[alv4426]

^^^That is one of the most comprehensive and helpful posts regarding AT ive ever read; I thank thee, AT Master.

 

[Xymordos]

You got it! Meaty vs Spirit! ATH phones to me are just like collection items too! They look too good that I would buy them even if they sound majorly similar. What I felt the difference was that W5k feels like the person is close enough to kiss you, but then you don't feel the actual presence of a flesh body there singing. W3k gives the body back, and you can feel the flesh body next to you, but then the vocals are further back and you don't get the feeling of the person trying to lick your ears (hehe) anymore. However, both these models indeed do have ATH's house sound of the colored mid range. W5k seem to also have the awkward tuning of a recessed lower mids and pronounced upper mids, which makes female vocals sound better and stands out above background music, while male vocals appears to be on the same level as the background. 
 
What you described here is pretty much the same as what I heard from various other sources, except the difference between W5k and the older models. Most people seem to believe that although the W5k does have magical mids, they don't have the meaty feeling of the older models. The older models seem to have both meaty mids as well as a seductive feeling? But I guess this is due to the difference you described as the sound difference between limited and non limited series of ATH. From your description however, I feel like that I can get the old ATH sound of both meaty and seductive mids by buying any older limited edition models.
 
I'm worried that the older models may break soon, because they're often more than 10 years old. So the only one I would be willing to get is the W1000. However, you did mention that it sounds more familiar to the W5k rather than the W10/100/11s. Shame.

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

What you described here is pretty much the same as what I heard from various other sources, except the difference between W5k and the older models. Most people seem to believe that although the W5k does have magical mids, they don't have the meaty feeling of the older models. The older models seem to have both meaty mids as well as a seductive feeling? But I guess this is due to the difference you described as the sound difference between limited and non limited series of ATH. From your description however, I feel like that I can get the old ATH sound of both meaty and seductive mids by buying any older limited edition models.
 
I'm worried that the older models may break soon, because they're often more than 10 years old. So the only one I would be willing to get is the W1000. However, you did mention that it sounds more familiar to the W5k rather than the W10/100/11s. Shame.

 
The W5000 are definitely on the airier side, and I wouldn't call them solid or "meaty," but they do have a very AT-type of colored midrange. The W11R has a similarly colored midrange, but has a more solid / grounded presentation and better overall tonal balance to my ears.
 
The build quality on the older woodies is actually very robust, and I haven't had any problems whatsoever with even the oldest W10VTG. I can understand your reluctance, however.
 
Keep an eye out for the W11R. Even though they're technically the most limited of the W series (with only 800 units produced), they seem to come up more often than the second rarest, the W10LTD. Maybe by virtue of not being "THE rarest" it's actually rarer since its so overlooked. But anyway, I managed to get my W11R for 400 USD last year, and it's in great shape and came with the original packaging. You'll always encounter people charging too much, but if you're patient you may stumble onto a good deal.
 
Good luck!

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

^^^That is one of the most comprehensive and helpful posts regarding AT ive ever read; I thank thee, AT Master.

 
Aw, thanks. : )
 
It's still just one person's opinion obviously, so I suggest taking a look at posts by CFabian who has also owned most of the woodies. Also take a look at this thread by wind016 which has some really helpful info (also scroll down and read the replies).
 
CFabian has ranked them from best to least-best thusly: 
 
W11R --> W10VTG --> W11JPN --> W1000 = W10LTD --> W100
 
At that time he hadn't heard the W5000, W2002, and W1000X. The W3000ANV hadn't been released.
 
 
Here's my current ranking more or less:
 
W11R = W3000ANV --> W2002 --> W10LTD --> W10VTG = ESW10JPN --> W5000 --> W11JPN --> ESW9 --> W1000X --> W1000 = W100

 

[subtle]

MuppetFace,
 
Thank you sincerely for all the additional input you provided regarding the L3000 above.  You hit the nail on the head with your thoughts on the headphone and explained everything I dislike about it in a much more concise descriptive manner than I would have been able to.  I'm very pleased to discover that I'm not the only one that this headphone just doesn't work for.
 
Thank you as well for your valuable AT insight throughout the remainder of the thread.  Assuming you have heard it, I was wondering if you could provide your impressions of the AD2000 and how it fits in with the tier of W models you have already mentioned.  That, and the recent newest W3000 model, are the only two AT models I have considered giving a try recently.

 

[rgs9200m]

The W3000ANV is a Goldilocks headphone if I ever heard one: not too bright, not too dark, not too hashy, not too smoothed-over, not too boomy, not bass-shy, not too dry, not too syrupy.

 

[Xymordos]

Quote:

 
The W5000 are definitely on the airier side, and I wouldn't call them solid or "meaty," but they do have a very AT-type of colored midrange. The W11R has a similarly colored midrange, but has a more solid / grounded presentation and better overall tonal balance to my ears.
 
The build quality on the older woodies is actually very robust, and I haven't had any problems whatsoever with even the oldest W10VTG. I can understand your reluctance, however.
 
Keep an eye out for the W11R. Even though they're technically the most limited of the W series (with only 800 units produced), they seem to come up more often than the second rarest, the W10LTD. Maybe by virtue of not being "THE rarest" it's actually rarer since its so overlooked. But anyway, I managed to get my W11R for 400 USD last year, and it's in great shape and came with the original packaging. You'll always encounter people charging too much, but if you're patient you may stumble onto a good deal.
 
Good luck!

 
Sorry, I meant that the W5k has magical mids, but with a different tuning that is not the usual "meaty" ATH mids. I live in a extremely humid place -cough- Hong Kong -cough-, so it is probably not the best idea for me to buy a 10 year old phone... I actually found a  W11R online, stated to be a collector's item in a shop and 99% new in box, but the prices are quite...high. Around 10k RMB, which is 1500USD? So that would be pretty much off the list. On that site you can actually find sellers selling the R10 and the Q010, as well as W2k2 and L3k. Cheapest is obviously the W2k2 which is 16k RMB, the same price as a HA5000anv (obviously I'd rather get the amp...). Now I'm gonna be looking at a W1000 which goes for around $300 USD here. 
 
Pretty sure the W11R comes out often because they're such an old phone without the special lacquer The W11JPN is pretty much never seen! I wouldn't mind paying a high price for the JPN series

 

[MuppetFace]

Quote:

The W3000ANV is a Goldilocks headphone if I ever heard one: not too bright, not too dark, not too hashy, not too smoothed-over, not too boomy, not bass-shy, not too dry, not too syrupy.

 
Yeah, I really think AT took all the best aspects of their past headphones and combined them into one package with the W3000ANV. I've spoken with a few other AT collectors who have listened to all the woodies, and most of them agreed that the W3000ANV was the new champ. The mids on the W11R are a little bit more "ATish," so I prefer those for vocal tracks, but otherwise the W3000ANV is the best in terms of overall balance IMHO. The W10LTD is actually more linear, but it has the least coloration of any of the woodies so it can be a little boring for some people. The W3000ANV is a good middle ground between the two.
 
The W2002 is a bit of an enigma, TBH. Without the right amp it sounds pretty awful to my ears, but when paired with the HA2002 or Yammy, it's actually rather similar to the W3000ANV, maybe even a bit more detailed sounding, though not quite as balanced.

 

[Xymordos]

Sigh except ATH will probably release another full sized limited in 5 years. Probably wait for that one instead

 

[purk]

Quote:

 
Yeah, I really think AT took all the best aspects of their past headphones and combined them into one package with the W3000ANV. I've spoken with a few other AT collectors who have listened to all the woodies, and most of them agreed that the W3000ANV was the new champ. The mids on the W11R are a little bit more "ATish," so I prefer those for vocal tracks, but otherwise the W3000ANV is the best in terms of overall balance IMHO. The W10LTD is actually more linear, but it has the least coloration of any of the woodies so it can be a little boring for some people. The W3000ANV is a good middle ground between the two.
 
The W2002 is a bit of an enigma, TBH. Without the right amp it sounds pretty awful to my ears, but when paired with the HA2002 or Yammy, it's actually rather similar to the W3000ANV, maybe even a bit more detailed sounding, though not quite as balanced.

 
I had the W2002 in the past and unless you own the HA2002, it won't sound that great.  With the HA2002, the W2002 is as detailed as the W3000ANV and even better at handling midrange projection.  I know that you are looking for the W2002, but have you found the partner amp?

 

[Xymordos]

Me? The price of the W2002 is putting me off. I can get 2 HD800s for that price.

 

[purk]

Quote:

Me? The price of the W2002 is putting me off. I can get 2 HD800s for that price.

Yes, the HD800 is a much better phones, hence, the reason I sold mine 2 years ago.  Heck, mine was a W2002+L3000 driver hybrid.  The hybrid was my pride and joy.

 

[Xymordos]

I did hear the HD800, it is certainly very attractive in its resolution and sound stage, but unfortunately it doesn't sound good with the music genres I listen to.

 

[iamoneagain]

I think I've had my L3000/DHA3000 combo for over 5 years now and I still love it.  My taste lean toward a slightly colored, musical sound.  That's why my other favorite headphone was the Grado PS-1.  Of the current production headphones, the best I've heard was the LCD-3.  Had some crazy cable on it and plugged into a nice system.  
 
I've only heard the R10 for a few minutes at a meet last year and it wasn't doing it for me.  I enjoyed the Stax 009 & 007 headphones that were hooked up to the same system. Not sure what I didn't like about the R10 in my brief listen but I remember Peter Gabriel's So album was playing and just know it sounds better on others systems, including my own, in my opinion. Think the R10 is tailored more toward classical while the L3000 is more rock.
 
It's crazy to see how high the prices have gotten though. Not that I have any desire to sell but good to know.  I'm sure having the matching amp too makes it an even rarer find.

 

[Pewuf]

thanks to iamoneagain that i am given the chance to come across this thread
really informative especially for the ath woodies lovers