W5000's PRaT or is Ultrasone E9 just better or wait for L3000 or is there something..

(I know I'm worthless)

You know you don't want to sell those CD3000's. They are just too amazing.

I sold my W5000 and had the chance to get the Edition 9 and/or the L3000. Opt for just the Edition 9.

nikongod got lucky on a pair of Koss ESP9's that were modded with closed driver housings. Don't know of any others... He's actually selling them right now (or at least he was) so check out the FS forum if you're really interested.


As for an amp upgrade: I think tubes might do for you exactly what you're looking for. Also, quite honestly, the tilt EQ I've got built by cetoole does some pretty neat things to the music. A great little $50 or so tweak. Schematics for it were posted at Headwize.

Sometimes you just need something new to try out. I think that if in your head you think you can get a far better sound elsewhere, then you should go for it and at least audition a pair.


I wanna see some reviews on the new Denon's. Yeah yeah, definitely buy some of those woody Denon's.

The L3000 is the PRaT king of headphones that I've heard, which is a good share of the good ones. The W5000 does very well (or I'd not have kept it so long), but the L3000 just has the more punch, authority, and meatiness to the bass, which makes it more involving. Of course the W5000 has better clarity and soundstaging, which makes it a bit more versatile than the L3000 (which I'd probably only want to use with rock/jazz/electronica).

I've only heard the E9 briefly in non-ideal conditions (but from my own gear), and it seemed to have a bass quantity in between the L3K and W5K, with very good definition. I can see it having the potential to have better soundstaging than the L3K or W5K (perhaps not the W5K balanced, but that's another matter). My only concern was that the E9 I heard had a slight bit of extra emphasis to the highs, which could be a touch sibilant, and that could distract a bit from tracks where the emphasis is on PRaT.

All that said, I had a chance to listen to a pair of CD3k's a few months ago, and was a bit surprised by what I heard. They had quite a bit less bass than I recalled from the time I owned a pair, and sounded a bit sterile and disconnected. It almost goes without saying that I think the L3k, W5k, or E9 would all have a better PRaT (as they should for the higher price).

One more place to look would be the Darth Beyer from Headphile. I've not heard one, but PRaT is supposed to be the name of their game, and their great looks and build quality speak for themselves.

They were ESP950s. ESP9s are already closed back.

I would say that if you take some W5000s and mod them, they are reversible mods, then they get alot mroe warmth and less mid screech.
But if you like the CD3ks then a new amp might be in order.
When I heard the DA-10s amp it was blown away by even my modest tube amp.

EDIT: after a check the DAC amp I heard wasnt the DA-10 it was the DAC1

The E9 have better bass punch with similiar bass detail/texture compared to the W5000. Mids are comparable. I don't know in what of condition Iron_Dreamer heard the E9 but I never experinced sibilance with the E9. The W5000 on the other hand can get sibilant on highs at times, the E9's high is much smoother, yet still detailed. Soundstage on the E9 is also better than the W5000.

I think the E9 have similiar bass impact compared to the L3000, from memory. Or maybe the Rudistor RP7-B is just a badass amp.

How did you get a hold of one?

Would you say the E9 is worth the extra money over the W5000? Egyptian lambskin and all that fancy crap aside...

I agree with Iron_Dreamer's assesments. The Ed9 does have more emphasis on the highs than an L3000, but I haven't had issues with sibilance yet. My Ed9's are at about 200 hours. The L3000 is still PRaT king by a fair margin over the Ed9. Though the only real competition I've heard for the L3000's PRaT is the Qualia, IF you get the fit right.

The Ed9's are sounding like a good option for the price, but if you get a chance at an L3000 I'd say jump at it.

I heard them at Ultrasone's booth at the NAMM show a few months ago. It was loud as hell there though, so my brief listening was hardly a definitive one. It's possible that the highs sounded a bit sharper because I turned the volume up more than I would have in a quiet environment to compensate for the background noise.