium alloy frame. Things I like better on the Fostex TH-X00 is the swivel arm design (looks better) and the headband adjustment mechanism is more positive in its stops and stays in place better compared to the D2000.

I thought the AHD7000s had the midbass emphasis and smear, until I changed some stuff up stream. In the end I found out I found out that I was not hearing an artifact in the headphones but my system.

I have not heard the Purplehearts and we know all Fostex in this design have a slightly different sound, but still I personally feel you could adjust equipment to tune your Fostex experience to your liking?