Man, that 3rd chapter is either ignorant or revisionist. T50RP MK3 were appreciated for being better than MK2 stock, but it's still not very appreciated for its stock version, most of the famous Mk2 mods were considered much better (Mr.Speakers Mad Dog/Alpha Dog). And while it took a while for the Mk3 mods to appear, they are here in full steam now (Dekoni Blue by an earpad manufacturer, Modhouse Argon, and likely some other which I don't know about). Even Fostex realized that they needed to get on the action and released the T60RP which is basically a fancier T50RP Mk3, similar to what mods would be doing, with balanced wiring, new earpads, and fancy new ear cups.
I'm going to go with ignorant though, since I guess the manga is from a (short) while back, when the T60RP wasn't a thing, and neither were the T50RP Mk3 higher-end mods.