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Sony SA5000 vs Audio-Technica AD900?

post #1 of 36
11/25/11 at 10:49pm
Thread Starter 

Lots of comparisons to K701/K702, Ultrasones and Grado and such but I couldn't find any comparisons to the open style Audio-Technicas.

 

thanks,

 

Joshua

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post #2 of 36
11/25/11 at 10:56pm

 

Mmm, I'm a bit curious too how it compares to AD700/900/1000/2000.

 

 

It's not very popular these days.

 

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post #3 of 36
11/25/11 at 11:03pm
Thread Starter 

I would expect the Audio-Technicas to be a bit warmer and a little less ruthlessly revealing but that's just a guess. No idea as far as soundstage. I would expect the Audio-Technicas to be a bit more musical stock but I suspect the Sony has more to offer if modded right. Just guesses though.

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post #4 of 36
11/25/11 at 11:18pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiteki View Post

 

Mmm, I'm a bit curious too how it compares to AD700/900/1000/2000.

 

 

It's not very popular these days.

 


It used to cost closer to $500 so it was a bit questionable at that range but the price is down to $340 now. But I think most have forgotten about it these days with all the new headphones that have come out lately.

 

I absolutely want a super fast and clean/clear sounding pair of headphones but I also want a very open and airy sound that can sound good now (unamped) and later on when I buy a tube amp. (I love tubes!)

 

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post #5 of 36
11/25/11 at 11:56pm

 

SA-5000 was my first heapdhone - http://www.head-fi.org/t/571081/the-diary-entries-of-a-little-girl-latest-memoir-fostex-kotori-teclast-x19/690#post_7901077

 

 

There's one for sale here - http://www.head-fi.org/t/577788/fs-sony-sa5000-aus#post_7913419

 

 

Read the "Suzanne" review on Amazon.com it's pretty good, I never heard the SA-5000 with tubes but I'd imagine it would have an excellent synergy there.

 

In it's heyday $600-700 was an 'okay' price since it was in a sense the consumer version of the Qualia 010, In modern rankings I think around $300 is a fair price for it considering the current competition.

 

For example I think Shure SRH-940 is the most similiar headphone I've heard, at a similiar price too, but the SA-5000 is open-air and more comfortable with real leather and magnesium alloy, no plastic.

 

I haven't heard many open-air headphones so I can't judge, but after the SA-5000 I continued on to the Stax SR-404, A2000X and currently Tesla T5p.

 

 

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post #6 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:03am

 

By the way, the HD800 and Tesla T1 are reference headphones, they lean towards accuracy and flatness with an evenly positioned soundspace, the SA-5000 is more upfront, the vocals will reverberate in your nasal cavity and the icy highs will fall like metallic feathers.

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post #7 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:16am

Depends on what you're looking for sonically. The SA5000 is bright-ish (lots of treble quantity), prone to sibilance, and relatively clear-sounding, while the AD900 is mid-range focused and not as clear. I also thought the AD900 had more bass quantity than the SA5000.

 

See also these reviews:

http://www.headphonereviews.org/headphone/Sony/MDR-SA5000

http://www.headphonereviews.org/headphone/Audio-Technica/ATH-AD900


Edited by Asr - 11/26/11 at 12:20am
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post #8 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:19am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiteki View Post

 

SA-5000 was my first heapdhone - http://www.head-fi.org/t/571081/the-diary-entries-of-a-little-girl-latest-memoir-fostex-kotori-teclast-x19/690#post_7901077

 

 

There's one for sale here - http://www.head-fi.org/t/577788/fs-sony-sa5000-aus#post_7913419

 

 

Read the "Suzanne" review on Amazon.com it's pretty good, I never heard the SA-5000 with tubes but I'd imagine it would have an excellent synergy there.

 

In it's heyday $600-700 was an 'okay' price since it was in a sense the consumer version of the Qualia 010, In modern rankings I think around $300 is a fair price for it considering the current competition.

 

For example I think Shure SRH-940 is the most similiar headphone I've heard, at a similiar price too, but the SA-5000 is open-air and more comfortable with real leather and magnesium alloy, no plastic.

 

I haven't heard many open-air headphones so I can't judge, but after the SA-5000 I continued on to the Stax SR-404, A2000X and currently Tesla T5p.

 

 




I've read every review I could find. I was looking at buying these or the AD900 modded with W5000 leather pads. As such they are very close in price. The SA5000 seems to scale more with better equipment compared to the AD900 but still sounds good unamped (maybe not as good as the AD900 but probably better than the AKG K701/702). I already plan to buy the Ming Da MC 84C07 tube headphone/speaker amp later on but it will be a bit as I have billsa to take care of first. The SA5000 sounds like everything I want with the exception of a bit of ragedness on the high-end and a lack of a touch of warmth a tube amp could take care of. However I would get these recabled and probably do some other mods anyway.

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post #9 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:22am

 

How about the AD1000? Any particular reason the AD900 is better? Just curious.

 

 

Is there an open-air HP list on head-fi?

 

 

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post #10 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:25am

is the ad-900 as good for surround sound pc gaming as the ad700?

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post #11 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Asr View Post

Depends on what you're looking for sonically. The SA5000 is bright-ish (lots of treble quantity), prone to sibilance, and relatively clear-sounding, while the AD900 is mid-range focused and not as clear. I also thought the AD900 had more bass quantity than the SA5000.

 

See also these reviews:

http://www.headphonereviews.org/headphone/Sony/MDR-SA5000

http://www.headphonereviews.org/headphone/Audio-Technica/ATH-AD900

Most of the reviews agree except on the point of sibilance; everyone agrees it has a very upfront treble quality but very few call it sibilant and many are adamant about it's lack of sibilance but I guess it depends on what you are comparing it too. I'm coming from modded Grado SR80i's so I'm not too worried.
 

 

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post #12 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:28am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiteki View Post

 

How about the AD1000? Any particular reason the AD900 is better? Just curious.

 

 

Is there an open-air HP list on head-fi?

 

 


Almost everyone buys the AD900 and/or the AD2000. The AD1000 mostly gets skipped based on rumors that it's inferior. I'll do a search and see if there are any reviews. Probably very few.

 

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post #13 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:29am

 

I thought it had sibilance, in the purest of nice sharp "S" note sense!

 

 

There are so many upper frequencies, and sometimes sibilance is confused with harshness.

 

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post #14 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:42am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kiteki View Post

 

I thought it had sibilance, in the purest of nice sharp "S" note sense!

 

 

There are so many upper frequencies, and sometimes sibilance is confused with harshness.

 

Ok, yeah your probably right about the confusion issue, that's why I always read alot of reviews since everyone has a different way of describing things.

 

(Lol, been on here alot longer than you but you have wayyyy more posts than me, guess I lurk and read alot but don't post much, lol)
 

 

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post #15 of 36
11/26/11 at 12:47am

 

Yeah I type fast or something.

 

I looked at your profile, Rasputina sounds good on the SA-5000.

 

So are there really no more open-air alternatives to these headphones?

 

 

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