Final Thoughts
Look, I know that most people reading are rolling their eyes at the thought of paying $549 for some wooden bowls, but consider that Audeze’s XC ( their wooden closed back ) has similar costs for just their wooden cups. This is Art, plain and simple. You can either love it and respect it, or not. If you love the TH600 or any other headphone in general and find out that someone is offering tone adjustment to your preferences, odds are good you are going to pay for it. It is very hard to justify the price of the TH600 alone let alone the price of Lawton’s modifications and cups that cost roughly the same price as the headphone itself, but when you are in love with a headphone enough and realize that there isn’t another headphone sub $1000 that does what the TH600 does…you’ll save up for it. Custom cups like these are a double threat: they fill a niche in the artistry and beautiful vintage or hifi vibe that most products sorely lack, as well as offering something different in tone depending on which cups you opt for.
The TH600 is a standalone headphone that almost nothing else sounds like, hardly anything has bass quite like this and also offers a sound staging prowess nearly as impressive, especially not in the closed back or semi closed back world. The TH600 sounds much larger than Audeze’s XC and has a more well defined shape than its older cousin the Denon D7000, so you really can’t go wrong. For the most part, it plays well with most genres, is comfortable and extremely fun to listen to. On top of that, mods from Lawton are available if you want to alter the tone and clean up the sound a bit. How often can you say that about audiophile grade audio products? The TH600 is a steal at the current used prices of $400 – 500US and I would recommend you opt for a used set instead of purchasing new, as the price seem to have raised in the past few months on new sets from some resellers. Check out eBay histories for used TH600’s, they go for almost the same price as new sets and people are willing to pay it because most have heard them know full well they are worth every penny. Save yourself the trouble and hop over to Audiogon or Head Fi for a used set, you won’t regret it if you are interested in one of the most fun and comfortable headphones on the market. If you are serious about the headphone and want a different flavor, check out Mark Lawton’s site and see what sparks your interest. You’ll be very happy when you take your TH600 to audio meets like I have, only to be told your TH600 is more beautiful than any other headphone in the room.
Price: $549/$599
Links: http://www.lawtonaudio.com/
http://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/TH-600.shtml
- 50mm driver units with 1tesla (1,000 gauss) magnetic circuit for audio reproduction with low distortion and wide dynamic range
- Bio-dynamic diaphragm that offers rich lows, natural mid range and smooth highs
- Light weight and highly rigid magnesium die-cast used for the housing material
- Piezo-sheet inside the housing for dispersion of resonance as well as high damping treatment
- Ear pads made of ‘Idemitsu Grancuir’ material realizing comfortable texture by protein com-bination derived from egg, with as much as 60% lighter than genuine leather