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The Sony MDR-SA5000 Appreciation Thread - Page 2

post #16 of 259
8/1/05 at 2:41pm
They are semi-closed. If you look at the pic you'll see that the black donut is the fake screen you see on the outside. It's actually a solid plastic like material. The center round screen you see from the outside is real. It is damped, but you can see through it and does let sound out. That makes it open... well the drivers have damping material also, so it's not exactly an open design, nor is there enough damping to make them closed.

I don't care for the internal design myself but these drivers have potential (hmm) to possibly sound pretty darn good in a different enclosure IMO. Sony seems to like to restrict bass, these enclosures assure that, also IMO.

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post #17 of 259
8/1/05 at 2:59pm
Thread Starter 
Good to know, thanks for your input Larry
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post #18 of 259
8/1/05 at 5:51pm
Thank you Xanadu777 for posting that picture. I was about to start searching for pictures of a pair of 5K's that I recabled and took a bunch of pictures of. Good thing I don't have it.

-Alex-
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post #19 of 259
8/1/05 at 5:54pm
I think the SA5000s are FANTASTIC!!!

I am absolutely stunned by their performance with electronica/techno/trance/new age and other modern musical expressions...

You people think SA5000s dont have bass? WTF? I think the bass is overpowering and I come from the HD-650 stable (which I sold when I found that it was less emotive than the SA5000). The SA5000 has some pretty stunning bass. I think the source makes a bigger difference here than anything else. With the benchmark DAC1 and the Dynahi , Source = micromega TDrive and TDAC -> The bass is simply mindblowing!

gs
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post #20 of 259
8/1/05 at 6:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsferrari
I think the SA5000s are FANTASTIC!!!

I am absolutely stunned by their performance with electronica/techno/trance/new age and other modern musical expressions...

You people think SA5000s dont have bass? WTF? I think the bass is overpowering and I come from the HD-650 stable (which I sold when I found that it was less emotive than the SA5000). The SA5000 has some pretty stunning bass. I think the source makes a bigger difference here than anything else. With the benchmark DAC1 and the Dynahi , Source = micromega TDrive and TDAC -> The bass is simply mindblowing!

gs
Exactly. I don't see where people come up with this the SA5K's have no bass. My SA5K's have plenty of bass and I own both the SA5K and HD-650's.

-Alex-
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post #21 of 259
8/1/05 at 6:08pm
Thread Starter 
No, u didnt get what i said, I think they have bass, a very splendid one at that too, but its not the kind of bass im used to. Compared to Grado cans for example, the SA5k is bass shy, because the amount of bass isnt the same, even though the bass is more precise. I love the SA5k's bass
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post #22 of 259
8/1/05 at 6:19pm
To my ears the SA5000's bass is excellent. What I've issues with is the headphone's incoherence and primarily the dominating upper mids/lower treble emphasis.

However, I'd also say the driver has a lot of potential, and I hope Xanadu777 can make something good out of it.

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post #23 of 259
8/1/05 at 6:27pm
Hint: equalization. It does wonders.
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post #24 of 259
8/1/05 at 8:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by fogia.4
No, u didnt get what i said, I think they have bass, a very splendid one at that too, but its not the kind of bass im used to.
*L* If you wish to hear the low end the Sony is really capable of, ditch the DAC1. j/k I can think of a couple of member that enjoy that combo.

Kurt is right. The DAC1>SA5K combo does not equal very strong low end. With my 555es and Emp, the Sony bass is close to the impact of my 325i, only tighter. Then I recabled it, and the bass improved even more.
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post #25 of 259
8/1/05 at 8:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gsferrari
I am absolutely stunned by their performance with electronica/techno/trance/new age and other modern musical expressions...
I could not agree more. When I see a member considering the SA5K for folk or blues I cringe .

Even the look of the 'phones has 'techno' written all over them.
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post #26 of 259
8/1/05 at 9:53pm
Agree with the praise here. and agree with the balanced comment, including the bass. It IS deep to my ears, but it doesn't do a midbass hump like many speakers, and like some other phones. IE, it's pretty neutral to my ears.

I had read, and believe, that they are very susceptible to amps, and the brightness that one may exhibit. I used it with my Eastern Electric headphone output (tube driven), briefly w/a Corda HA-1 Mk II, and with my Jasmine T-200. No brightness at all, yet I DO get some brightness with my Grado SR-325i's on all these systems, even the tubed ones.

The SA-5k's are the best 'phones I've heard to date, and I enjoy them immensely. I think one has to like the "Sony Sound" if there is one. But the CD-3K, SA-3K, and SA-5k are all great IMO.

Can't wait to hear them on my Dynahi - yes, due tomorrow!!!
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post #27 of 259
8/1/05 at 10:06pm
Very infoormative thread.
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post #28 of 259
8/2/05 at 6:16am
Thread Starter 
Well I'm glad it helps someone get a better idea of the SA5k, it was made for that reason. I'm thinking of recabling my SA5k seeing as moon-audio proposed to do it for a very decent price (blue dragon 2 recable to balanced XLR + XLR to 1/4" jack adapter). Said it would probably be around 200USD but he has to see and open the cans first (since thats quite easy to do I don't think it'll be much of an obstacle). So maybe I'll go for the balanced recable, sounds like fun
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post #29 of 259
8/2/05 at 10:25am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kyrie
Hint: equalization. It does wonders.
EQing in the digital domain would be an option if I'd only listen to CDs.

Anyway... avoiding the faults at the source is still better. (Meaning: optimized earpiece acoustics.)

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post #30 of 259
8/2/05 at 6:22pm
So, the SA5k's are classified as "closed" but don't do the best job? Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make sure I don't listen to my music near anybody else (Sound leaks a lot with my A500s, so I'm guessing it'd be much worse with the SA5k's). Also, I don't mean to be offensive in any manner, but I thought that mainstream headphones like Sony/Panasonic/Pioneer/etc. ones tend to be bad and not very high end? They are also under "casual" headphones on audiocubes and not "audiophile" like the others.

Anybody have more pictures of the SA5k's (Headphone alone, stand, box, etc.)? Also, with what amp does it synergize the best <$350)? Also, what's with the headband? It looks like clear plastic with a thin padding on top; not very comfortable looking.
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