Balanced w11jpn?

I wouldn't personally change the cable, it's a great headphone as is.

Yeah, I'd leave it as it is. Back when I owned the W11jpn, I wanted to re-cable them with some silver cable, but then decided its best to leave them alone and not mess with them in any way. They are very nice headphones looks wise and sound wise.

Excellent catch XXII! Very very seductive pair and you can almost taste the sound coming out from them. They sound absolutely fantastic as it is.

I don't think many people have balanced higher end AT headphones.
I recall that nc8000 had a balanced L3000, and that he or someone else said that balancing them didn't change the sound much.

I've had both the W11JPN and the L3000 now (balanced with a 4 pin XLR, but using SE for now), and the L3000 is clearly a step up from the W11JPN.
Low bass rumble is more audible, and overall the bass is better defined.
The L3000 is also more transparent/realistic sounding than the W11JPN.
While the W11JPN can be quite bright/shouty with the wrong amp, the L3000 doesn't have that at all, and is on the darker end.

The W11JPN sound more in your face, while the L3000 has a more balanced presentation.
I also think the L3000 images much better than the W11, it kind of reminds me of my ESW10 in this regard.


I would just keep the cable stock, if not just because the stock 1/4 plug looks so nice.

Todd (tkam) balanced a pair of L3000s, and went back to the stock cable and had a single ended amp built.

@XXII, the reason I sold my W11jpn was partially due to me being soo worried about getting my W11jpn scratched. My W11jpn was almost mint, and I found myself constantly worrying about scratching the beautiful wood cups.

SQ wise, I was rather fond of them and enjoyed them. I almost skipped lunch on a few occasions due to me being really engrossed in my W11jpn + music and not wanting to budge from my chair.

I was quite satisfied with the sound overall, but, if I had to nitpick, I'd want more sparkle on the top end and a little more extension in the bass region. That was my reason for wanting to recable them with some nice silver cable. Was gonna convert it to dual entry at the same time, but didn't have the heat to butcher them. Those are the reason why I sold them to an AT woody collector.

I've owned ATHw11jpn and I sold them tho this may be because my amp wasn't powerful enough,
and now I'm pretty satisfied of my MD5000's for bassier music. I'm thinking of not selling them. However, anything non-electronic or acoustic blows. A saxophone sounds like ass. (ESI Juli@ -> G-lite)
the L3000's are prohibitively expensive (I need portable music production from laptop headphones,, and I wouldn't want them stolen)

If I had the w11jpns again and was on a budget I would prbly buy an m3 with a built-in bass boost (see below for cost-no-object)

off topic One thing for sure: the G-Lite kicks ass
And this is coming from someone who owned a balanced Beta 22,
it is serious bang-for-your buck
of course the Beta 22 is ridiculously overbuilt for %99 of headphones,
..and it leaves nothing left behind...
In the case of comparing HD650's balanced and SE, the balanced (beta 22) version felt like the music was effortlessly being pushed through the transducers
Not in the way AD2000's run SE produce sound which is with knee-jerk fast response
but comparing the HD650's from the Lavry built-in headphone jack to the Balanced B22 felt as though nothing was missed with the music, and if I had the right headphones it would stomp anthing. The problem is actually finding the headphones (and it sounds like you may have done just that... so nice work )

...which brings me to my point
do it,,, but go for the gold with whatever amp you own...
Power is the name of the game when it comes to amps
and I would personally like to own a Zana Deux with the w11jpns knowing what I know now, especially since the new run has an impedence switch.
BTW the Cayin HA-1A (tubes) wouldn't have given the w11jpns (or any headphone really) enough power (compared to the Beta 22)
my opinion based on my experience is go big or go home...
...although if you haven't heard any better it may be a lot easier on your wallet to accept a G-Lite as a sufficient amp