[fjrabon]

  Idk my view is that I fail to see how they will be significantly different than the original by JUST changing the wood type.
 
Maybe I'm off, it's possible, but this notion that they are quite different JUST because of the ear cup while EVERYTHING
 
including pads, driver, assembly, dampening, etc leaves me scratching my head.
 
Logic tells me they've got to be close-sounding when literally all you're changing is the type of wood used on the ear-cup...

Having heard a lot of these incarnations of this headphone (D7000, Lawton D5000, D2000, TH900, TH600, THX00 Mahogany, THX00 with rosewood and ebony EMU cups, EMU Teak plus various cable and damping mods on several of those), the cups are a definite, noticeable difference, but it's also subtle.  You can very clearly tell they are the same headphone family, and just variations on a theme.  If you were walking up and putting one on without having heard the others for a while, I think most people would be hard pressed to pick out the differences.  However, most people would be able to hear the differences if you were hardcore A/Bing.  Are the differences worth it?  I think so, as far as finding which of the variations just exactly hits what you're after.  However, I agree it seems like not the best usage of funds to own all the variations.  You can buy some pretty great ancillary gear with that money.  DAC, headphone upgrade, power conditioner, a set of really great portables, etc.  But far be it from me to tell people how to spend their money.  If "gotta catch em all" floats your boat, you could do worse with a headphone family than the Foster 50mm bio-dyna family.  
 
In terms of difference made i'd say the order of what makes the biggest differences, from largest to smallest are: 
1) pads (can be a night and day difference with certain pads, some are subtle)
2) cup size and internal dimensions (basically four main sizes/dimensions you see: Lawton, TH900, EMU Teak and THX00 series
3) Internal damping materials
4) cup wood material
5) foam tuning ring density
6) cables

 

[fjrabon]

They already did, and to their own engineering preferences, their best headphones is the TH-900. Even the second gen is only removable cables

I'd personally probably still give that honor to the D7000, after re-hearing one recently, but I can also understand some people prefering the TH900.  The EMU Teak is still right there, and if you want to go heavy modding, it's possible to get the THX00 there.  

 

[SleepingLesson]

Got mine back from Peterek yesterday. His work, as always, is fantastic.
 

 
I'm having a hell of time getting my ebony cups to fit, though. I've compared the cups and cut away at least as much as he did on the standard ones, but they just won't fit. Anybody else switch out their cups and have a similar experience?

 

[Whitigir]

Got mine back from Peterek yesterday. His work, as always, is fantastic.




I'm having a hell of time getting my ebony cups to fit, though. I've compared the cups and cut away at least as much as he did on the standard ones, but they just won't fit. Anybody else switch out their cups and have a similar experience?

I did, and I got it to fit with efforts

 

[SleepingLesson]

I did, and I got it to fit with efforts

Hmm, I'll keep at it. I'm hesitant to keep cutting away at the poor cup, but it just isn't fitting yet.

 

[fjrabon]

  Hmm, I'll keep at it. I'm hesitant to keep cutting away at the poor cup, but it just isn't fitting yet.

can you post a picture of the PETEREK modded cup next to your self-modded ebony cup?

 

[SleepingLesson]

 
can you post a picture of the PETEREK modded cup next to your self-modded ebony cup?

I will do that when I get home from work, yeah. I'll precaution you that my cutaway was done with a file while his was done (properly) with a rotary tool.

 

[jamor]

  I will do that when I get home from work, yeah. I'll precaution you that my cutaway was done with a file while his was done (properly) with a rotary tool.

 
So how much are we talking including shipping?

 

[SleepingLesson]

   
So how much are we talking including shipping?

For the cups? $120 for ebony, $20 shipping to Texas. Other woods vary.

 

[jamor]

  For the cups? $120 for ebony, $20 shipping to Texas. Other woods vary.

 
And for peterks mod labor and cables?

 

[SleepingLesson]

   
And for peterks mod labor and cables?

Cables vary based on materials and length, but generally $100 and up. The TH-X00 mod was his standard one on his Etsy site, $135 before shipping.

 

[Pahani]

At this point I just don't understand why we at all pay attention to Z reviews. He's less knowledgable than even an average head-fier, let alone one of the "gurus."

See, I completely disagree. I'm new to this though; I've only started getting into headphones in the last year (probably less), and each step in my journey from SHP-9500 and onward has been due to Z's impressions. (Exception being the SennGrados which are not yet on my doorstep, and thus not yet in my sig; I took that step because of DavidA)
 
BUT, you only have to realize that he's on the same journey at the same time. His education is not yet complete, but my own is still far less so. At each step, my own impressions of my (then) new headphones mirror Zeos's impressions 85%+. There are times when he's a bit over-enthusiastic, or I don't completely agree.....but my personal niggles are quite small overall. And yes, he has the right amount of brashness and nerdiness to keep me entertained while doing so
 
Zeos has also gone this far *without* major industry hookups (until fairly recently, anyway), much like the average person will. Gauging by his popularity, there are apparently a good amount of people like myself being drawn in to this world for the first time.
 
The Linus X-00 review *almost* got me to join in the March-ish drop (I'm a computer nerd, and Linus is another of my heavily-watched channels). The Zeos Mahogany review shortly after sealed the deal, however I saw it perhaps a day too late and missed that Mahogany drop :/ Then Purpleheart plopped into my lap out of sheer luck....and with my headphone inventory changes in the intervening months, PH should still be the best fit to slot into my collection. I got exceedingly lucky there!
 
X00 Ebony is dangerously close to what I paid for my baby Stax. As good as I expect my Purplehearts to be (and I expect them to be very, VERY good), I have little hope they'll supplant my Stax as my daily driver. With the exception of his rant about their bass (for sheer volume, my X2's best them...in all factors other than volume, the Stax is far superior), the rest of Zeos's review of the Stax 2170 was spot on. They are amazing and I am still in love with them after 2 months of daily listening. Pure bass bliss will be what my Purplehearts are for But they won't replace my Stax.
 
Now see, Staxoholics will look at my rave about the 2170 system and knowingly shake their head "Noob, there's much better than those".....but in the timeline of my own journey (not to mention my pocketbook and price/performance ratio), they make perfectly logical sense.....as does my blithering rave about their performance.
 
So yeah, Zeos is responsible for bringing me this far, and I have to thank the man for that And now that I AM here, the wealth of knowledge provided by this community is the icing on the cake; which I appreciate equally as much.
 
My own 2 cents

 

[DavidA]

  Got mine back from Peterek yesterday. His work, as always, is fantastic.
 

 
I'm having a hell of time getting my ebony cups to fit, though. I've compared the cups and cut away at least as much as he did on the standard ones, but they just won't fit. Anybody else switch out their cups and have a similar experience?

This is one reason that I like using the SMC connector, no cutting involved.

 

[Pankaic]

Skimming this forum is seriously bad for my heart. Can't wait to get my Purplehearts in a month

 

[Pahani]

Purpleheart update!!
 
From Massdrop:
 
 

We just touched base again with the manufacturer and have some updates regarding the Purplehearts. The Purplehearts have finished production and are currently being processed for shipment. Our warehouse should receive them towards the end of next week!

We will keep the group updated throughout the fulfillment process. You can expect an update from us by the end of the day Pacific Time on 8/5.