[zanshin]

Thanks to Tomcat, 88sound, solomon etc. (thank you!), I received my W100s today from a friend in Japan.

I'm am absolutely blown away. They're comfortable as heck, they effortlessly dance the line between analytical/sterile and colored, and, surprising to me, they exhibit a strange balance between in-your-face business and "veiled" business. Truly beautiful sound, I've found *the* headphone for my needs. I'm writing this with practically no break-in, and I better hang on tight if it gets any better than this.

Now, why does this damn cord have to get twisted up so easily.

 

[hokiefritz]

Yep, the cord twisting is the worst. I'm also always worried about snagging it because the casing is made out silk.

Congrats on your new phones!

 

[JML]

And they only get better!

The cable, by the way, is apparently Ohno-Cast specially processed copper, which is supposed to have fewer crystals, and thereby sound better. The Outlaw cables and Harmonic Technology cables have the same type of copper (as do AT cables on their Japan site).

It is hard to wrap up -- I agree. But don't try to make it into a small coil -- keep it large, like around 10-12", around the circumference of the cans, when you lay it down. I wish it was not silk-wrapped, however!

Welcome to the AT fan club.

 

[dhwilkin]

Congrats on your new headphones.

Yeah, that darn cord gets twisted up more on its own than any other cord I've ever seen.

 

[The Quality Guru]

Congrats on getting your ATH-W100's! They are great 'phones and really do sound quite good out of anything due to their low impedence. They sound much better out of an amp or a peramp/receiver/ poweramp, however. Enjoy!

 

[zanshin]

Thanks for the comments.. hopefully future limited editions will change the cord?

Quality Guru - I've got the W100s plugged into an old McIntosh MX-113 preamp and MC-2125 power amp. They sound great like this, although when the music doesn't have much activity there's more amp noise than I'm used to. It's very unobtrusive, however, and what can I expect with an old system?

I haven't tried the W100s with a portable yet, as I don't have the right adapter. I just got Audio Cubes to offer them though, so should have one soon.

Those of you with W100s, what would you recommend for a small amp to go with a portable. A cmoy? cha-47? porta-corda? I'm new to that game, so help would be appreciated! Thanks..

 

[The Quality Guru]

Zanshin,

Actually, I'm on JMT's waiting list (I think so, at least) for a CHA-47, so I should be getting one of those sooner or later, and I can tell you how it sounds with the W100's when I get it.

But for now, I'm listening to my W100's directly out of a Denon (DCM-777) CDP, from the headphone jack, which I believe is a direct line-out (from the DAC, probably) from the CDP- a pretty nice feature, that I had no I idea it had when I bought it. But actually, the W100's sound is very filled-out and full, with a lush midrange and impressive transparency. Actually, the Denon CDP beats the pants of the headphone out on the Harman Kardon CDR20, which probably doesn't have the headphone jack coming right from the DAC as I think the Denon does.

I also listen to them directly from the line-out of my PCDP(which is at an amazingly perfect volume, not too soft and not too loud, this is all suprising considering the line-out is pretty much unamplified), the Sony D-EJ925. The sound, overall, is not as filled-out or lush-sounding from this system, and in general the sound is a tad thin, as might be expected with a portable. Maybe the sound will become a bit more filled-out with the CHA-47, and if it doesn't, there's no doubt it will benefit in other areas of the sound.

As for the adaptor to convert the 1/4" jack to a 1/8" jack, go for the Grado. It costs around $15 from Headroom. I've got it and it makes for a clean conversion with no noticeable loss in resolution.

Anyway, do have fun with those W100's! If you have some James Taylor around, give some of his CD's a listen; the wood resonances of the W100 do their work nicely here and make his voice sound truly remarkable!