Happy to report that after a nice exchange with Mark, I’m buying the African Shedua chambers listed on the webpage under “Chambers Currently In Stock” (at least, until he takes them down!) They are going on my TH-X00s, along with the rest of the stage 2 tune up. I can’t wait!
In a few weeks I should have a spare set of Fostex purpleheart cups. If anyone is interested, feel free to PM me! I’ll take some pics before I send the headphones off.
Congratulations!
I love my Lawton modded Fostex, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Looking forward to seeing how your build turns out. 
Thanks, @ValentineLuke!
I agonized over Indian rosewood or shedua, but although I love the idea of rosewood, Mark thought that I’d like the sound of shedua a little more based on my description of what I’m looking for, and I decided to place my trust in the artist/craftsman. (And I love the look of the shedua too, although that’s secondary.) Anyhow, I’m sure I’ll be happy.
Btw, which rosewood species do you have?
I love my TH900s with Lawton cups! I have curly Koa. I opted to leave off the driver mod part of the Lawton tune up at first since it is hard/impossible to reverse. I have that part of the kit if I change my mind but I have been happy with them with just the cup change for awhile now. Maybe at some point I will slowly add some of the driver mod foam though. Mine were mk1s so I also added 3.5mm connectors which was a scary process. Drilling the holes out through the thin frames definitely had me worrying about cracking the frames while I was doing it! I have ZMF Ori lambskin pads on that I like. I’ve tried Eikon perf pads and MrSpeakers Alpha pads but I personally like the Ori pads the best of the pads that I have tried.
I can’t capture the how nice the wood really looks in my pics. The figure is really quite amazing. You can kind of see it in the pics but it’s much more pronounced and rich in real life.
Out of curiosity how does the driver in the Lawton differ both sonically and from a design perspective from the ZMF Eikon driver? Any one have expert level knowledge?
I think @hazi59 would be able to field this one, as he has experience with ZMF and is currently in the process of a Lawton mod.
I know the driver’s are standard Foster BioDyna’s (either the 1 Tesla - TH 610, TH 6XX, Emu, or 1.5 Tesla of higher end models like TH 900/909, and some Denon).
The only difference with the drivers is that Mark Lawton has a “Tune-Up” kit that’s essentially anti-resonance strips applied to the back of the drivers.
I’m not sure who produces the ZMF BioDyna’s.
Hey Thunder, I may be interested in your Purpleheart cups. I’ve got a set where the finish is cracking and peeling. Let me know when you are ready to sell.
Tim
Got my headphones back this afternoon, and I spent about an hour listening to them on my main rig (Allo Digione Signature -> Hegel HD12 -> Nuprime HPA9). I need to give them a more time to solidify my impressions, but my early impression is that with the Lawton stage 2 + shedua cups, there is more microdetail both up high and down low, especially noticeable with live music (eg spatial information). The tone in the bass range is also richer. I really like sound of double bass playing jazz! And of course, the cups look gorgeous, but I knew they would 
On the minus side, the bigger cups do add to the weight. It remains to be seen whether I tolerate them well for hours. I had no problem with a one hour listening session.
I’ll post pictures soon.
That’s awesome!
Looking forward to further impressions.
I have so far one pair each of the following Fostex: original TH-900, TH-900 Mk2, Anv with green cups, and the Lawton curly (flame?) maple and Cocobolo (SP?) full modification of the TH-900. They all sound slightly different but all retain the same family sound.
The Lawton Maple (type 2, a little soft wood typically used to make musical instruments) modification makes the sound richer, a little softer and fuller (my favoraite). The Cocobolo (type 5, very dense wood) makes the sound more accurate, more finely etched (detailed), faster and sounding. In all cases, the bass is superior to the unmodified cans, a little tighter and punchier. The slight stridency, brightness or glare in all the stock Fostex is nearly eliminated in the Lawton modifications. In addition to the full tuning, I also had the cables replaced with OCC copper cables, which definitely smooth out the sound of the Fostexvery nicely.
The modification cost between $500 to $1,500, which when added to the cost of a new pair of TH-900 ($1,000-$1,500), brings the total price to $1,500 to $3,000. Is the sonic improvement worth the cost? To answer this question, I think we should take a step back and ask ourselves a more general question first: is spending $1,000 to $4,000 for a pair of high-end headphones like the HiFiMan, Audeze, or ZMF worth it? As I was reminded frequently, one could get a pair of perfectly good headphones for $100-$300. So, we are already well beyond the point of diminishing return with the stock Fostex. Any small improvement in sonic quality will unavoidably add a lot more cost. Whether it is worth it largely depends on how obsessed we are in our individual pursuit of the absolute sound.
In my personal view, the Lawton modifications will bring the sound quality of the TH-900 from say 90% to 93-95% of the subjectively “perfect sound” that I have in my own mind. The Maple cups bring the sound closer to my preference (smooth, sweet, and lush sound) whereas the Cocobolo takes it away from it, but that may just be someone else’s preference (accuracy, transparency, speed, details). So, do be careful when selecting the wood for the earcups. They are not just for look.
I’ve come to realize that I’m not crazy about the Lawton pads that Mark installed in my stage 2 upgrade. They do something to the treble relative to the stock pads that isn’t as pleasant (perhaps a little more sibilant?)
However, stock pads aren’t particularly comfortable, and as ive been reading this and other mod threads, I see that quite a few people have switched over to ZMF pads and seem to be happy. Has anyone tried out multiple different ZMF pads on Fostex drivers and is in a position to offer a comparison? In terms of materials, I’d most likely get lambskin, not sure whether perforated or unperforated. I actually really like the feel of velour, but I’m afraid that a hybrid is likely to lose too much bass. Thanks in advance!
And as long as I’m posting, I realize that I never shared pictures of my Lawton shedua (type 3) cups. Time to change that 
Zmf Universe suede pads are my pick for the Emu Teak.
@ProfFalkin do you happen to have an opinion regarding how the ZMF Universe suede compares to either Ori or Eikon suede on the Fostex driver?
I don’t have either of those available to compare, sorry.
Those are beautiful cups!
I actually tried several ZMF pads and settled on the Verité Be Perf Lambskin pads.
I actually contacted Zach and he was extremely helpful in describing what the different materials do to sound, along with Perf vs. non Perf.
In General Perf will slightly reduce bass, but add soundstage (and slightly elevate upper mids).
Leather (Lambskin) is a solid choice generally speaking. It’s faster than the faux suede, and produces faster transients.
Suede feels really nice, but slows transients and also elevates the upper mids. It also makes the treble sound a bit ‘hashy’ to my ears. Another interesting thing is that it can increase sub bass (not really necessary with Lawton Chambers).
The flatter the pad, the more neutral the FR, or in other words, the more you hear the drivers natural Frequency Response. Distance from the driver adds stage, but at the cost of adding some peaks in the FR.
The reason why I went with the Verité Be Perf Lambskin is because they give me the most neutral sound, and I like the results. I also use Verité Be Perf Hybrids, but like the sound of the Lambskin better (Hybrid are more comfortable).
Ori (Lambskin) are great for non modded Fostex, but are way too bassy for Lawton Chambers (cups).
Auteur add a great deal of soundstage at the cost of added peaks in the FR (elevated vocals as well).
Universe are okay, but they don’t really add much sonically other than more peaks.
I hope this helped. If you can, try a few pads. I highly recommend starting with Solid Lambskin in any of the ones you try.
Cheers!
Thank you, sir, for this excellent comparison!
I really like the feel of perforated leather, so perhaps the answer for me is the ori pad. If I end up gaining a little more sub bass, I have no problem with that, or if the leather leaks it out, easy come easy go.
This is what I used with my Fostex Ebony and used dekoni rings. Ori pads worked really well.
Yes, I forget to mention that I use modified Dekoni rings (I placed suede on both sides to reduce reflections (@Rhodey’s post above reminded me 
).
They help retain bass, but are a little too much with non Perf Pads, imo.
Glad the info was useful.
Cheers!
Argh, I’ve never felt so stupidly indecisive — I’ve dropped thousands on audio equipment before sight unseen, but I can’t seem to pull the trigger on a $60 pad, even knowing that all of the pad/material combos I’m considering will be an improvement over the Lawton Angle pads I’m listening to now!
The Ori’s seem to be well liked by many, although the vast majority of reviews aren’t with the Lawton cups, and I’m afraid of possible bass bloat. Perforated leather could solve that problem, but what if the pendulum swings the other way? Both Verite and Universe are “neutral”, but I didn’t get these headphones to be neutral, I got them to be fun. And Eikon could be the answer, but I’ve read elsewhere that fitment on the Fostex drivers is poor, which makes them a non-starter. The agony! 
I went through several pads before ending up where I am. It’s okay to try stuff out, budget permitting.
