Hmm I don’t know.
The General Electric is also more relaxed in sound with the Audeze Lcd 2 C, that was one of the first things I noticed directly that it is a bit slower and more analogue than the others I have.
Hence my “theory”.
What came to my mind later, after writing, was whether the other tubes might overload the driver due to their properties, to the extent that physical problems occur.
How should I say “too much transparency” ect that maybe a limit is exceeded was my thought.
Even if it was just a wild theory on my part.
I think I now have the explanation.
Since I am still interested in Zmf headphones and the Fostex is to be replaced, we talked about the wood hardness of the Zmf headphones with someone from the forum via Pn.
Then it clicked.
So the wood hardness does play a role, how much I know 100% but it seems to play a role.
Ebony has a hardness of 3220 Janka and Rosewood,Purpleheart 1780 Janka.
And mahogany between 800-900 janka.
As I see it, the harder the wood, the smaller/ narrower the soundstage, roughly speaking.
That’s probably what bothers me about the Ebony where I couldn’t explain.
And the pad change also has a little influence on it, I think.
I have different pads on the Denon than on the Ebony.
Because the same pads that were on the Denon didn’t fit the Ebony 100% sound-wise.
I can clearly hear the difference - the rosewood is more lively, the stage is open and wide, probably a little brighter but still warm.
With Ebony it’s probably just the opposite, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
You might listen a little more closely if it fits with the amplifier.
I don’t know why the tube has so much influence on the sound.
But it simply fits in terms of harmony and symbiosis.
Even with the Lcd 2C it is pure relaxation at the moment.
This whole topic has given me a lot of insight into what to look out for when buying Zmf headphones, and if I keep the Fostex because no one wants to buy it, what to look out for when upgrading the Lawton cups.
So I will definitely have to go down a good bit with the wood hardness.
That it will be a bit wider and more open again.
Yes, but not only the wood itself.
I exchanged the General Electric tubes for other ones and listened to them again.
And there were definitely significant differences.
Where the Rosewood just handled better, or seemed relatively less sensitive to the tube change than the Ebony.
It’s totally weird but I would say that the Ebony just works better and more harmonically with a slower tube than with a livelier tube.
By slower tube I mean that it plays a bit more reserved.
Apart from the fact that the tube is also a bit more forward, the Ebony benefits from a more intimate and smaller soundstage that is well placed.
With the Rosewood it’s also slower but more in your face in terms of vocals.
I can’t say exactly how the whole thing behaves on SS amplifiers - I’d have to try it out.
The problem is that you have no influence.
Maybe you can adjust one or the other with the EQ, which I’m not really a fan of.
For my taste I would say the wood is very good with the rosewood from 1700 Janka if you like it lively.
If it should be a bit more intimate I would go higher between 2000-2200 Janka.
More like 2500 Janka would not work though.
3200 with the Ebony is quite a lot and hard.
I can only speak for the Emu cups, which have the standard dimensions of the original cups.
With the Lawtons there is more volume, and the effect may not be extremely huge with the wood hardness I would estimate.
But I would definitely take it into account if I were to buy some I would aim for 2000 Janka to stay in the golden mean.
If I don’t find a buyer for the Fostex, that would be the next logical step.
I also think that most SS amps would do well with it, regardless of how they are tuned.
With the Ebony, I think a brighter tuned amp would probably be a good compromise.
Tonight I was wanting to try something different on my second setup and I grabbed my TH610 level 2 Lawton mod (driver tune-up, chambers (museum grade Hawiian Koa - a type 2 wood)) and pads.
WOW, I so forgot how lively and fun these are - all while sounding really, really good. They’re no Susvara, D8000 Pro or even a TH909, but damn, I don’t feel I need to pick up another 909 right away either, which is something I was getting ready to do.
Chains I worked from tonight included the BF2+V550 and the SpringV3 KTE+Oor/Hypsos. The little Lawton that could adapted to each chain and their qualities with a pleasing sonic experience indeed.
Listening with the Lawton modded TH-610 (driver tune-up, pads, and Hawaiian Koa Chambers) on the Susvara setup - They are sounding really good. I should pull them out more often.
Roon Rock > Sonore ultraRendu > Holo Spring 3 KTE > Ferrum OOR/Hypsos > Lawton TH-610
thats old school. I haven’t posted in there in over probably a year and a bit. Haven’t even visited the site in months either