Dear All,
So many great discussions and so much great info here; I`ve just read 100% of the 2nd half of this thread (and skipped here and there through the first half.) I am extremely happy to be a new T5P owner !
I purchased the T5P today at a headphone specialty store here in Tokyo, but it was not the usual kind of purchase: My T5P is junk.
Sorry, this is going to be a bit of story.
I actually went in to the store today to have some IEMs re-terminated to 2.5mm balanced for my AK DAP. I did the paperwork for that, chose my plug, handed over the IEMs and then took a stroll around the store, a cornucopia of new and used headphones, amps, DAPs and cables, much of it stupidly, wonderfully high-end. Just two weeks ago I had purchased the Beyer T51p at this very shop, the culmination of two months` indecision and mind-changing, trying to buy a closed headphone for upcoming travelling. I went through so many contenders, all around the us$500 mark: Shure 1540, FostexTH600, Ultrasone 880, SonyZ7. I eventually settled on the T51p, under my budget but checking the most boxes compared to the others. Of course, in the process I discovered the T5P : I had no idea there was a closed `phone in this high-end range, with the TH900 and XC. Anyway, the T5P scared the crap out of me because of its excellent build quality, isolation, looks and mostly its SQ. I like neither the TH900 nor the XC, and I knew I wanted to own the T5P someday. But, having the HD800, there was no 2nd $1000+ can in my immediate future... I did hunt around for a used one, and in Tokyo there are a lot of used T5P and used, they are only slightly above my budget. Unfortunately all of them had to be disqualified, some for the reasons people have mentioned in this thread : strange, stiffened/slippery leather; bunged-up sliders in the headband; or, the #1 problem with Japan`s used headphones: reeking of cigarette smoke. So I gave up on the T5P and went with its little sibling, the T51p.
Anyway, back to my stroll around the shop today. On my way I noticed something big and black, wrapped in celophane, in one of the shop`s `JUNK` bins: a T5P. Yes, a T5P in essentially new condition. I tried it on and felt the best fit I`d ever felt in any T5P so far, or any closed can for that matter. The buttery, soft pads formed an instant, noise-cancelling isolation. The cups were clean and gorgeous. The headband was fawless and the sliders were smooth as silk. I checked again : yes, `JUNK`, going for 40k yen, or about us$350. I asked about them and the clerk just smiled and said `Sound doesn`t come out`. I asked if it was both sides (i.e., a cable issue) and he just smiled again and said, `The plug is broken. If you can fix it yourself, it`s a good chance to get the T5P at a low price.` I said, `But you guys have a recabling station right over there with 2 people soldering away in it.` He just shrugged and smiled, again. I think he knew I was peeing in my pants....
And seriously, that was all that was wrong with them. I plugged them into my AK and with some wiggling of the 3.5mm jack I eventually got music, that sweet musice, playing from both sides. So, I ran back to the recabling corner and ordered an immediate halt to my IEM re-termination. Instead, the junk T5P will get the Nobunaga 2.5mm 4-pole jack . . .
It seems like Beyer quality-control issue with the T5P cable has worked to my advantage..
Anybody want to buy a 2-week old T51p ?
d
