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Amp advice for ATH-W1000X

post #1 of 25
5/16/10 at 9:05pm
Thread Starter 

Hi all, I have some ATH-W1000X arriving in a day or two (totally psyched)  and I am wondering which amps you all would recommend

 

My price limit is around $800 though if i can get away with fantastic sound for less I would be happy to. The ones i am considering so far are the Decware CSP2 and the RSA protector used in balanced mode

I dont have a strong solid state/tube preference, im mainly going for audio quality. 

Im not going to list my unique sound preferences for now, Id rather just see what suggestions come up

 

I will use the amp for home use only.  i am only considering the protector b/c it would be a cheap way to go balanced and it gets such amazing reviews.

 

Until i find the ideal match I will be using a HIFIMAN EF-5, which may be fine,  but i dont know if this is a good choice, and i dont have it yet either so i have no reference

 

I currently run audio from my PC with Foobar/wasapi/flac, through a KECES 151 MKII (usb) DAC (which may need replacing too..let me know what you think)

 

 

Thanks all -  and ill just get it over with right now... sorry about my wallet... poor, poor wallet.


Edited by Br777 - 5/17/10 at 2:07am
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post #2 of 25
5/16/10 at 9:59pm
Thread Starter 

Im also looking at audio gd amps... specifically the ROC, with the hopes of one day understanding exactly what it takes to have a "balanced" system, and maybe doing that, but that is a whooooooooooooole nother thread, and probably a looooooooooong way off

 

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post #3 of 25
5/17/10 at 10:08am

Tat Decware amp looks great. If was buying an 800 amp I would go for that. Please post your findings on the AT headphones

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post #4 of 25
5/17/10 at 10:46am
Thread Starter 

Frank I  - I agree reg. the CSP2, and Skylab along with many others on other sites have given it excellent reviews.  Even though i know an amp like the Audio GD ROC probably give a more "precise and neutral" sound, there is something just so damn sexy and alluring about tube amps. 

 

Will do on the cans.. they are coming in today!!!!!!!!!


Edited by Br777 - 5/17/10 at 3:47pm
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post #5 of 25
5/18/10 at 5:30pm

I love my HA160 and ATH-W1000X combo! But please make sure you give them plenty of burning in time. You can check out my full review here.

 

The HA160 has the warmth of the tube amp but higher resolution. I think it is a perfect match with the W1000X.

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post #6 of 25
5/18/10 at 5:39pm
Thread Starter 

yeah, ive never taken the time to burn in headphones, and i have to admit im skeptical past a few hours, but I am burning in the 1000's as we speak.  They are pretty imbalanced as far as their flatness when i run a sine wave, which is a bit annoying, but we'll see if this burn in thing is for real and it tones them down a bit.  

REEEEEEALLY sibilant.  something i didnt even know the meaning of until i tried these.  also some serious dips around 300-500hz and 6000-7500hz.... anyway i guess thats just the way it goes, especially with closed cans.. the d2000's were even worse

 

however they do sound good when eq'd but I'm having a hard time adjusting to their tight precise sound compared to my d2000's.  Its not a worse sound, but its very different.

 

anyway, im leaning more and more towards the decware csp2 because i have a feeling i will like what a tube sound adds to these cans.. maybe mellow them out a bit.  I will check out your review though

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post #7 of 25
5/18/10 at 10:15pm
Thread Starter 

by the way i have posted some long rambling initial musings on the ATH-W1000x compared to my now sold Denon D2000  HERE...  to sum it up -  I LOVE THEM!

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post #8 of 25
5/20/10 at 5:45am

hello br777,

 

I also bought a new w1000x recently and I have to agree with you that they're extremely sibilant.

I've had 115 hours of burn in on them and still no sign of it settling down. I'm running them with my Audio-Gd Compass and iBasso D10.

My ears feel like they're ringing after listening to some rock tunes with lots of cymbals.

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post #9 of 25
5/20/10 at 12:23pm

I just bought a pair of ATH-W1000X two days ago and they were burned in by the seller for 3 weeks, I think he said they have about 300 hours on them. They are in perfect condition and I am replacing my D5000s with JMoney Pads, adn Twisted Cable's Vortex cable and Furutech FP704 and I have to say, I am getting exactly what I expected, and hoped for.

 

My buddy took them home to try them on his Audio GD Compass and he said the highs were so shrill and sharp he could not stand it for more than 10 minutes. He put them on his LD MKIV+ and he said they really should their synergy. He really enjoyed the sound.

 

I asked the seller what he had them connected to and he said he used his WA 5SE which he claimed sounded excellent and but thought it was overkill for these cans. He said the WA6 would be a great match.

 

I am using both my EF2 and Maverick D1 seperately for different music right now. I tired the combo of D1 as DAC and EF2 as amp and it was not good, it was muddy, slow, congested on fast sytnhs and bass notes. But the EF2 by itself with analog sounds like pure vocals, acoustic guitars, and other none digital sounds were just great. Made the EF2 appear to by a very nice DAC/AMP for these cans but as soon as the sounds get digital (electronic music) the problems show up.

 

So for music like Goldfrapp, La Roux, Ladyhawke, the D1 is very good with these HPs.  I enjoy the sound much better than with my modded D5000s. I've had three others around my office come by to audition and they all agree. We are hearing more sounds we are not hearing in the Denons and the headstage and seperation is wider and more distinct.

 

So...I just wanted to let you know that from my experience:

The Compass and these cans are not a good match

Tube amps are great, but it looks like transformer coupled tube amps are best.

SS is good, although somewhat sharp in the upper freqs and I tend to to Direct Sound out, no EQ, no filtering. So I know I can trim it, its just that I don't want to.

 

So, I am going to buy either a WA6, DV3322, Jade, MKIV+(OTL but drives low impedence well), or similar transformer coupled amp here ASAP.

 

Hope that helps...I love these HPs. closest thing I have personally listened to is the HE5/EF5 combo, of Grado GS1000s.

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post #10 of 25
5/20/10 at 12:36pm
Thread Starter 

thanks a lot for all the feedback.. its very helpful.   It really amazes me that headphones that cost $700-$800 retail would have such extreme frequency imbalances and especially such sibilance.. i mean its reaaaally prominent.  

 

Its hard for me to believe that burn in past 100 hours is really going to have an effect on the sound. I guess time will tell. 

 

anyway i still keep coming back to the decware csp2 as my probable choice.. unless of course my soon coming hifiman ef5 really knocks my socks off.


Edited by Br777 - 5/20/10 at 5:36pm
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post #11 of 25
5/20/10 at 4:01pm

Br777 that's too bad that it hasn't gone away yet, but either it will soon, or there is an amp. issue.   

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post #12 of 25
5/20/10 at 4:03pm
Thread Starter 

id be pleasantly, yet very surprised if it was an amp issue, and i'd actually be surprised if more burn in fixed it too.... guess ill find out soon enough one way or the other

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post #13 of 25
5/21/10 at 2:27am

ridleyguy: May I know what setup/amp that you're are using with the W1000X that makes it sound so smooth??

 

i'm also guessing you've have burned them in for many hundreds of hours?

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post #14 of 25
5/21/10 at 2:49am

I don't knows... Judging from the impressions I feel the W1000X has been a 'fun' headphone from the start, my more balanced 'range' goes closer to DT880, ESW10JPN and K701 (I know it's not total BS since multiple comparisons have been made with the ESW10JN, which I own). My concern is with the high output impedence on the tube amps, given how low impedance the Audio Technicas are. Though I think the EF5 is a hybrid? 


Edited by Ypoknons - 5/21/10 at 7:50am
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post #15 of 25
5/21/10 at 3:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lwt13 View Post

ridleyguy: May I know what setup/amp that you're are using with the W1000X that makes it sound so smooth??

 

i'm also guessing you've have burned them in for many hundreds of hours?


Macbook Pro ('09) lossless>USB>RWA Isabellina HPA.

 

I received my W1000X on April 19th and have probably burned them in (on my head) for well over 150 hours now.  When I first got them, I found they had a significant amount of sibilance which I was very concerned about, but that disappeared and they really smoothed out in the treble after a couple of weeks.  I prefer them now to both my HD650 (Equinox) and K701.

 

I will be bringing mine to CanJam and people are welcome to try them there with the RWA Isabella (assuming ALO brings one), or with other amps.   


Edited by Ridleyguy - 5/21/10 at 8:42am
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