I'm here but not taking new orders.

Family life is awesome but too much to juggle.  I've got just a couple orders left to fill but haven't been monitoring my emails closely.  It's not that I don't want to, but rather that having a wife, a two-year old and a four-year old is so consuming that I'm completely consumed by their needs - understandably - so that I'm unable to take new orders.  I know that people have tried contacting me over the last several months.  I'm sorry that I haven't replied.  Don't know when, or if, I can respond.

Who knows, maybe I will be back in full swing in the future....just have no idea.  Thanks everyone for your interest.  It really is awesome.

-Martin

Going to go through a bunch of emails today

Sorry, I've been out for a couple weeks and I see a bunch of emails.  I'll be getting parts mailed out asap.

-Martin

Going to need to take a break

I'm finding it too difficult to fit MCA in my life along with raising a family and my day job.  I'm not providing the level of customer service I used to and I don't want to continue to let people down with the lengthy time frames.

I'm going to work on finishing all open orders and answering my backlogged emails and then take a hiatus for an indefinite period of time.

I probably will continue to sell my gimbals/rodblocks, but the custom orders will need to cease for a long while.

I hope everyone understands.  My thanks to you all.

-Martin

Yamaha YH-100's with Quilted Walnut Burl and Lots and Lots of Time

I spent two/three weeks on just these alone as they were very difficult.  They came to me busted up with a broken headband cradle and broken plastic "ball joints" where the cups are attached to the headband assembly.  They've been restored to about as good as they will get.  I'm very proud of these.
I wish I would have taken progress pics, especially of the internals as I had to boar out the old plastic ball joints from the headband assembly to create a hole to insert the new wood ones.  I had to build the little ball joints from walnut in several different little pieces, put them together and make sure they are reinforced and sturdy.  I had to tweak them, swear, tweak some more, and swear some more.  But they actually hold the cups in position on the x and y-axis.  You can pick them up by the headband and the cups don't move in those directions unless you gently move them into place.  They do rotate around the axis freely, but that's only slightly annoying.  The whole set was taken apart and cleaned of the old glues/crud and then gave the plastic parts a new glossy coat to preserve the integrity of the original parts as much as possible.  I like the design of the YH-100's...I think they look much better than many of the other vintage Yamaha's.  Had to build a new internal headband piece as the stock one was broke in half and disintigrating.  New replacement earpads and a new cable.  They sound very nice and I love the darker sound.  They need a ton of juice and the Minute Amp of mine performs nicely.  I'll say the dampening is good and is all new materials.  Someone might be able to improve, but I just can't devote any more time.  I will miss these.

Beyerdynamic DT1350's with Quilted Maple dyed Colonial and New Headband

Neat set of Beyers.  These cups are an odd size for my equipment so lots of tinkering.  The Maple is indeed quilted but due to the lack of my photography skills I struggle to photo it.  The Colonial dye is beautiful.  I've used it a few times now and it's a keeper.  I had to shave back part of the gimbal so as not to rub on the cups, but I think it looks alittle sleeker like that anyway.  And the headband turned out great with extra padding at the request of the owner.

They sound great.  It's amazing, you can cover up the little bass ports at the rears of the cups while your listening and all of a sudden it gets really stuffy.  Those little holes make a big difference with some dynamic drivers.  I had them put together and it just didn't sound right and figured it had to be the bass holes.  Sure enough after I took them apart and drilled the holes, it was obvious how much they improved.

By the way, I would have taken the headband assembly apart and sprayed everyting black, but there is no way, as far as I could figure, to get the gimbals off the headband.  It really irked me since I usually find a way and all black would have been quite nice.  But the design of the headband is something I really like, especially since I sat there night after night trying to figure out what to do with a split headband, but the answer turned out to be pretty elegant.

Cocobolo Denon D2000 Cups

A couple nice pair for a couple gents.  The first is normal depth and the second has deeper chambers with a really nice natural fissure.  That first set has a really nice deep red color I just love.

Quilted Maple Beyer T5p's

Shop is Finished!

The new shop is finally finished with all sorts of room for activities!

I only had to pull all the drywall off, insulate, and pull 220v and add a bunch of outlets; then built the inside wall, insulate the ceiling, insulate the garage door, mount all the lighting, build all the workbenches, build a new ventilated spray box, mount all the shelving, and unpack everything.  No biggie.  

So I'm officially back in business and will continue to go through my email backlog over the Holidays.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

-Martin

Finally built and awesome drying rack.  Much like.

NOS 1983 Def Lep 

Ok. Getting things done at the new house.

Hey fellas, I see quite a few multiple emails from customers asking about the hardware.  I really am very close to going through the very long list of emails and confirming orders.  I have my home office complete and have pretty much painted the entire main level of the new home, per the wishes of my wife, so that's a good thing.  Now, I think I will have time to start building out the shop in the new garage.

For those who want perspective, I'm the kind of person that needs the home office set up and organized so I can focus on my primary day job as well as answering MCA emails.  Again, this is a good thing.  Now I'm feeling less pressure and am now much more organized having caught up on bills and stuff.  I've responded to a few emails, but having my shop up and running will be critical since I need to polish and organize the hardware before sending out.  I anticipate the shop to be up in about three weeks, but I hope to answer all emails in the next couple weeks, at the very least.

I need to pull extra electric out to the third stall, build a wall, intall wiring for all the extra outlets, insulate where needed, install the heater, install all the work benches, organize all my stuff, etc.  So it's a big project, but once done will allow me to resume as usual.

Thank you, and I am aware of the long wait times.  I appreciate the support.

-Martin

I'm still way, way behind on emails.

Ok, I'm now in our new house, but I haven't gone through any of my emails, not even recent ones as I'm being pulled in a hundred different directions.  I still have to build my new shop in the third stall of our garage which will entail pulling a bunch of new electric, building a wall, and building benches, etc.  At this point I'm hoping to be up and running by the end of October and hope to start filling hardware orders within the next couple weeks as most of my emails appear to be for my custom hardware. 

Thanks for being cool about the wait times.  I know it's probably a bit irritating. 
-Marty

I will be moving to a new home Sept 12th.

Hello all.  I still have two headphone orders that I have not completed.  It's been an extremely busy summer and I still have a million emails to get through.  I will need to pack up my shop over the next week and then will need to set it back up at my new home.

Once set up I am going to go through my emails and resume business as normal.  I'm really sorry for all the delays especially to my two customers waiting on their Beyer and Denon mods.  I promise to make it up to them with free upgrades.

I have alot of emails regarding my aluminum hardware and my new batch it complete, I just need to go pick it up and then go through emails after I get set up in the new house.

Thank you!
-Martin

Hey everyone. I've been really busy lately with life and have a million emails.

I only have two custom headphone orders in the works as I haven't taken on any new work this summer.  I know that many of you are waiting on responses and I apologize for not getting back to you.  I've had to get our house ready for listing as we're planning on moving yet this summer and between that and work and the two kids there hasn't been any extra time.

I will be receiving my latest batch of the aluminum gimbals/blocks within two weeks and then I will make sure to go through all the emails and get those orders taken care of.  I may or may not take on any new cutom headphone orders until after the move since it would be a long wait anyway.

So please hang tight and thanks for being cool.
-Marty

Amboyna Fostex TH900's

Glorious.

July 8th 2014 *Will be catching up on emails*

Sorry, I've been backed up for a few weeks.  I will be going through a huge amount of emails.  Sorry for the delay.

-Marty

Quilted Maple Burl D7000's with Colonial Maple Dye

First time trying a Dye and they turned out near perfect.  Although the wood kept sucking up the lacquer.  Took about 25 coats, but worth it.  Wild 3-D/holographic effect from different angles.