[tk3]

Less bass than the W3k? That doesn't sound too promising.

 

[protoss]

I heard it at the HK AV Show. It was a really refined sound. Everything was very controlled and refined, nothing was in the way, and you'd feel very comfortable listening to it. I'd say it is slightly cold sound, bass is neutral-bass light, less bass than the W3000anv, but much clearer with MUCH better separation. However, it still has that AT Woodies signature closed-in soundstage (i.e. not very wide).

Its hard to imagine the bass being light? The ledendary L3000 was famous for its bass and i was thinking and hoping they continued that path and made it even more tighter? Maybe it was the setup you audition with ?

Also it is true that this is a detach cable headphone now right? So hopefully cable changing can help out also.

 

[protoss]

They have to do something special with that housing in order to produce much wider soundstage.

Isnt that a conundrum ? Because of the leather absorption of the sound and close back features ? At the same time i was assuming the same strong bass to be back with enhancement thou.

 

[Xymordos]

The one at the AV show was advertised as a prototype only, forgot to mention this. Yes they have detatchable cables.

 

[purk]

I hardwired an upgrade cable on my old pair of L3000 and that wasn't that difficult to do. I wish I still have it. What lead me to sell them was a rather small headstage and a properly driven Senn HD800 walked all over them. The leather was a nice touch but the earchos are relatively small in size compared to the like of R10 and CD3000.

 

[mulveling]

I'll be disappointed if the new one turns out to be slightly lean sounding. The voicing of the original L3000 - plump bass and midrange, with just enough treble sparkle to complete a satisfying sonic package - worked really well and distinguished it very nicely from other high-end headphones of the time. Images of instruments and vocals in your head sounding bigger with L3000 than with other headphones. And also this kind of voicing probably makes the best of the small, “intimate” soundstage.

The new L5000's carbon fiber mounting and diamond driver coating do seem like they might push it into a leaner, harder sound. At least they went with sycamore rather than the very hard ebony, which was a disaster in the W5000. I think the original L3000 was asada/cherry, similar in hardness to sycamore. Either way, the cup design is clearly the limiting factor for the small soundstage.

$4000 is a lot, but really not bad in the current market. They added some newer tech too. This is the same price point as Utopia - a similarly small soundstaged performer. I also remember when the original L3000 was heavily discounted on Yahoo Japan (to the tune of $1500-1600 delivered to USA), and a good number of units still sat there for a while. That probably won't happen this time around

 

[yellowbirdfly]

Spotted it at COMEX in Singapore today. Unfortunately it was encased and auditions weren't allowed, so I've no idea how it sounds...

 

[mulveling]

Man, they dun goofed hard with that huge logo. Though I have to admit seeing them still gets me a bit excited! The plug shell looks cool, and I'm happy they kept the original cable braid, which was very nice. I was SO obsessed with the original L3000 in the 2003-2006 ish days.

 

[protoss]

 

[purk]

I have to say that the L3000s do look nicer and more luxurious to me.

 

[elton7033]

They have to do something special with that housing in order to produce much wider soundstage.

actually i was quite surprise with the L5000 production model, the sound stage is as big as Sony Z1R and much more bass compare to the prototype people saw in last year audio show.

 

[elton7033]

The production model of the new audio technica L5000 sounds abit different to the prototype model that some people have heard in last year Hong Kong Hifi show, I guess some serious sound tuning have been done after the criticism of lack of bass, small sound stage etc... The production model L5000 sound very nice, very refine, detail and have bass which is good quality but not bass heavy, it defiantly have more quality bass than the W3000ANV, where I found the L5000 sounds not too audio technica, what only remain audio technicaish is the house sound of what i will call the AT vocal boost lol... L5000 sound stage for me is big consider it being close back, which match the sound stage of Sony Z1R. However, for the 500000yen price tag it just dosent have the WOW effect of the Focal Utopia or STAX SR009 but its a well balance sound with a touch of fun which I am many people wont be bored of when listening for long hour, although I know the L5000 driver use different technology, the L5000 sounds like a close back ADX5000 with more bass and smoother of cause is not as fast.

 

[BananaOoyoo]

Looks like my local store just got them in stock (not my picture)! There’s a 0% chance of me actually getting it, but I’ll definitely stop by to try them out.

 

[warubozu]

Hmmm.. I need to find the time and dig my pair of L3000 from storage, haven't listened to them in a very long time

 

[urs]

elton7033


You list the SONY R10 in your equipment inventory.

Any thoughts / comparison between the L5000 and the "old" (aging ?? ) KING ??


Thanks & regards

Urs