In Search of the Ideal Headphone

What is the “ideal” headphone? Some may argue that there are as many answers to that question as there are pairs of ears on planet earth.

 

This may explain the wide variation in sound, performance and design philosophy we see in the headphone market today. Each manufacturer feels it has the winning formula, but none can lay claim to a universally accepted crown of “the best”. Asserting one particular pair of cans is “the best” in headphone geek circles is to hurl fighting words into the faces of the fans of other makes and models.

 

Naturally, at Lawton Audio, we too feel we have the headphone nut cracked, with our line of heavily modified Denons. In our opinion, our headphones come closer than any other pair of cans we’ve ever heard to achieving that ideal sound we’ve been chasing for so many years. What should the ideal pair of cans sound like, and in what ways do our headphones meet that ideal?

 

For us, in all things audio, there is a critical balance that must be achieved; both hemispheres of the brain must be equally satisfied. The critical, analytical, objective and quantitative left lobe of the audiophile brain must be assured that the sound they are hearing is faithful to life and faithful to the recording. The left brain wants to hear everything on that master tape, and it wants it to sound realistic and natural. This side of the brain is part that delights in revealing microscopic new elements in their favorite recordings they’ve never heard before; that intake of breath before the big chorus, the squeak of the chair of the second oboist in the fifth row of the symphony. Meanwhile, the right brain, the subjective, romantic, emotional side, wants to be moved by the music. This lobe is the one that reacts to the tone and timbre of the reproduction of musical instruments, and is keyed in to a component’s ability to deliver the emotion of the song. It’s the part that wants to connect to the music and “see” the performers in the mind’s eye; it makes the foot tap along to the beat, and encourages the listener to play air guitar or air conductor.

 

The key for any manufacturer or modifier of audio gear is to achieve a balance between these two competing needs; otherwise the anxious audiophile mind keeps spinning in dis-satisfaction. “It’s too clinical and analytical” cries the right brain of a badly lop-sided component. “It’s too syrupy-sweet, colored and warmed-over, low-rez”, says the offended left brain of a piece of kit that errs too far the other way. When you can shut down both sides of the audiophile mind, and get them to just kick back and actually listen to and enjoy the music, well, then your job is done. And that’s our goal here at Lawton Audio.

 

From our headphones, you can expect outstanding detail retrieval and resolution comparable with the best electrostatics. You will hear a realistic, life-like and natural sound with rich tonality and full body you can almost taste. You will experience a remarkably deep and full bass sound (deeper than almost any other pair of phones, but tightly controlled and proportional), with a nice kick and quick punch. The soundstage will be wide, deep, layered and noticeably “out-of-head” with lots of room to breathe. Our phones have outstanding musicality, encouraging a deep meditative connection to somber, soulful music, or inciting an ecstatic head-bobbing session if you are in the mood to rock-out. The one word we continue to hear again and again from satisfied customers to describe our headphones is “balanced”, and to us, that’s high praise indeed.

 

Lawton Audio’s Line of Headphones

All of our products are based around Denon’s new line of closed-back headphones, the AH Series, which is composed of the AH-D2000 at the bottom end, the AH-D5000 in the middle, and the new flagship AH-D7000 at the very top. Lawton Audio takes these basic headphone units and upgrades them, through a customer-selected series of different modifications (detailed below). These mods have been in development over a period of many months and take the stock units to a whole new level of performance and musicality. The mods we have painstakingly developed either serve to correct some faults with these otherwise wonderful headphones, or they act to enhance their performance above and beyond what the stock phone is capable of delivering on its own. The result is a new line of headphones that we believe will challenge and even surpass any pair of cans on the market, past or present.

 

How Do I Decide Which Denon to Have Modified?

Whether you have a starter system suitable for a modified AH-D2000, a mid-fi system that will let a modified AH-D5000 shine, or a high-end system that demands the very best from a modified AH-D7000, Lawton Audio has a solution to fit virtually every budget.

 

Beyond letting your budget be your guide, it is useful to understand the differences and similarities between the three basic models.

 

Sonic & Mechanical Differences Between the Basic Denon Units

One thing we’ve learned by doing all these crazy mods to these phones is that every little design choice has a surprisingly large impact on how the entirety sounds as a whole. For a more detailed examination of what needs to be corrected with the stock units, and why our mods have been so successful, please click HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denon AH-D2000

This is the most basic unit in the AH Series line, yet has all the ingredients necessary to transform it into a real heavy-weight. The very elements that hold it back (plastic ear cups and poor stock cable) are routinely removed as part of our mods. The bottom line is that this budget-priced phone can be easily transformed by us into a world-class contender that will simply devastate its two bigger brothers in their stock form.

 

The plastic ear cups of the AH-D2000 cause some harm to its performance, affecting the tonality of the headphones in a noticeable way. Luckily, if you’ve already invested in a D2000, we have a great solution for you with our own beautifully crafted exotic wooden cups made especially for them. The improvement in tonality and musicality (not to mention soundstage) these cups provide can’t be missed by even the most inexperienced ears. The cable used on the D2000 is also of very low quality; if you have a system at a level where cable differences matter to you, you may find the D2000’s stock cable lacking (though not particularly worse than any other stock cable on a headphone at this price point). We have cable solutions for the D2000 that will suit any budget.

 

Still, for use in a starter system, even a D2000 with stock plastic ear cups and stock cable modified with our basic mod for Denons (called the “markl Mod”), will provide the music-lover on a budget with an outstanding listening experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denon AH-D5000

The Denon AH-D5000 is identical to the AH-D2000, but dressed up with wooden cups and a nicer stock cable. Everything else is the same, including the all-critical driver. If you plan on having us re-cable your Denon, or add our custom wood cups, you have just spent $200 extra dollars on components that will be discarded by us anyway when we do the mods. For $200 less, just get the D2000 and send that to us. The D5000 has one chief purpose in our product line, and that is to make what is arguably our highest-value headphone, called the “MD5000”. This phone consists of the D5000 with our basic markl Mod. With its stock wooden cups and improved cable, combined with our powerful markl Mod, the MD5000 is several steps ahead of our modified D2000 (“MD2000”) in terms of providing a pleasing musical package. Though the D5000’s wooden cups are preferable to the plastic ones on the D2000, they have neither the beauty, nor enhanced soundstaging characteristics of our superior Custom Wood Cups. Because each of the woods we use has a slightly different tone, we can also tailor the wood selected for your custom cups to match your own musical preferences.  

 

Nevertheless, for very little investment, a MD5000 provides an amazing bang for the buck. If you want additional mods for your Denons, skip the basic D5000, save $200 and go with the D2000 as your base unit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denon AH-D7000

The new flagship phone from Denon is actually a slightly dressed up AH-D5000, with a few extra horsepower under the hood. The new AH-D7000 differs from the AH-D5000 in largely cosmetic ways; it comes in a nicer box, has a piano-gloss finish on the mahogany cups, and has a slightly improved outer sheath for the cable (same wire inside). Internally, the D7000 has a slightly stronger magnet that may be responsible for the 3db greater sensitivity it has over the D5000. Denon’s marketing refers to the “free-edge” design of the D7000’s driver, though it is unclear whether this is a “new” feature exclusive to the D7000 or whether the older models also utilize it.The advances in sound of the newly introduced D7000 over the D5000 have been somewhat exaggerated by Denon and a few breathless early internet reports. The D7000 has the usual faults of the AH Series phones (though to a somewhat lesser degree) that we correct with our basic markl Mod, albeit one that is slightly less aggressive but specifically tailored for this new phone. The D7000 sounds very similar to the D5000, but does provide some modest but appreciable increases in various areas of refinement over the sound of the older unit. To get the very best possible platform for your mod-ed phone, the D7000 is the unit of choice. (For a more detailed analysis of the D7000, click HERE.)

 

That said, the D7000 poses the age-old audiophile dilemma of value vs. performance. As all audiophiles eventually come to learn, achieving that last 10% of performance almost always costs substantially more than 10% extra. So it is when deciding between a headphone that uses the D2000 or D7000 as its base model. For those that demand the very best, there is no replacing the D7000. For those on a more real-world budget, our D2000-based headphones will never disappoint.

 

Different Levels of Modification: Phones For Everyone On Any Budget

Lawton Audio has an extensive product line with a headphone sure to meet any budget or match any system. Our products are distinguished by the base model of Denon headphone they incorporate, as well as by the number and amount of modifications performed on them. Whether you choose a unit with our most basic mod, or one with all the trimmings, you will enjoy a truly world-class headphone.

 

The Basic “markl Mod” & MD Series of Headphones

At the first level, we provide a basic but essential mod for the stock units, known as the “markl Mod”, which consists of strategically-placed damping material and expansion and modification of the ear pads. We consider the markl Mod to be absolutely crucial, and include it as the corner stone of all of our offerings. The basic markl Mod is what is required to fix the known issues with the stock Denon phones. The result is a great leap in performance, and a headphone that will rival or exceed any in its class or above. This is where the biggest value is, and best bang for the buck. Because each of the headphones in the Denon line (D2000, D5000, D7000) have slightly different sonic and physical characteristics, we have painstakingly developed different basic mods for each one. Although we use different damping compounds, and deploy them a bit differently on each model, the effect of the mod is equally advantageous to each base unit.

 

Our headphones with just the basic markl Mod are called the MD Series from Lawton Audio.

 

Better Cables for Better Sound

Once we had conquered the flaws that held the Denons back from being truly world-class transducers, we wanted to take them further. The next logical step was to replace the stock cabling with superior wire and connectors.

 

We have two cable options for a D2000. We can replace the very poor D2000 stock cable with the quite good (for a stock cable) D7000 stock cable. This option provides an inexpensive but worthwhile way to remove the bottleneck of the poor D2000 stock cable.  It is only available as part of our LA2000 “Lite” headphone, which also includes our Custom Wood Cups and markl Mod.

 

For those who truly value the benefits that a top-quality cable can provide, we offer the fantastic Jena Labs wire with Furutech connectors/jacks. We firmly believe our Jena Labs-based cables are the very finest headphone cables on the market today. Topped by the amazing Furutech jacks, we can really take the performance of the Denons to new heights. Our top-of-the-line D2000-based phone with Jena Labs cable plus custom cups is called the LA2000. Our top-of-the-line D7000-based phone with Jena Labs cable plus custom cups is called the LA7000.

 

Custom Wooden Cups: Great Tone, Better Soundstage

Finally, our top-level products incorporate the original markl Mod, the Jena Labs wire, and our beautiful, custom-made wooden ear cups to produce a truly stellar headphone, with enhanced soundstaging capabilities. Our cups are the result of many prototypes, trying to find the ideal size and shape, which we have achieved. Our larger custom cups put more air behind the driver and provide an enhanced sense of soundstage with greater air and better imaging than the stock cups. Plus, because each wood we use has a slightly different tone, we can tailor the wood we use to best match your personal sonic and musical preferences. Our custom cups can be found on our LA2000 Lite, LA2000, and LA7000 headphones.

 

Product Naming Guide

A stock D2000 with the basic markl mod is called a “MD2000”.

A stock D5000 with the basic markl mod is called a “MD5000”.

A stock D7000 with the basic markl mod is called a “MD7000”

 

A stock D2000 with the basic markl mod, plus stock D7000 cable, plus custom ear cups is called a “LA2000 Lite”.

 

A stock D2000 with the basic markl mod, plus Jena Labs cable, plus custom ear cups is called a “LA2000”.

 

A stock D7000 with the basic markl mod, plus Jena Labs cable, plus custom ear cups is called a “LA7000”.