Amboyna burl woodied Denon AH-D2000
May 11, 2008 at 7:16 AM Post #32 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by xnothingpoetic /img/forum/go_quote.gif
They are stunning!

Although they might not get much head time if they were mine- it would be hard to stop looking at them
smily_headphones1.gif



Of course you can't put them on your head! How would you be able to look at them then?

Could I order a pait of driver-less headphones just for display, please?
biggrin.gif


Quote:

Originally Posted by jamato8 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Just sit in front of a . . . mirror. :^)


Only minus is that you'd have to put up with your own mug staring at you.
 
May 12, 2008 at 1:54 AM Post #37 of 46
Wow, these threads move back quickly.

Anyway, decided to give a little more background info here, as there seem to be few people interested in these wooden cups.

Roshan is my co-worker and friend who occasionally does some woodworking for his private use (pieces of furniture, lamp posts, small bowls etc).

When I bought my D2000, and already had a beautiful Darths made from super-exotic snakewood, from day one I was contemplating to woody them. Larry at Headphile did one D2000, I liked it, but then he'd decided not to offer woodied Denons anymore.

And so I opened mine and discussed with Roshan whether he would be able to turn couple of cups. There are a couple of challenging parts inside the cups, very thin and rather tall ridge that commands use of well seasoned hardwood. If wood warps a little or develops a crack, it's all gone down the drain.

But we've decided to give it a try, bought some nice looking she-oak piece on eBay and I've posted the final result on the forum. (search for D2500 in titles).
At the same time I've recabled them with D5000 cable that markl sold me.

The thread generated some interest, and we decided to make two more pairs. Museman and Musicman59 (Jose) were first to ask.

Musemans' pair was relatively easy, he wanted some dark wood and so we sourced two pieces of wenge from local furniture maker and did it. Photos are on first page of this thread. It took some time though, because in parallel Roshan was also working on Jose's pair.

Now this where story gets twisted.

Jose wanted specific wood - koa. We couldn't source any good looking koa locally or ebay, so Jose bought one from Hawaii and shipped it to us. Nice looking wood. But the wood wasn't seasoned enough and when rough turned to cylinder shape it developed several deep cracks and also got twisted.

That wasn't good news for everyone involved, luckily Jose took it in his stride and bought and shipped amboyna burl block. These things are not cheap mind you.

And here comes the heart attack situation
mad.gif


The pricks in Australian Customs and Quarantine drilled three deep holes in three different faces of the block! Whoa, how's that? Can you imagine what I felt?

There was enough wood left to make one cup, but the second one required special cut to avoid these friggin' holes. For a moment it looked like another nogo, but luckily Roshan managed somehow to finish them and also give them extra deep and gloss finish.

That also explains why the right cup has different pattern coming from the same piece of wood.

Anyway that's the story, as for now we are reluctant to take any orders until we sort out wood supply, what kind etc. This is all a weekend job, I cannot ask Roshan to lock himself in the garage for weeks, he has young family to look after as well.

Cheers,

Lad
 
May 12, 2008 at 5:42 AM Post #40 of 46
Quote:

Originally Posted by Lad27 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
And here comes the heart attack situation
mad.gif


The pricks in Australian Customs and Quarantine drilled three deep holes in three different faces of the block! Whoa, how's that? Can you imagine what I felt?

There was enough wood left to make one cup, but the second one required special cut to avoid these friggin' holes.



Bastards! But your friend managed to get around it. I wonder: If you find someone generally skilled at finer woodwork, do you think they could do a similar job? Or should you look for even more specialized skills?
 
May 12, 2008 at 7:10 AM Post #41 of 46
^
I think if whoever did some wood turning using hardwood and is familiar with various finishing techniques should be able to do it.

Of course it requires a lathe, couple of good quality knives (they need to be sharpened quite often) various grades of sandpaper, some oils and varnishes. That's all I could see my friend was using.

I've seen more complicated and amazing looking pieces done by hobbyists, I don't think turning these cups require some extra pro skills. As long as guy is able to control distances within reasonable tolelances, he/she should be able to do it.

Cheers
 
May 21, 2008 at 2:58 PM Post #44 of 46
Yeah!! I am the lucky owner of those beautiful Amboyna Burl cups.
I am waiting impatiantly for the post office to deliver them. I am sending my D2000 to Alex for a recable with the V3 cable, super Nylon jacket and Furutech plug.
After they come back for Alex I will do my version of the Markl mods on them and install the Amboyna cups then i will do a head to head comparison to my D5000 markl moded.

Don't worry, I will take pictures after they are done and will report back with the comparison results.

When I say my version of Markl mods is becuase I don't use the same materials and I don't do all of them. For instance, instead of doing the cotton mod for the earpads I made a 1/2 ring ("c" shape) out of about 1/2" thick neopreen. For the damping of the metal assembly, back of the driver and plastic assembly I use a material sold by Parts Express (Parts Express:Lightweight Vinyl Sound Damping Sheet 10" x 13")
which is easier to use and easier to remove than dynamat.
I elected not to do the wood cup dampening and filler.
I have not heard a full markl modded pair but the changes in my D5000 after these mods were noticable. The earpad mod expanded the soundstage and the damping made the sound cleaner and more defined. The bass is deep and very very fast now. I love it!

LAD AND ROSHAN... Thanks for such nice earcups you guys are great!! I am so glad I met you and made new friends Down Under!
 
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