[protoss]

This is a short history of Audio Technica legendary wood series. ATH-W

I compile a full list to give a proper understanding of Audio Technica headphones because the majority of people have no clue about Audio Technica's true headphones. But let me explain the other series quickly to figure out the difference so we can differentiate them.
Fundamentally there are three series. ATH-W, ATH-AD, and ATH-M, the majority of people only know the Monitor Series and Air-Dynamic Series. The Monitor Series consists of M30, M40, M50X M70 etch. There is another higher advance Monitor Series called, Art-Monitors which are, ATH-A2000Z, A1000Z, A900Z, etch...

Air-Dynamics (ATH-AD) is 'AT' open-back versions, which consist of ADX5000x, AD2000X, AD1000X, AD900x, AD700, AD500 etch...

The Monitors and Air-dynamics series are mostly considered referencing quality headphones.

Now let's get to what makes Audio Technica legendary. It's in their WOOD!


Sound: Boiling it down, the wood series are more on the warm musical side than being a reference and monitor sound. Some woodies have a bright signature, but nowhere near the quality of the AD series. The majority of all the Wood headphones have roll-off in the highs. Smooth and mid centrist focus that produce some of the best female vocals out there and very engaging. These headphones are dynamic and punchy. Most pairs are bass-shy.


Introducing the woodies:


Audio Technica ATH-W10VTG

Released May 21, 1996
■ Price 38,000 yen
■ Model Sealed dynamic type
■ Vibration plate 53 mm Super high-class OFC8N Bobbin wound voice coil
■ Impedance 48 Ω
■ Reproduction frequency band 5-30,000 Hz
■ Allowable input 2,000mW
■ Sensitivity 100 dB / mW
■ Code 3.5 m Silk 100% PCOCC stereo mini-plug / 6.3mm adapter included
■ Weight 370g (excluding cord)
■ Remarks Hida Takayama's solid cherry tree wood is used for the housing
■ End of sale 1998-99
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W10LTD

Released December 1, 1997
■ Price 50,000 yen
■ Model closed dynamic type
■ Vibration plate 53 mm Super high-class OFC8N Bobbin wound voice coil
■ Impedance 48 Ω
■ Reproduction frequency band 5-30,000 Hz
■ Allowable input 2,000mW
■ Sensitivity 100 dB / mW
■ Code 3.0 m Silk 100% PCOCC stereo mini-plug / 6.3mm adapter included
■ Weight 370g (not including cord)
■ Remarks Hokkaido Asada cherry tree heartwood is used for the housing Hardness of
potassium titanate compound in the driver unit housing Synthetic resin adopted
Audio Technica 35th anniversary limited edition 2000 units
■ End of sale
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W11JPN

Released December 1, 1998
■ Price 65,000 yen
■ Model closed dynamic type
■ Vibrator 53㎜ Super high-class OFC8N Bobbin wound voice coil
■ Impedance 48Ω
■ Reproduction frequency band 5-30,000Hz
■ Allowable input 2,000mW
■ Sensitivity 98dB / mW
■ Code 3.0m Silk 100% Sheath 6N-OFC stereo plug
■ Weight 330g (excluding cord)
■ Remarks Echizen lacquered Hokkaido Asada cherry tree heartwood is used for the housing
Left and right independent ground wire (4 core) structure
limited 2000 items
■ End of sale
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W100

Released December 1, 1999
■ Price 42,000 yen
■ Model closed dynamic type
■ Vibrator 53㎜ Super high-class OFC8N bobbin wound voice coil
■ Impedance 48Ω
■ Reproduction frequency band 5-30,000Hz
■ Allowable input 2,000mW
■ Sensitivity 100dB / mW
■ Code 3.0m Silk 100% Sheath PCOC stereo plug
■ Weight 320g (excluding cord)
■ Remarks Hokkaido solid Asada cherry wood is used for the housing
■ End of sale
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W11R

Released December 1, 2000
■ Price: 56,000 yen
■ Model: Sealed dynamic type
■ Vibration plate 53 mm Super high-class OFC8N Bobbin wound voice coil
■ Impedance 48Ω
■ Reproduction frequency band 5-30,000Hz
■ Allowable input 2,000mW
■ Sensitivity 100dB / mW
■ Code 3.0m Silk 100% Sheath 6N-OFC Stereo plug
■ Weight 330g (excluding cord)
■ Remarks The heartwood of Asada cherry tree from Hokkaido is used for the housing.
Left and right independent ground wire (4 cores) structure
limited product 800 units
Accessories: Pouch, φ6.3 → φ3.5 conversion code
■ End of sale
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W2002

Release Date: October 21, 2001
■ Type: Closed - Dynamic
■ Frequency range: 5 - 40000 Hz
■ Impedance: 40 ohm
■ Maximum input: 2000mW
■ Sensitivity: 100 dB
■ House: lacquered wooden
■ Weight: 340g
■ Unit: #1000
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W1000

Release Date: 2002
■ Type: Closed - Dynamic
■ Frequency range: 5 - 40000 Hz
■ Impedance: 40 ohm
■ Maximum input: 2000mW
■ Sensitivity: 100 dB
■ House: Hokkaido Asada cherrywood
■ Weight: 350g
■ Unit: #3000
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH - L3000
The L3000 and L5000 series is under the wood category because the housing is wood, with a wrapping of expensive leather to cover the wood house. These pairs are Audio Technica statement products. Only 500 units made each.

I did a dedicated thread on the legendary L3000 a long time ago -
https://www.head-fi.org/threads/audio-technica-ath-l3000-the-legendary-leatherhead.845087/
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W5000

Release Date: 2005
■ Type: Closed-back Dynamic, Double Air Damping System
■ Driver Diameter : 53 mm
■ Magnet : Neodymium
■ Voice Coil : OFC8N bobbin-wound voice coil
Permendur magnetic circuit
■ Frequency Response : 5 – 45,000 Hz
■ Maximum Input Power: 2000 mw
■ Sensitivity : 102 dB/mW
■ Impedance : 40 ohms
■ Weight : 340 g (without cord)
■ Cable: Elastomer sheath/OFC6N + Hi-OFC/ 3.0 m (dual-sided), 4-core parallel cable
■ Connector : Standard 1/4" (6.3 mm) gold-plated stereo plug
■ Accessories Included: Hard case; cable storage bag
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W1000X

Release Date: 2009
■ Type : Closed-back Dynamic
■ Driver Diameter : 53 mm
■ Voice Coil: OFC-6N
■ Frequency Response: 5 – 42,000 Hz
■ Maximum Input Power : 2,000 mw
■ Sensitivity : 100 dB/mW
■ Impedance: 42 ohms
■ Weight: 350 g
■ Cable : 3.0 m Y-type, PCOCC conductor cord with elastomer sheath
■ Connector : 1/4" (6.3 mm) gold-plated wooden plug
■ Wood: North American Black Cherry
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W3000ANV

Release Date: 2011
■ Type : Closed-back Dynamic, Double Air Damping System
■ Driver Diameter : 53 mm
■ Frequency Response : 5 – 42,000 Hz
■ Maximum Input Power : 2,000 mw
■ Sensitivity : 102 dB/mW
■ Impedance : 40 ohms
■ Weight : 340 g (without cord)
■ Cable : 3.0 m
■ Connector : 1/4" (6.3 mm) gold-plated stereo plug
■ Accessories Included : Cable storage bag
Special 50th anniversary edition with serial number etched on the surface
Traditional Echizen lacquer-finished Hokkaido Asada cherry heartwood housing reproduces magnificent natural playback
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-W1000Z

Release Date: 2014
■ Type : Closed-back Dynamic
■ Driver Diameter : 53 mm
■ Voice Coil : OFC-6N
■ Frequency Response : 5 – 42,000 Hz
■ Maximum Input Power : 2,000 mW
■ Sensitivity : 101 dB/mW
■ Impedance : 43 ohms
■ Weight : 320 g
■ Cable : 3.0 m (dual-sided), 4-core parallel cable/OFC6N + OFC/Elastomer sheath
■ Connector : 6.3 mm (1/4") gold-plated plug with wooden sleeve
■ Wood: Teak
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-L5000

Release Date: 2018
■ Type : Closed-back Dynamic
■ Driver Diameter : 58 mm
■ Frequency Response : 5 – 50,000 Hz
■ Maximum Input Power : 1,000 mW
■ Sensitivity : 100 dB/mW
■ Impedance : 45 ohms
■ Weight : 480 g
■ Cable : 3.0 m (dual-sided), 4-core parallel cable/OFC6N + OFC/Elastomer sheath
■ Connector : 6.3 mm (1/4") gold-plated plug
■ Accessories Included : Padded, hard-shell case
■ Wood/Leather: Sycamore wood housings, covered with the finest Connolly aniline leather, give headphones a natural acoustic signature
*Discontinued


Audio Technica ATH-AWKT and ATH-AWAS

Release Date: 2020

AWKT
■ Type : Closed-back dynamic
■ Driver Diameter : 53 mm
■ Housing : Kokutan (striped ebony)
■ Frequency Response : 5 – 45,000 Hz
■ Maximum Input Power : 2000 mw
■ Sensitivity : 102 dB/mW
■ Impedance : 48 ohms
■ Weight : 405 g
Kokutan (striped ebony) housings, hand-finished with half-gloss, suppress unwanted resonance for clear, natural sound reproduction

AWAS
■ Type : Closed-back dynamic
■ Driver Diameter : 53 mm
■ Housing : Asada Zakura
■ Frequency Response : 5 – 42,000 Hz
■ Maximum Input Power : 2,000 mw
■ Sensitivity : 99 dB/mW
■ Impedance : 40 ohms
■ Weight : 395 g (13.9 oz), without cable
Asada Zakura (Japanese cherry) housings, hand-finished with half-gloss, suppress unwanted resonance for clear, natural sound reproduction


Audio Technica ATH-W2022

Released Date 2022

W2022
■ Type : Closed-back dynamic
■ Driver Diameter : 58 mm
■ Frequency Response: 5 to 50,000 Hz
■ Maximum Input Power : 2,000 mW
■ Sensitivity : 98 dB/mW
■ Impedance : 48 ohms
■ Weight Approx : 450 g (16 oz), without cable
■ Connector : A2DC connector jack
■ Wood: Birch Wood
■ Production: 100 units only
*Discontinued

Audio Technica ATH -AW-KG NARU

Limited edition NARUKAMI headphones
Dynamic headphones.
Closed-back
Dynamic Driver
53 mm Sensitivity
102 dB/mW Frequency response
100 Units (like always will be sold out and Discontinued once released)

 

[mvule]

Wow! An interesting read.
They are of course some of the most gorgeous headphones to look at, what a set of photos!

 

[llysender]

Thanks for posting this history pictographic of wood AT headphones.
Only the earsuit wood headphones and WP900 are missing from the list i think.

Anyways people with experence with any of the woodies should share their experiences here.

Also this a good place to shill talk about the ATH-AWKT

The ATH-AWKT is one of the most natural sounding headphones I have heard till date. This headphone is like drugs. When you first listen to them it feels ok and nothing stands out except bass is slightly elevated. Then you listen more and enjoy the cleaness of both the bass and treble while retaining the wonderful audio technica mids. When you reach home and use your daily driver you think back about all the detail presented in such a smooth relexing manner and you crave for more. After that you realise you are dragging yourself to the store just to have another taste of that forbiden nectar that is neither too sweet nor too tart. Soon after you find yourself just hooked and everything else just sounds fake and you are only happy after you have burnt a $1800 hole in your savings.

But in all seriousness the AWKT is a very detailed and clean headphone that can run off your phone. Anyone that has access to a sample should give it a listen.

 

[Eddie C]

Thanks for compiling the photos + years of release!! The wood on the ATH, Denon, Fostex etc are reminiscent of hifi speakers, truly beautiful to look at

Sad news for me, and good news to some: I may be listing my W1000X for sale soon. I love them, they're wonderful for classical music and jazz. Just want to try new cans (ordered a pair of hifiman sundaras) and can't justify keeping both under current economic conditions.

 

[llysender]

Nice.

Btw @protoss if you could only recomend the awkt or awas which would you choose. Just curous as my dealer basically said most people only gravitate towards one or the other

 

[bizkid]

The L3000 is easily my favourite among the AT cans. 2nd place would be the W5000. The new offerings are too expensive for me. I bought my L3000 over 10 years ago 2nd hand in japan. Found an online listing for 120.000yen (800 Euro back then) and just had to get it. What a bargain
What i loved about the L3000: Ultra precise imaging, like i never heard again in any (TOTL) headphone. Punchy mids. Yes keyboards, vocals, synths and so on all had a visceral impact you could feel. Very amazing. Colored but still highly lifelike mids. Live recordings (which im not a fan of) were especially amazing. There's a lot more to love about the L3000 but i'll leave it at that

 

[protoss]

PART 1

Audio Technica ATH-W10VTG - Review

* Release date: May 21, 1996
* Release price: ￥ 39,900 ($360USD)
* Estimate 2000 - 3000 units
* End of sale 1998-99

"This model is made of a housing cut from the center of a naturally grown, mature cherry wood.
This headphone is also the first model in the world to be completed with a 53mm large-diameter driver.
It is said that this model was preparing a 300,000yen wood model from another company before the release, but
at the time, the development manager thought about a more reasonable price point, and the ATH-W10VTG will
be released at 39,900yen, including tax.
The mature cherry wood used in this model has an excellent acoustic performance."

Specifications:
Model Sealed dynamic type
Vibration plate 53 mm Super high-class OFC8N Bobbin wound voice coil
Impedance 48 Ω
Reproduction frequency band 5-30,000 Hz
Allowable input 2,000mW
Sensitivity 100 dB / mW
Code 3.5 m Silk 100% PCOCC stereo mini-plug / 6.3mm adapter included
Weight 370g (excluding cord)
Remarks Hida Takayama’s solid cherry tree wood is used for the housing

Build:

There are two cherrywood red sanguine oval cups. They are attached to the plastic frame of the body. The letters on the wooden cups are painted on. The “vintage” is stylistically painted on both cups. The painting of the words can be easily rubbed off with force. The wooden cups can easily be able to be scratch, dent, and damage.

There is also another section that of the headphone that is wood and that is on the ended part of the single-ended 3.5mm screw jack section. The 3.5mm plug can be connected with a screw-on 1/4 jack.

The cable is a clothed 7 feet, fabric medium cable. It is microphonic and picks up the slightest Vibration of noise if rub or touching it. The cable is also not removable. It has a perfect flexible strain relief on the earcup side and where the jack is. The cable is also a single attached wire located on the left cup only—no cable slot on the right cups.

The body frame is all plastic, and the housing cup container is aluminum or magnesium alloy or just plain o' plastic. Hard to tell.

The 3D wings are made out of plastic that holds up the 3D pads.
The two-loop rubbery bands are bend-able to a degree. This is where you need to bend or unbend to get a good seal.

2 L and R channel embedded plastic pieces. Nicely stylish design.

The material that is used on the earpads and head pads are most likely a fabric-based pair with a thick coating of collagen. I believe made out of eggs. Do not like collagen material. It usually disintegrates into fine particles. Or turn into glue type of sticky resin. This can easily ruin your headphones. The same material is found in the 10LTD. Replacing them with Deknoi leather nuggets and real authentic leather earpads is the way to go. But I did no such things

Leather oval earpads, over-ear, are cushion against the ear that feels on-ear. Very comfortable. Not the absolute best. But good.
3D headband system is 2 padding. Comfortable. It almost feels like a leather strap across the head.
Sadly my ears slightly touch the angle part of the drivers

The camping is surprisingly tight. With the whole system, it grips your head pretty tightly.

The drivers are angle towards your ear and are 53mm drivers. The drivers are correctly angled to shoot sound straight to your ear. Gives a sense of accuracy, intimate sound

Sample Music:

Jazz,
Rap,
R&B,
classical,
acoustic,
Female pop,

Sound:
W10VTG is a warmish sounding headphone with a traditional “AT” midrange.

My pair sounds punchy and upfront. Not bright. But warm and intimate in your face with perfect detail and full-bodied midrange and lots a bass. Not overwhelming bass, but punchy and pounding bass. These headphones are not fast. More of slow decay. Its also not natural sounding. But at the same time, nowhere close to being metallic and sterile. In this matter, its the most natural type of headphone you can get. Mid-range boost for the female vocals. Treble reduces for the spikes. The bass is controlled and the image is not the absolute accuracy.

The highlight is a smooth non-harsh midrange. That gives a sense of an intimate sense of presence and soul to the headphone. This can also be described as a Full-bodied sound.


The headphones are readily available to drive from everything, such as a phone to a laptop. It does not need an amplifier. If you do use one, it can sound perfectly loud.

In conclusion, these are not neutral headphones. The absolute opposite. Moreover, that is exactly what to expect. They are not detail-oriented, boring, lackluster monitor sounding $4000 headphones. They are a romantic specialist headphone that does its job on a selected genre of music.

Let’s call it “Audio Technica coloration.”

Ranking 9/10
History,
attempt,
unique sound,
legacy,
Legendary status

 

[mvule]

As for that headphone amp with the gold knob, oh my! Haha!
Was it ever released for general sale?

 

[Chris Kaoss]

@protoss
Thank you very much for bringing this beauties in one row.

What i like the most is the W5000 and the L5000.
What a gorgeous pair of headphones.

Sadly, it's hard to find these wonderful looking beasts in the wild.
Will keep my eyes open to find a listening spot in the near future.

Can someone describe the overall sound in comparison to the well known brands out there?

For reference on my preferred signature, i like a lifelike but also accurate sound.
That's why i use the Era-1 the most, followed by the Monitor 5 at home and the PM-3 on the go.

It was a long strange trip for me to find these pearls in the wide ocean of sooo much well sounding headphones.

That's to say, i'm open for more sailin. ^^

Thanks again to all guys in the audio community.

 

[protoss]

PART 2

Audio Technica ATH-W10LTD - Review

* Release date: December 1, 1997
* Release price: ￥ 52,000 ($475USD)
* 2000 units
* Discontinue


“It is the beginning of limited”...
--The Housing is made of Asada cherry wood, which is naturally grown in Hokkaido.
It is a limited product made by reinforcing a rich and delicate base on ATH-W10VTG



Specifications:

Model closed dynamic type
Vibration plate 53 mm super high-class OFC8N Bobbin wound voice coil
Impedance 48 Ω
Reproduction frequency band 5-30,000 Hz
Allowable input 2,000mW
Sensitivity 100 dB / mW
Code 3.0 m Silk 100% PCOCC stereo mini-plug / 6.3mm adapter included
Weight 370g (not including cord)
Remarks Hokkaido Asada cherry tree heartwood is used for the housing Hardness of Potassium titanate compound in the driver unit housing Synthetic resin adopted.
Audio Technica 35th anniversary limited edition 2000 units

Remarks:

This was Audio Technica’s first limited edition Woodie headphone. It was also an anniversary edition celebrating Audio Technica’s 35th Anniversary as a company.

This headphone to this day blows me away from the craftsmanship and sound signature. Everything is the exact opposite of the previous model (W10VTG). From the color, to shape, to design and especially the sound signature. It is not an upgrade from the W10VTG. It is technically a whole different headphone. I heard impressions of these that saying, they are this and that. However, my pair was the sweetest, euphoric non-bright pair I got? Because of this, I went out to buy another one of this beautiful remarkable headphone. And they both sound the same. Because of this, I will base my judgment on my two pairs.


Build:

The W10LTD uses a Hokkaido Asada cherry tree heartwood as its cups. This wood has a strong firm hardness to it. But just like all wood. This headphone will succumb to dents, scratches and damages to the beautiful cups.

The color of its cups is a refresh, light beige brown wood. There is no varnish, paint or lacquer on these cups. I do notice a slight gloss coating overall. Because of no paint or anything on the cups, the headphone is presented with a wood-grain finish.

On both of the wooden cups, there is beautiful black ink printed wordings of ‘Audio Technica’, the limited sign and model numbers. The craftsmanship and written black ink of the words scream quality in this version. So much better than the painted version of the W10VTG.

The cable might be the same as the W10VTG, and I do notice a strong stiffness to the wire and but overall, the same 7 feet, braided cloth design that picks up microphonic. The end of the cable is another wooded piece. With written black ink written on the jack end and written “limited.”

The jack is again a 3.5mm screw plug. You can connect a screw-on ¼ plug to this connector.

Instead of a black plastic body, the body looks like a chrome color plastic frame, up to the 3D wing sections.

The headband section is again bend-able to adjust and readjust the clamping. This is so you can get a perfect seal.

The leather earpads and leather headband pads are again coated in collagen. I do not like it at all. One pair of my had a nasty glue resin glump melting off the head - pads. I ripped them off and washed out all the thick useless coating, and what remains is exactly what I predicted—a fabric pad.

Each cup has a Left and Right embedded plastic piece.

Drivers:
The drivers again are angle towards your ear. They are design this way to get the most accurate sound as possible.

Sound:
This headphone has a smoother cleaner sound than the W10VTG. I can say it has a control presence that tights up all the frequency. I do not see this headphone as a thin sound, as some assume. But it is also not as thick as the 10VTG. More in-between of being transparent, clean, smooth, and refine—more of a mid-centrist sound.

This headphone must be used with an amplifier and a DAC. Not like the W10VTG where you do not need to. The W10ltd sounds tremendous and amazing with a quality, reliable, decent amplifier.

Classical, acoustics, female vocals, and jazz all sounded terrific with this headphone. I love everything about it. This is technically one of my secret favorite headphones of all time. It is not as euphoria and musical as the W10VTG. But more smooth and clean sounding that is liquidy. People saying its off and treble imbalance? Where? All I notice is a smooth balance signature that has more resolution and transparency than the W10VTG.

Refreshing and transparent, the main focus is a mid-frequency boost. The treble is reduced, but not as much as the W10VTG. The bass is more controlled and tight. It might be the amplifiers people use that showcase the errors of this headphone because I undoubtedly can not find it!

The only con I noticed is that it is not as musical and unnatural as enjoyable sounding as the W10VTG.

In conclusion, this is a fantastic headphone from the looks to design and sound. The W10LTD is an excellent addition to the line up of all woodies. As typing this I consider the W10LTD a top tier woodie candidate. And sadly, the most underrated one of them all I notice!

“May the woodie be with you.”

Ranking 9.2/10
Craftmanship,
History,
legacy continues,
Legendary.

 

[JML]

You left out the WP900 (which I now have and love) and the other portables!

In the past I owned these AT wood-cup cans:

Audio-Technica ATH-ESW9
Audio-Technica ATH-EW9
Audio-Technica ATH-W100 (Tyll H. heard this one for the first time at a Philly meet I attended with the cans)
Audio-Technica ATH-W1000

 

[number1sixerfan]

The L3000 is easily my favourite among the AT cans. 2nd place would be the W5000. The new offerings are too expensive for me. I bought my L3000 over 10 years ago 2nd hand in japan. Found an online listing for 120.000yen (800 Euro back then) and just had to get it. What a bargain
What i loved about the L3000: Ultra precise imaging, like i never heard again in any (TOTL) headphone. Punchy mids. Yes keyboards, vocals, synths and so on all had a visceral impact you could feel. Very amazing. Colored but still highly lifelike mids. Live recordings (which im not a fan of) were especially amazing. There's a lot more to love about the L3000 but i'll leave it at that

Agree with the above. L3000 is the best can they ever made, followed by the W5000 if it fits properly. I had some really amazing times with both of those cans.

 

[llysender]

I have just listened to the W5000 and its a interesting headphone. Firstly to get my issues aside the subbass is non exsistant and the trebble roll off makes female vocals really dark. Now on to the good stuff, the mid bass to lower mids is amazing making things like j-rock really nice. Really feels like a niche headphone strictly for songs that focus on male vocals and live recordings. Makes the perfect audio book headphone as well if money was no concern.

 

[bizkid]

Makes me wonder if AT changed the tuning of the W5000 during the years. I bought mine just after it came out back then and it was quite treble happy. Female Vocals were especially amazing. I can remember listening to the Macross Plus opening theme (vocals only) and it was so transparent and lifelike, an easy to remember experience. Going from W5000 back to the K701 i also had back then, the K701 sounded very dull. And i wouldnt call that headphone dull at all. But the W5000 had a clarity that's just amazing. I want to leave another comment regarding the W5000. Many people said you need the matching HA5000 amp to correct the W5000s tonality. WRONG. I had the HA5000 back then too and it was a very transparent and neutral amp. Definately no coloration going on. Just a rumor that's still on many peoples minds today concerning the W5000. There was also a hilarious rumor concerning the L3000. At some point people claimed the ATH-A900LTD had the same drivers as the L3000 because they looked so similar. So it must be the same! Wow. I had the A900LTD and it was... well not very good

 

[llysender]

@bizkid
Hmm....well I was trying the W5000 through the HA5050 hybrid tube amp. Maybe that had something to do with making the W5000 sound kind of darkish. It still sounded amazing for vocals but female vocals didnt have as much extension as I would like. Was using Stereo by Lorareena as the test track. That being said it still sounded very clear and amazing. Maybe my ears were coloured by the A550z and AD1000x that I was comparing before the dealer said he had a W5000 to try.

Either way I'll be going back to the store tomorrow with a XD-05 amp to try the W5000. Since both you and protoss says the W5000 is quite bright I'm guessing its the amp.

I have a ATH-A900xLTD and its ok, it has ass spiky treble but otherwise its quite enjoyable if AD500x didnt exist.

Edit:
Might as well tag my WP900 second impressions there. It has very high attack and decay making everything sound very sharp and hollow. Not really my thing as I prefer cleaner and fuller bass. That being said I can see it having its fans as its goes very well with rap where the dem verse endings really sting.The dead vocals still stand for songs that are slower and more articulate but it really it really accents fast and dynamic vocals. Really a niche can.

Oh yeah I was running out of my phone this time round and it isnt as dark as when I first heard it but its certernly dark leaning.