[bmichels]

If someone is interested, here is on Headphonics a complete review of the famous lawton mod for the th900.
 
.... if you dare
 
 

 

[WillB]

old post

 

[muski]

I purchased the Lawton angle pads and a Level 1 DIY kit for my TH900 Mk2. Obviously, we are very much in the land of the subjective, so here are my personal impressions...
 
The angle pads are a huge step up—the foam fits much better, it's so much nicer to have leather pads, and I think having the cups a little further from the ear does add some spaciousness. I highly recommend them.
 
The Level 1 kit comprises two main mods, some foam-like tape applied to the drivers to dampen them, and some material to line the inside of the wooden cups to alter the resonance. If you're slightly handy and careful, it's a pretty straightforward job. Just go slowly and follow their instructions carefully.
 
But after doing the complete mod, I found the sound way too damp for my tastes—I missed the liveliness that I so loved about the TH900s. So I pulled out the mod material for the cups and put back the original white polyester batting material. Much better to my ears.  But I left the driver damping material in place and do think it's a nice improvement—a nice tightening up in the mids.
 
So, yes, I'd recommend their kit, but perhaps without the ear cup resonance treatment.
 
I would be curious to hear the effect of the other Lawton wooden cups, but that's for another day.

 

[richardfugh]

I thought about upgrading it but just gave up. It may sound better after upgrading but, may not WORTH.

 

[Stephen McLeod]

I don't know the answer to this question, but I would really like to have detachable cables that had an XLR connector. I would not want to change the sound. It's just that I bought the MK1 about a month before the MK2 (with detachable cables) became available. They are my favorite headphones and I would not risk it unless I had confidence that the sound would not be altered. 

 

[WillB]

old post

 

[Stephen McLeod]

Thanks for the information. I am pretty sure that's the road I will take. Cheers.

 

[N0sferatu]

Yes!
 
I just bought a pair of TH900 that were modified by the previous owner.  It's got what's called the zolkis-mod.  It appears to be a hybrid of Lawton's work.  I've never heard a stock pair but do own another pair of Fostex (Denon AH-D7000).  Needless to say the mids and upper end are so much more lush on the TH900.  Feel free to read my lengthy review comparing the two.  
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/834390/10-000-speaker-system-vs-modded-fostex-th900-vs-denon-ah-d7000-vs-sennheiser-hd600-detailed-review

 

[AverageGuyNC]

I bought a set of Fostex th900 off ebay and the seller had put on Lawton leather pads and changed the connector to a neutrik 4pin xlr connector on (left stock cables on). I'm planning on putting on a viablue 6.35mm connector on it and taking off the xlr. I'm new at this and have only purchased an O2/DAC amp wise so far and considered buying a schiit jotunheim amp/dac, but its not actually being ran in balanced since it has facrtoy cables right? So no reason to not just go back to the quarter inch like factory? as far as I know, it wasn't modded by Lawton. this will be my first high end set of headphones, only other decent set I have had was he400i and was going to stick with it, but I put in a bidon the fostex and no one else did. I wondered if people didn't like that the connector had been changed? But really looking forward to this!

 

[Stephen McLeod]

Wow. That's much the same expuas I had. I have no idea about how to mod them myself , but otherwise, I too had the 400i before finding these TH900s at a good price. I love both but the TH900s are the stars by a long shot. I don't know what the right way to describe the difference between Planar- magnetic and dynamic drivers. But I can hear it. And I think what I'm learning is I prefer dynamic a little bit. I did a kind of shoot-out between the TH900s and the Oppo PM-1s (which have comparable prices). The TH900s almost always won. The Oppo's were fine, but the TH900s were magical.

 

[Nokiron]

The only mod I would really consider on my TH900s is changing the pads. Sure, changing the cable would be nice but not necessary for me.