davidf
Member of the Trade: The Little Audio Company
I agree with you. They actually remind me of the Eclipse TD510Z MkII single driver speakers - clean, fast, open, detailed, three dimensional. They’re a tad light on bass too, but reward you with so much more than a little extra bass would do. I guess in comparison, the single driver approach could be made to produce lower bass, but to the detriment of the rest of the frequency range, just as with the ADX5000s. Would I want to spoil what they do for a bit more bass? Not on your nelly! I like their speed and bass texture.I'd be willing to give up some sub-bass and mid-bass impact (and in my opinion this is exactly where in headphones where the mid-bass is boosted and brought more forward, you're bound to be losing finer details when listening to an acoustic bass instrument), since if the mid-bass is boosted on a headphone, it would seem that you'd be trading "impact" and "punch" for finer, more subtle details (as in overtones, and harmonics of a stand-up bass). On some headphones, the bass is so emphasized and so dominant that it begins to bleed-over and obscure the midrange (much less giving you the chance to appreciate the interesting character of a sustained note or chord!)
The way I feel about judging a headphone's presentation of bass is (and based on all the headphones that I've ever heard) you seem to have to make a choice in how you want your bass rendered. And, it seems to me it's a matter of "you win some / you lose some." I think it would be a very difficult engineering trick for a headphone to have both the qualities of impact and finesse. (But, this is based on my limited frame of reference, as I admit that the headphones that I've heard is a small percentage, compared to what's out there, these days).
Just bear in mind that everyone hears differently, and we all have differing partnering equipment, so opinions are going to vary regardless of just how good these headphones are. No doubt many people will find them on the bright/lean side, but you’ll also find some at the opposite extreme who are going to fund them dull! I can’t wait to get my pair back for more listening, spend more time with them and maybe do a follow up review.Glad you're enjoying the X5000's, dave. Appreciate your impressions. I'll still be looking for more reviews and people's comments in the coming months as I hope that MSRP comes down! (I still have a bit of "sticker shock", as far as that goes!)