[atx]

Can someone enlighten me as to where the A900 stands in the ATH product line? which is their flagship headphone and where is the A900 relative to it?

 

[HiWire]

The '900 is kind of in the low-mid range of their headphones. The Connolly leather '3000 sits at the top of the line, followed by the wood-cupped limited-edition series. In the '900 series, it was superseded by the '1000 and '2000, if I recall correctly. Those cans are out of production, but there is a new AD-series that goes up to '1000 and '2000.

You can check the Audiocubes web site or Audio-Technica Japan's web site (Babelfish or Google translated) for more details. I don't believe the new W5000 or the Ltd. Ed. A900 are in their most recent catalog.

 

[atx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiWire The '900 is kind of in the low-mid range of their headphones. The Connolly leather '3000 sits at the top of the line, followed by the wood-cupped limited-edition series. In the '900 series, it was superseded by the '1000 and '2000, if I recall correctly. Those cans are out of production, but there is a new AD-series that goes up to '1000 and '2000.

Which do you think best represents ATH ? I'm thinking of getting the A900LTD since I don't have any ATH headphones, but I want to get the one that best represents them (like SR225 for Grados).

 

[HiWire]

I can't really say, as I'm not the resident Audio-Technica expert. There are many other members with far more experience with the product line - do a search for recent posts on the ATH-AD2000, the woody cans, and the ultra-expensive Leatherheads. I've only listened to the A900 at a headphone meet, and I disliked it almost immediately for it's weird "honky" midrange and artificial soundstage. With that being said, I would expect an A900 with '3000 drivers to be a vast improvement... I can't wait to read the impressions on these Darth 900's.

In my opinion, the regular A900 is popular because of its price point, not its performance. I like the Audio-Technicas from an aesthetic point of view; they look pretty in the photos and have excellent build quality, but would look rather silly on my small head. The Audio-Technica lineup is very poorly represented in North America, so your best bet is shopping through Audiocubes or other importers, or purchasing directly from Japan somehow.

 

[razer]

Read it on bluetin that it has an extended frequency range as well as a diff SPL dB from the normal A900. But then again, specifications doesnt mean a better sounding headphone.

 

[yaufei]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fr4c if they are L3000 drivers, I'll buy 7 and have a pair of headphones for each day of the week.

I wont be surprised if they have L3000 drivers, since they cost only $50 each.

 

[fureshi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sugano-san So these phones are black plastic with nicer pads and top-of-the-line drivers for $330? IN that case, maybe it's preferable to pay a few 100 $$ more and get the W5000's.

quite a few hundred dollars more, like maybe $600~700 more. these cans do look very interesting especially since they do have the top of the line drivers. it would be interesting to know if these drivers were used in any other cans from AT.

 

[NeilPeart]

First of all, how do we really know the A900LTD features the same drivers used in the L3000? I don't recall that was ever substantiated by any reliable source. Secondly, the A900 (standard) is an excellent 'phone and one of the best sealed cans around (though I prefer the K271S, DT250-250 and HD25-1). The A1000 was a slightly better-sounding A900 and it featured the same higher-quality earpads seen on this new A900LTD; however, the A1000 had a mechanical flaw that lead to most units exhibiting a broken gimbal-hinge regardless of the usage of the 'phones. In my mind this makes the A900LTD a possible candidate for best non-woody sealed Audio-Technica headphone (the new AD1000/2000 are open cans that are in a different segment than their sealed brethren). I prefer the A900 (standard) to even some AT woodies like the W100, W10VTG and especially the W1000. The W11JPN, W2002 and especially L3000 are in a different league, IMO – those are excellent headphones for the most part. I'm eagerly awaiting the new W5000 because it will hopefully take the AT sound to a higher level, it will cost under $900 and it could potentially be more beautiful than even the W2002 (from the limited photos I’ve seen)! All we know about the A900LTD is that it is an improved version of the A900 - let's not speculate wildly regarding its implementation of $50 L3000 drivers...

 

[atx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilPeart I prefer the A900 (standard) to even some AT woodies like the W100, W10VTG and especially the W1000.

You mean you find the A900 sonically better than W100/W10VTG/W1000 ? I'm a little confused here since some posts say the A900 is barely any better than the A500.


Quote:

All we know about the A900LTD is that it is an improved version of the A900 - let's not speculate wildly regarding its implementation of $50 L3000 drivers...

If the L3000 drivers cost $50, where did the other $1800 go? The wood?

 

[NeilPeart]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atx You mean you find the A900 sonically better than W100/W10VTG/W1000 ? I'm a little confused here since some posts say the A900 is barely any better than the A500. If the L3000 drivers cost $50, where did the other $1800 go? The wood?

That's exactly what I wanna ask, yaufei (read post #36 in this thread)!

Regarding my preference of the A900 over some of the AT woodies: this is simply my personal preference - I find the A900 to be a very decent sealed headphone while I find some large issues with the W100, W10VTG and W1000. This is nothing more than personal taste - I am entitled to this despite other posters' thoughts about the A900/W100/W1000. Just because I loathe the W1000 doesn’t mean they suck and not a single person would ever enjoy them - they simply are not my cup of tea.

 

[atx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilPeart That's exactly what I wanna ask, yaufei (read post #36 in this thread)!

The $50 driver is advertised on bluetin.com. I'm suspecting the rest of the cost goes to manual labor, and Japanese labor is expensive.

 

[overlunge]

I agree with NeilPeart in regard to the sound of different AT models, there are even variation between the W's. While W1000's lack of popularity on Head-fi, they are a interesting sounding pair of headphones which takes up a certain line of sound within the Woodies.


Overlunge

 

[razer]

So thats like $100 for two drivers, and probably $300 for the leather? And maybe another $200 for the wood? As for the cables and other materials like the pads, that would probably be around $200 ? So its $800 for a $1500 headphone and maybe $300 into the production cost? But seriously, it aint expensive for a big company like AT to make headphones. Same case for sennheiser, AKG and other big players in the headphone industry....Thats just speculation and alot of guesstimation...Of course I may be wrong.

 

[atx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by overlunge I agree with NeilPeart in regard to the sound of different AT models, there are even variation between the W's. While W1000's lack of popularity on Head-fi, they are a interesting sounding pair of headphones which takes up a certain line of sound within the Woodies.

The W1000s get a very favorable mention in these 6moons reviews:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/s...ower/mpx3.html
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/emmeline/sr71.html

I just don't get the polarized opinions when it comes to the w1000.

Quote:

So thats like $100 for two drivers, and probably $300 for the leather? And maybe another $200 for the wood? As for the cables and other materials like the pads, that would probably be around $200 ? So its $800 for a $1500 headphone and maybe $300 into the production cost? But seriously, it aint expensive for a big company like AT to make headphones.

The leather probably comes from India, and they would cost probably $20-30. The wood is also dirt cheap if you go to asian countries like Indonesia.

These companies are marking up the prices so its worthwhile for them to get into the business at all. I'm pretty sure that the profit margin is at least 60-75%.

That aside, I wouldn't mind buying the L3000, except I listen to mostly contemporary music and the way they are mastered nowadays (at clipping levels and compressed range), using the L3000 is a waste of money.

 

[overlunge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by atx The W1000s get a very favorable mention in these 6moons reviews: http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/s...ower/mpx3.html http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/emmeline/sr71.html I just don't get the polarized opinions when it comes to the w1000. The leather probably comes from India, and they would cost probably $20-30. The wood is also dirt cheap if you go to asian countries like Indonesia. These companies are marking up the prices so its worthwhile for them to get into the business at all. I'm pretty sure that the profit margin is at least 60-75%. That aside, I wouldn't mind buying the L3000, except I listen to mostly contemporary music and the way they are mastered nowadays (at clipping levels and compressed range), using the L3000 is a waste of money.

My guess is probably because the W1000 being the first model of W's that has that trend of sound, which is readily available to Head-fi. I can grossly categorise the sound of Woodies into three categories:

Warm musical sound- W10VTG, W11JPN, W100
Birghter more resolution - W10LTD and W1000
A blend of both, in order or more musical to less - L3000>W11R=W2002

As you can see the W11Rs and W10LTDs are models a bit ahead of Head-fi's time which to my ears shares more common trends to W1000. IMHO, that's why the sound of W1000 is more of a love/hate Woodies..

As for the L3000, they marketed the wood housing as Asadazakura as the cherry wood grown in Hokkaido, Japan. As well as the leather are manufactured by Connolly leather from UK... unless Audio Technica trying to cut corners, I don't see the material being source from the places you mentioned.


Overlunge