CHANGSTAR: Audiophile Headphone Reviews and Early 90s Style BBS
Lobby => Headphone, IEM, and Other Audio Related Discussion => Topic started by: Marvey on February 05, 2013, 02:48:27 AM
-
Wilzc had Martin send these to me first, which I am deeply appreciative. These are absolutely stunningly gorgeous. I want one now.
(http://www.changstar.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=776.0;attach=2901;image)
Those of you who also frequent HF may have heard one of our members say something to the effect of "friends don't let friends XXXXXX Mod their TH900s" (this is reference to another modder of headphones.) Well, I think Martin is a master of wood, (I've purchased Grado cups from him in the past, so I am familiar with the quality of his work), and I would definitely let Martin make wood cups for the TH900. Screw Urushi, go Martin!
In addition to the wood cups, the pad mounting mechanism is a bit different from the stock HE-500. This implementation sounds more open and more relaxed and a bit less snappy than stock.
I hope Wilzc will chime in soon...
-
:-DD Those really are stunning. Congrats to wilzc on those.
Love Marty's work -- and it feels nice to have a one-of-a-kind piece of art.
What kind of wood is that?
-
I wanna say Cocobolo (https://www.google.com/search?q=cocobolo&hl=en&tbo=d&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS508US508&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=9YsQUb26CJDxigKAy4GwCg&ved=0CAoQ_AUoAA&biw=1920&bih=1017), but not sure.
-
Gorgeous...can't be cheap though p:0
-
Very, very nice.
How much did the modding cost?
-
Walnut Burl
I dropped a cool 500 on these guys LOL.
Which made them the worlds most expensive HE-500 but fuck it. I kinda prefer the He-500 over the HE-6 anyway.
Martin and I both agree that these mods should not affect the sound, therefore Marv was enlisted to kinda provide a more objective view of the effects of the mod on the original HE-500s.
I do apologize however, that the stock cables could not be provided. :(
I bought them 2nd hand off HF-classifieds.
-
Beautiful work! Congratulations Wilzc!
-
We have no shortage of HE cables in our neck of the woods.
Burl Walnut huh? Interesting grain on that piece, not too much burl or it's the photo.
-
BTW I don't think Marty changed the mounting system. Hifiman implemented 2 or 3 different mounting systems throughout the batches of HE-500s. Some are an absolute pain.
-
OK. It very well could be that the differing mounting systems sound very slightly different. $500 is not bad. I could think of yet another wood guy who could probably charge much more for slightly inferior quality. Cough Cough Darth Cough Beyer Cough.
-
Actually was 300 to start off, and another 300 after the project was done.
So the total came to 600.
BUT. The DHC nucleotide cable was also built by him and included in the final pricing.
I apologized for sending him a set without a working HE cable, he said no problems, he'll build one for testing. And I offered to reimburse him for the troubles by buying the cable he built.
Nice guy. And absolute professional.
I don't recommend visiting his site unless you plan on loosing alot of money :)
I'm sitting here thinking of getting a grado cup off him spite the fact I'm not a fan of grado
-
I'm sitting here thinking of getting a grado cup off him spite the fact I'm not a fan of grado
x2 on the Grado thing.
It's nice to see a true woodworker do this stuff. A lot customs from prior custom headphone folks were kind of mediocre. My frame of reference is my father in-law who works with wood. He always says he has a lot of learn and that he's just an amateur. I guess it's a matter of different standards.
-
Always liked Smeggy's work, some of the stuff he did right before going off-grid was really cool. These Martins look very cool.
For guitars I really like Joel Stehr.
-
Smeggy was good. That should be noted.
-
wilzc, those are my old HE-500 :))
Glad to see they were given such beautiful treatment
-
Ha! that's right!
I'm happy to report that I've now ruined the re-sale value of your ex-headphones.
I'll make a huge loss trying to sell these off lol.
-
-awful text removed-
-
Ha! that's right!
I'm happy to report that I've now ruined the re-sale value of your ex-headphones.
I'll make a huge loss trying to sell these off lol.
Maybe a little loss, you could definitely net more out of it than a stock 2nd-hand HE500 though. The demand for used HE500s is HUGE nowadays as very few people are selling their HE500s away on head-fi, so something like your modded pair would probably drive people crazy.
-
These are quite handsome!
I have a similar project on the back burners currently: an HE-5LE with wood cups, only closed-back. I'm just not into fullsized headphones enough to pursue it right now.
-
I wonder if this can be done to a HE-5 also hard wired re cabled if I provide the cable?
I'll also ask on his site.
-
I wonder if this can be done to a HE-5 also hard wired re cabled if I provide the cable?
I'll also ask on his site.
The wood work for sure... The cable, let us know.
-
Just an FYI (if you're interested in beautiful, awesome woodwork), Martin has finished the cups for my second pair of HE-500's (My first was with Maple Burl - it's a page or so down on his main page) and posted picture on his home site:
http://www.martincustomaudio.com
Be amazed.
-
Just an FYI (if you're interested in beautiful, awesome woodwork), Martin has finished the cups for my second pair of HE-500's (My first was with Maple Burl - it's a page or so down on his main page) and posted picture on his home site:
http://www.martincustomaudio.com (http://www.martincustomaudio.com)
Be amazed.
Maple Burl....I'm not amazed.
Dazzled maybe....drooling for sure.
A friend of mine sent a pic of some beautiful dark wood cups Martin did for him. Those are AMAZING... ;)
-
Oddly the photos are making me hungry for chocolate.
-
Care to put one of those pairs for CSD measurements? It'd be a nice experiment to show the audibility of the change.
They do look gorgeous - only the mesh needs to be replaced with something just as beautiful, or maybe chrome plated for the vintage limousine finish look.
-
Yep, I plan on it. When my 2 pairs land I'll pass them off to Marv one at a time for measurements.
-
Marv measured' mine.
No real significant change. Just slight. But that may be more of Hifiman *coughchinacough* production variance
-
Marv measured' mine.
No real significant change. Just slight. But that may be more of Hifiman *coughchinacough* production variance
You need cough drop. ;)
And I agree.
-
These are quite handsome!
I have a similar project on the back burners currently: an HE-5LE with wood cups, only closed-back. I'm just not into fullsized headphones enough to pursue it right now.
Single piece cup, or removeable backing? I remember there being talk of a closed Audeze prototype, but I'm not sure if anyone has tried it with a Hifman.