Sorry, I think I missread the post then XD However, it's still the general rule that the two versions are around the same price, while the SE being cheaper in some locations being the exceptions.
You have a point in here. The screws may be a cost cutting measure. Originally, I thought it was for cosmetic reasons, since metallic screws have a silverish color while my screws are black colored to keep with the all black look of the headphones, so the screws are discretly hidden and doesn't stand out as much.
But like you said, they might have actually done it to cut costs (or both reasons, why not?). I don't know the price difference between a plastic screw and a metal one, but I think any screw is already very cheap. So who knows. I agree though, that opens up the possibility of other manufacturing/materials changes to save some money. But so far,and until somebody opens up a pair of ivories and a pair of SE's to compare their innards, we won't know if there was an actual change in materials. So far, there is no change reported regarding the important components.
Personally, I think that other than the screws, there was no other change in production methods. Since the standard version is still produced and sold, that means Sennheiser would require two assembling sets (one to manufacture the ivories, the other for the SE), which would mean an additional expense actually, defeating the purpose of saving costs. Instead, I assume the two models are manufactured together and only after the fact they are split into separate batches for adding the painting (and replace the metallic screws with the black ones).
The only way I could see a manufacturing change saving them money is if they had either discontinued the ivories or if they updated the ivories' production process to that of the SE. And, as far as the report goes, none of those scenarios is the case. You bought an ivory set after the SE was introduced and it still has silver screws, right? Also, it still sounds similar to the pre-SE ivory set you had before, doesn't it?
Finally, while not universally, we do have reports of SE pairs (including mine) sounding identical to the original edition. Had the internals being changed, then there would be no way a black set could sound like an ivory one at all, but that's not the case. So I highly doubt they changed the manufacturing process and/or materials for the SE to cut expenses.
