Yes, I did! I saw some pictures over at HF of a set he did some time ago and I really liked the rustic look of wenge wood. I went with brass for the grille and rods, because I think it fits the more “historic” look of the Auteur grille.
I think it will be a treat to both listen to and look at.
That’s awesome! I don’t suppose you still have the location of that pic in the thread at HF? I’d love to see one a finished set looks like.
Congrats on your purchase - I look forward to your impressions.
Do any of you have experience with the Padauk wood on these? I have a pair on the way to me and am curious of anyone has prior experience with these. Very excited to get them in!
All my early ZMFs were Padauk. I’ve made several little projects from it as well.
It’s a very good for Auteur due to the density and interweaved fibers that padauk has, and plays to Auteur’s strengths just like Cocobolo and Blackwood do. Plus, it looks great.
Don’t put it in the sun or leave it exposed to UV intensive light though, as it will darken quickly.
Wow those pictures make me even more excited to get these. Those look amazing!
If I told this story before here, just tell me to shut up…
I had never seen padauk IRL before I fell in love with the pictures. By that time Zach has stopped making the Eikon in padauk, so I ended up getting a gently used padauk Eikon. I opened the box at night, put the Eikon in my very dim home office & did some listening. Very impressive HP w/a big “wow factor.”
My office is dimly lit even in daytime, so I never got a good look at this headphone. A couple weeks later I realized–I need to see this wood. Took the Eikon out to a sunny spot in the living room and looked closely. That padauk wood knocked my eyes out! It’s unbelievable pretty.
Besides the color and the very subtle/horizontal color & figure variations, my favorite part is the open pores, which Zach very wisely didn’t try to fill. Padauk is a knockout wood. It didn’t hurt that the Eikon (like the Atticus) must have the largest uninterrupted expanse of visible wood of any earcup on earth.
Hi guys, if we’re talking about padauk Eikons I will post mine as well. 
Was a bit fatigued so I have them sanded and applied oil and wax to chave them more satin/matte instead of ori glossy paint. Zach have changed my headband for a new black one with suede stripe and suede Auteur pads have also headphone stand with padauk base and cable with padauk spliter as a complete set
Love that headphones!
Wow!
You guys are making me even more excited to get these in tomorrow… Only 24 hours away! Will post some pictures once I have everything in hand. Can’t be more excited!
These sold this morning for $895 SHIPPED!!! With an extra pair of pads.
Wow!! I missed out!! What a great deal someone got, the wood looks amazing too.
I bet these got dnagged immediately upon listing
That is a very good price. Maybe too good. One advantage of buying direct from Zach is the warranty coverage. You also know of the headphones origins.
Yeah but that price though!!!
I was able to grab some eikons from the seller but didnt get these auteurs. I buy new from Zach too but I can’t spend that much everytime. I have to find good desls here and there too.
When Zach first released the Aeolus it was… $899? $999? Pre-order pricing. Still, finding one for under $900 now is rare.
Yea, that’s why I was amazed that these Auteurs sold for tgat cheap. I see them mostly going for around $1,200-1,250 on the used market. Someone got super lucky and were probably snatched up within minutes.
How’s the sound with the suede Auteur pads vs the lambskin and suede Eikon pads?
Hm, after all testing I have decided that I prefer the leather Auteur one.
Standard Eikon has the most bass presence, sometimes too much maybe has less top end than the both Auteurs.
Suede Auteur was nice, but I felt that is somehow uneven. There was some dip in the mids and hill on the upper midrange that was somehow fatiguing for me when listening a bit louder.
Leather Auteur for me was the most balanced, bit less bass than Eikon, bit more highs and not fatiguing, so I can recommend this one but suede looks great and is more comfy cheers
I wear glasses and so I hope my adventures in pad rolling might prove helpful. I bought my Blackwood Autuers used and they came with the standard perf. lamb Autuer pads, perf. Eikon pads, and I bought a pair unperforated Universal Hybrid pads. After several weeks of listening to each pad in turn, I settled on the unperforated Universal Hybrid pads. For me, these gave me the best seal around my glasses and retained the bass texture and slam. While I am sensitive to treble, I do have some hearing loss over 12 Khz (getting older is fun) so your mileage may very. Needless to say, I am very happy with my purchase and look forward to listening to these headphones scale with higher end amps.
This is a helpful comparison. May I ask what the thought was in going for unperforated for an open back headphone?
Scale onward and upward.
I thought it would be an inexpensive way to see if the lack of perforations would enhance the bass enough to compensate for the lack of seal from my glasses preventing the pads from fully touching the side of my head. I found that the unperforated hybrid pads achieved this goal. I hope this helps.
That makes sense. Nice work and enjoy.
I also found that the solid pads work better for me on the auteur. The lambskin though.
