I recently borrowed a pair of D7000s for a weekend, which were about a year old and well-broken in. In the end, I found that I preferred the D5000s, overall. They seemed to be a better all-purpose headphones to me. I don't understand exactly how people are hearing such a muddy bass quality with D5000s, unless they are connecting them straight to an mp3 player. If anyone has a good song to use as a reference to judge the difference between the D5000 and D7000 with regards to a muddy bass, please let me know, as I am certain that I can borrow the D7000 again to test. Perhaps the puffy JMoney ear pads have acted to decrease this muddiness a bit?
With the following setup, I honestly felt that the D5000 provided the more enjoyable listening experience.
FLAC or 320 kbps Ogg Vorbis/mp3's => PC or Squeezebox Touch (Toslink out) => NuForce Icon HDP as DAC/preamp (RCA) with NuForce LPS-1 linear power supply => Schiit Asgard => D5000 with 1st generation JMoney lambskin ear pads
I listen to many different genres, but the songs that get me moving are usualy a bit funky with plenty of bass. For me, it came down to the bass impact that I enjoy with the D5000, which was an amazing revelation after leaving a pair of Sennheisser HD-595's in a quest for bass I could feel. The D7000 is leagues ahead of my HD-595 or Grado SR-80i when it comes to bass quantity, but it left me with a feeling of wanting a bit more on several tracks that I really enjoy. (example: Skynet - Tardis 'Sentient Album') Also with the D7000, I noticed that the high-hat strikes and other cymbals sounded crisper, like a singer over-exaggerating their consonants. Not harsh, by any means, but this was the biggest difference that I noticed between the D7000 and the D5000. The highs seem to roll off a bit more with the D5000, and I think I personally find that to my liking when listening to several songs where this difference was obvious.
I'm sure a big reason for my preference is that I have chosen songs that I really love with the D5000, as I have been listening to music through them for over a year, and trying to listen to those same songs with a slightly different sound signature is probably not going to immediately make me change my mind. I bet that if I were to listen to music for a month with the D7000 and pick a handful of my favorites, they might not sound as good to my ears listening to these with the D5000.
From memory, I did enjoy songs from The Guess Who, Eric Claption, Paul Simon, and Traffic a little better with the D7000, but I really preferred stuff from Bassnectar, Karsh Kale, and newer genres on the D5000s. It came down to the fact that I could more easily live with the compromises in sound quality where the D5000 was inferior to what I perceived to be the weaker characteristics of the D7000.
Moi! But the LCD-2 is great to have in the rotation, just not in the number one slot.
Between hours 1,500-2,000 the D5000's got creamy; didn't resemble their former selves at all.
if not I will got for the open box D5000 for $400 :/
