[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpalmer How loud do you listen to them Wayne? I've noticed that to me when you start pushing the volume to moderately loud levels they tend to get a bit harsh. Might this be what you're hearing?

There is a known issue with the L3000 that some of them can show distortion at high listening levels. I believe that Ayt999 has heard at least three of these headphones show this, and can help identify if this problem is what you're hearing. This is a repairable problem, once identified. It's also very subtle. I just took mine to listening levels I never reach in normal use, as a test, and the L3000 stayed smooth all the way up.

 

[Nik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hirsch There is a known issue with the L3000 that some of them can show distortion at high listening levels. I believe that Ayt999 has heard at least three of these headphones show this, and can help identify if this problem is what you're hearing. This is a repairable problem, once identified. It's also very subtle. I just took mine to listening levels I never reach in normal use, as a test, and the L3000 stayed smooth all the way up.

Are you telling that some units are not perfectly built? For the repair they sent the cans to AT?

Best!
Nicola

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nik Are you telling that some units are not perfectly built? For the repair they sent the cans to AT? Best! Nicola

Yes. There appears to be a driver issue with some units.

 

[Nik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hirsch Yes. There appears to be a driver issue with some units.

I'm still waiting fo rthe L3000, but how can I do to see if my unit is good or bad?

Thanks!
Nicola

 

[warubozu]

Congrats chefguru on getting your L3000s and welcome to the fold. Thanks for you initial impressions and I do agree that the L3000s is big improvement over the W2002s. I got mines when AT was still taking pre-orders for them and have been loving them since.

 

[Nik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warubozu Congrats chefguru on getting your L3000s and welcome to the fold. Thanks for you initial impressions and I do agree that the L3000s is big improvement over the W2002s. I got mines when AT was still taking pre-orders for them and have been loving them since.

What about that little problem of some units? (As Hirsch said).

Best!
Nicola

 

[warubozu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nik What about that little problem of some units? (As Hirsch said). Best! Nicola

I don't have that problem on my L3000s that Hirsch has mentioned, and haven't had the opportunity to listen to other pairs of L3000s to see if the problem exists.

 

[Zanth]

Very interesting comments. I have never heard an AT phone but look forward to the chance. Having had the R10's for about 6 months, I am very well acquainted with their signature and it will be a lot of fun to compare that sound with the other top closed headphone.

 

[ken36]

Really, really tempting.

 

[Chefguru]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nik What about that little problem of some units? (As Hirsch said). Best! Nicola

Same, don't have that problem.

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nik I'm still waiting fo rthe L3000, but how can I do to see if my unit is good or bad? Thanks! Nicola

Listen to it. If it's smooth and undistorted at reasonably high volumes, you don't have a problem.

 

[gpalmer]

That's an interesting thought Hirsch, I wouldn't describe it as distortion necessarily, it's more of a harshness to the sound that I wouldn't expect from a high end speaker at that low of a volume. I would say that in engineering terms it is distortion. It's at a volume which is louder than what I normally listen at but still within what I consider to be the high end of the normal listening range, it isn't loud enough that I would be shocked hearing it. OTOH, I really have never had these cranked up all that much, I've only played them with them on my head and I like lower volumes, maybe it just needs a bit of break in time at volume. (I'm probably selling myself a bill of goods hoping it isn't a real problem). I'll go ahead and give Alex a shout and see what he has to say. Then again, maybe we can compare our Leatherheads one of these weekends...

 

[Wmcmanus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gpalmer How loud do you listen to them Wayne? I've noticed that to me when you start pushing the volume to moderately loud levels they tend to get a bit harsh. Might this be what you're hearing?

That might be it. I don't listen as loud as Ray Samuels, but close enough.

 

[gpalmer]

I've been giving 'em a bit of juice tonight and they seem to be liking it. While they seem to be smoother and they aren't losing the detail under load the way they were when I originally cranked them up they still seem to have a bit of harshness there but I think it needs more volume to bring it out than it did earlier. There is no way I would describe their sound as distorted it's just harshness in the upper mids.

 

[ayt999]

congrats on your new headphones Kyle. I hope you'll like them in the end.

the distortion I heard with some L3000's occurs around 30Hz, and only starting at moderately high volumes. I think it has something to do with the construction of the driver, with the wires that go to the voice coil hitting against the diaphragm in certain drivers. it isn't present except on bassy stuff, usually only when I use bass boost, so I doubt it gets caught by AT's quality control process. and of course it is covered by the warranty....

so if you don't hear odd harmonics with longer decays than the original bass note, you're fine. otherwise it probably is best to send it in for repairs unless you don't listen to such tracks and it isn't a problem for you.

btw, I only heard this on a few L3000's, and not on other models. might be something new they tried with the L3000 that didn't work out quite right....