Do you still have your 610’s a year and a half later? If so, still love them? And finally, what pads did you land on in the end?
Thanks!
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I do indeed!
I’m actually going to list my Clear this week because I don’t use them enough. The Lawton modded Fostex are that enjoyable to me.
I settled on ZMF Auteur Perforated Lambskin pads with modified Dekoni rings.
I really enjoy them with pretty much any genre of music. They’re just like a nice two-channel hifi system for me.
I’ll try and post some further thoughts on the pad combo, but in short it’s fairly neutral, while still maintaining some warmth, and has a nice and spacious soundstage.
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Do the Lawton mod. Depending on the wood type (type 1, type 2, etc), pad choice, and attenuation rings or not, you can make them sound as neutral, V-shaped, W-shaped, warm, bright, etc. I’m a bit bogged down with homework and finals for the next week, but I intend to pretty much gush about my Lawtons when I get the chance to write up my thoughts.
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Best of luck to you and the other college students on HFGF. Study up and kill it!
Looking forward to that!
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You all are a bad influence on me 
I just got my first set of a Lawton modded headphone. It is based on a Denon D5000 (Level 2 with type 3 chambers (Wild Sissoo Rosewood) Website says exhibition grade - previous owner thinks they were Museum. I suppose that’s how it goes when working second hand market… With roughly 6 hours only listen time, I am already thinking that I want to do up my own set fresh from the start. I’m using the set I have now to formulate a plan of attack - BOM etc., for what I want to do.
I want to give myself more time with these (using them exclusively for a week or so) to learn them and then I will start comparing to the Elegia and HexV2 … and then I will probably unleash a boatload of questions to ya’all. Like should I buy a new E-mu teak, or TH610 as the foundation for starters.
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Then good luck Coconut.und happy learning.
I feel the same way but more professionally I have to learn a lot 
.
I am most curious about your impressions.
And on saving also, although just a Lcd 2 Classic flutters into the house.
Should he be nothing for me, I’m considering looking again a used Denon 2000 and give him the full Lawton dröhnung.
Then I have 3 Fostex drivers in the house and will then so quickly buy nothing more.
The Denon D7200 I have decided to give here.
I would have liked to try to make the homemade cups but the carpenter is sick at the moment.
This week I still heard the Denon D5200 and the mkr seemed to be less fat in the bass.
Unfortunately heard on a Mcintosh there it must be good 
No buy nothing new at all.
If you do not like the cups from the sound.
I would possibly be a buyer.
You can simply swap the cups and you have another signature.
You just have to know what you like or where it should go.
That’s the good thing about the headphones, he is sensitive but at the same time as versatile as no other.
In other words you can just go to lawton and say you have these cups on it and want something more of that and here then I think he will be able to help you.
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Just to clarify, do you love them? Did you love them when you bought them, or not until after the Lawton mods?
I liked them when I bought them and more after I did the driver mod. But, I do not Love them. I got a good price on them, but then did the driver mod and bought a Periapt balanced cable. I am into them for $700.00Cdn. The Lawton cups and pads would cost me a bare minimum of $600.00Cdn. landed and possibly much more depending on the cups.
If I was to make these the most expensive headphones I have ever owned, I would have to LOVE them or at least Love them.
Of course the only other option is buy a different set of closed backs for even more money and sell this set- up at a loss.
I just want a closed back that I LOVE. 
My dream model would be a W-shaped sound. What would that take?
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So if you want to go in the direction of W Shape then that means harder wood.
So already in the direction of Ebony.
Have you ever heard them?
Emu sells them for 140$ but in standard version.
I recently rebuilt them with Yaxi pads and Dekoni rings and am happy with them.
But the death bass for me still has da rosewood from Emu.
It still goes through the skin.
Unfortunately I don’t have a Lawton mod yet to compare which cups are better at the end of the day.
The primary reason I’m looking new is that I want detachable cables so that I can have options for SE and BAL use.
I totally get that once you have a set, that you can then swap chambers and pads to augment the sound characteristics. That is a major plus to me. I’ve even thought that if I were to buy one or the other (Teak or 610), that initially all I would need to do is just buy the level 1 mod, or just the tune up for the new pair, and put the chambers I have now on the new set.
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I do want strong bass, but I am not a bass-head.
I jumped on the W-shaped comment because I really do LOVE my Focal Elex’s.
But I would hate to go all in, to the tune of $1,400.00, $1,500.00 or even $1,600.00 in Canadian bucks and not be really thrilled. And resale on modded headphones will be shitty.
It’s not bonkers hard to make those detachable on your own. I had to do that to my set. The post is above but here’s the direct link:
Although maybe do that after you get a second set…just in case 
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Right, I don’t think doing a Lawton mod is a good project for a beginner. I think it takes some time to know your preferences before you commit to one. Once you know what kind of sound you’re after and can explain that to Mark Lawton, he does an excellent job of helping you select the chamber(s) that will work best for you.
Yes I see.
That is the only criticism of the headphones that the connection is just crap.
I would have preferred a 3.5 mm plug connection.
The findest only on the Emu Teak and must order separately that you want to have that.and costs extra.
Otherwise, there is nothing to criticize the Emu from the base.
Yes, unfortunately, you need every time you have a new earpiece the level 1 kit from Lawton.da leads no way around it.
On Alliexpress you can usually find the Fostex plugs.Are a bit shit to solder and have to do it right.
Because plus and minus are interchanged or mirrors are reversed.Somewhere I have a photo still where that is shown.
So that the plug at the end does not fall auseinader I still have a shrink tube made over it.
Red circle:
There again make a heat shrink tubing over the plug then it also stays together.
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Yes, I have already had several conversations with him over the months. I know what I want, but sound is different to everybody
If you DON’T want B A S S then stay away from the type 4 woods. Type 5 is fairly similar to type 4 but with less bass (to my understanding). Mark told me that type 3 was a fair bit warmer than the stock purple heart cups, so… I don’t know. Mark knows what he’s doing and will more than likely give you exactly what you ask for.
Another thing would be to pad swap if you can. Chances are you will find a pad that sound closer to what you want then you can go from there.
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They’re my favorite headphone.
I’ve owned LCD-X, Focal Clear Professional, AKG- Q701 (?), Grado SR-60, and Koss Porta Pros.
I’ve listened to Dan Clark A2C, Focal Utopia, ZMF Aeolus, HEDD HEDDphone, and Hifiman Susvara all in my home for extended listening. Of all the headphones listed the Lawton modded Fostex are my favorite. The only headphone that I enjoyed as much as these was the Susvara (it’s astonishingly good).
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One last question for my 610’s:
Has anybody here ever gone from stock pads to Lawton pads and stopped there?
I don’t want to spend $89.00US, go “that’s pretty good” and then start ordering different pads to complete the upgrade.
Thanks.
If you want a more neutral and overall less bassy sound, the Lawton pads are rather nice. You can add attenuation rings to get a bit more bass but overall they are much less “fun” than something like the Ori pads which have a bit more bass without rings than the Lawton pads have with rings. Do I would say don’t get the pads unless you intend to use them on SOMETHING down the line.
As a side note, I think the Lawton pads are meant for the TH-900/1.5 tesla more so than the X00S/1 tesla. That’s half the reason I got a set of Lawton pads, to try them in a set of TH-900 at some point in the future.
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