[Aura]

Finished them up yesterday afternoon.

~~~

It was a difficult process, especially with the inside of the cup. I personally take a lot pride in the fact that the entirety of the cups are made out of wood, not only partially so.

I've got a few impressions already about the sound and will go into detail as soon as I can. Let me just say that I have found these to be somewhat similar to the changes that Skylab discussed when he demo'd a Darth Denon some time ago.

These will be Markl modded as soon as I can grab some Fiberloft.

Come to the Chicago meet on August 2nd and you can hear them

.

~~~

Edit - Initial Impressions:

In general, the sound has shifted to a more mellow presentation. I would say that it sounds a bit smoother more relaxed from a combination of changes, including...

- The bass is both extended in range (depth) and hits harder. I love the extension of the bass as it benefits many of my genre tastes, but the increase is power of the bass is a bit much. I'm starting to understand one of the key importances for the Markl mod, which is to offset the bloat that plagues the bass in the D5000. I believe that this had also occurred with the woody in my D2. At times the bass seems to consume the rest of the instrumentation with this flabby, unnatural response.

- Soundstage is increased. It is subtle, as it was with my SR225. In live albums, I can easily tell that the vocals now sound farther away. This makes the midrange feel a little more balanced/aligned with the rest of the music and not as forward as it was. Left to right soundstage is virtually the same.

- Recessed mids. I believe this is what really makes the headphone feel more settled now. Without that forward midrange, everything seems to be laid back, not contrasting with any other part of the music. It is a very nice element of the woody that I am definitely appreciating. I hate to use "balanced" as a descriptor, but with the pieces feeling more aligned I cannot think of any other term to use.

It is an excellent pair of headphones to plug in and chill out with.

~~~

Anyhow, hope you like them. Best wishes all.

 

[nikongod]

That is SWEEEET.

when filling with fiberfill, try to get continuous fiber. I use natural wool. Short fiber is dusty.

 

[Planar_head]

Are they bigger in person or are they smaller? They look huge in those pics.

Otherwise, spectacular work! They look very nice.

 

[aaron313]

Let me just say that I am not at all easily impressed.

But... wow... you did a great job on those. How heavy are they?

 

[Aura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikongod /img/forum/go_quote.gif That is SWEEEET. when filling with fiberfill, try to get continuous fiber. I use natural wool. Short fiber is dusty.

Thanks bro

.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Planar_head /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are they bigger in person or are they smaller? They look huge in those pics. Otherwise, spectacular work! They look very nice.

Yeah, they are very deep. I see no use in doing a thinner, shorter woody that is not going to reap any possible benefits. They are heavy and feel a little odd on your head, but are not at all uncomfortable in my opinion. My old SR225 Wenge was the very same way

.

 

[TDRKZ]

Beautiful. How much experience do you have in this sort of thing and how much did this project cost you?

 

[The Legend]

Beautiful work Bryan.

 

[troymadison]

yes, I look forward to demoing them

 

[Aura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TDRKZ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Beautiful. How much experience do you have in this sort of thing and how much did this project cost you?

My grandfather and I complete the woodies together, he has a wood shop behind his house. This is only the second woody I have ever done, and the very first on a Denon. Next time (if the occasion ever arises), it will be much easier and there are already things that I would change.

It cost me $40 for wood and my grandfather $50 for a router bit that we needed. It's hard to calculate the cost of the amount of time I spent on this project, which was 2 weeks and probably 15-20 hours of work.

Thanks Tyler

.

 

[troymadison]

Is it better, as good or worse than the JVC DX1000?

 

[aaron313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aura /img/forum/go_quote.gif My grandfather and I complete the woodies together, he has a wood shop behind his house. This is only the second woody I have ever done, and the very first on a Denon. Next time (if the occasion ever arises), it will be much easier and there are already things that I would change. It cost me $40 for wood and my grandfather $50 for a router bit that we needed. It's hard to calculate the cost of the amount of time I spent on this project, which was 2 weeks and probably 15-20 hours of work. Thanks Tyler .

That's a long time... I'd never have the patience.

 

[Aura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by troymadison /img/forum/go_quote.gif Is it better, as good or worse than the JVC DX1000?

My DX1000 has not yet arrived, but if you want my estimation, I very much doubt that I will prefer these to the Victor's.

It is a great-sounding headphone though, don't get me wrong. The point of the woody was for enjoyment and to see if I can bring up a stock D2000 to the level of an MD5000. I have long been under the impression that they use the same drivers, and if so, I see no reason why a recable, woody, and markl on a D2 wouldn't scale it up to its big brother.

 

[Akabeth]

After the treatment, did it still go well with your current MPX3 Toaster setup? or did you have to roll different tubes?

I'd imagine the sound would be slightly different.

Great craftsmanship Aura

 

[tk3]

Wow, that looks wonderful!
I bet those extra large cups does some nice things for the sound too.

Great job, man.

 

[Aura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Akabeth /img/forum/go_quote.gif After the treatment, did it still go well with your current MPX3 Toaster setup? or did you have to roll different tubes? I'd imagine the sound would be slightly different. Great craftsmanship Aura

Thanks very much Akabeth

.

I have not tube-rolled yet; I want to keep my configuration the same for now so I can more easily hear the differences between stock and woody. I'm going to do some more listening tonight and then get up some initial impressions asap. Just for reference, the amp is currently running Tung Sol 5687's in output and a Ken-Rad VT-231 in gain. It really does sound lovely as-is

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