Denon D5000 Markl mod worth Excercise

[mitchb]

I received my Markl mod Denon D5000's from Mark a week ago and i've been listening to them all week. What I am trying to acheive with this post is a brief before and after Markl mods and recup. I should mention I upgraded the wooden cups to the larger bigger wooden cups offered by Mark. It is my thinking that the wood may lend it's characteristic sound to the headphones and that it may be possible to have two headphones identical in every way but with different wood and the possibility of sonic change may very well be a reality. This is my hunch. The modded headphones have a fuller ,richer, deeper tighter more detailed sound with a larger soundstage. This is at least my impression after a week with the phones back. I should mention the headphones had about 250 hours of play previous to the mods so by now the phones are most probably burnt in and most probably well on their way to being broken in which can be a longer process.I enjoyed the bass of the stock Denons but the Markl mod Denons give way for improvement all along the frequency spectrum. The Bass is tight but full which nicely blends with the no longer recessed mids of the mod phones and the highs are pure with a sparkle about them but don't add to fatigue.The highs are articulate without any grain or harshness. The all around sound of the Markl Mod Denon D5000 in my experience is that of a much superior headphone to that of any others I have or have had in my collection. I believe the Markl mod Denons will grow to be popular into their vintage years where when technology runs into redundancy Old school will allow for common sense once again. I think once were at the level of headphones we are with these days the markl mod Denons are very strong competition with the flagship models of large manufacturers which seem to be coming out.
I think marks work is spectacular. It should be as he has been perfecting his mods for over a year now and I'm sure that as time passes Denon may simply implement the very mods now available either through Lawton Audio or as DIY projects for those who are into that type of thing. I know mark has the directions to his modifications published and it is up to the individual whether to DIY or have a third party cover the labour. In any which case the mod transforms an already very good headphone to that of the best of what's out there in the market today.

 

[oqvist]

Happy it works for you

I didn´t liked the club sound that much. Did you notice more resonance, reverb, echo when doing the markl mod compared to stock? Speaking treble not bass?

 

[Lee Brindley]

Hey - glad you like them. My markl / Jena cabled D5000 is the best can i currently have and prob the best ive ever had - theres no way im selling my pair - they are amazing.

Easily trounces a stock D7000.

Way to go !

Lee

 

[oqvist]

You actually heard a D7000? If so thank you a million times

 

[mitchb]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist /img/forum/go_quote.gif Happy it works for you I didn´t liked the club sound that much. Did you notice more resonance, reverb, echo when doing the markl mod compared to stock? Speaking treble not bass?

I noticed an echo for the first perhaps 1/2 hour and then they smoothened out a whole lot quickly.
I did experience an echo but knew that to be just the mods beginning to settle down and get used to the headphones and vice versa. After a few hours the headphones were already warming up but I had put 250 hours play on my phones before I had the mods done so although the drivers had some burn in the mods required to settle before the headphones sounded just right. You have to give your phones an honest amount of play before you can make a fair judgement but if the burn in / break in process is something you don't care too experience, then play your headphones into a pillow overnight and all day for a few days and then give a listen. If you let your headphones play for 150 hours untouched and left alone you will probably have a better sounding headphone for the play time. When I'm cooking a new pair of phones I listen to them and when I have had enough of listening to uncooked phones I'd leave them alone but let them remain playing for a few days and giving listen when I felt like it. A good trick is to take them out of the amp or whatever your running them with and let them relax without juice going through them for a few minutes and then plug em back and let them play. I like to hear how the headphones sound throughout their burn in / break in process but I know they usually require a good amount of time for complete burn in and when your listening not paying much attention and the music catches your concentration away from the magazine you were reading that is usually when their cooked.