[Svperstar]

Feeling the urge to expand my headphone collection again

I was just curious, I know the SA5000 was popular here for a while, but many people have also sold it off.

I am curious, what headphone did you switch too, and why specifically do you like it better than the SA5000s? What is it about the sound signature that you perfer?

Also what kind of music do you like?

Just trying to see what people perfer.

Thanks

 

[Carl]

SA5000 -> W5000+HE60

I don't really like the W5000 more than the SA5000 (although it is certainly better in some respects), but at least it's closed.
The HE60 just rules over all with a mighty and just hand.

I like fast, tight sounds that are highly resolving of inner detail and don't push you too far away from the music, thus my headphone choices.

Music preferences range, but J-pop and fast punk rock tend to be in my CD player most often.


Really, the SA5k is a pretty good headphone, it's just maddeningly difficult to get good system synergy with it.

 

[Svperstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl SA5000 -> W5000+HE60

Well specifically, what is it about the W5000 that souinds different than the SA5000?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl Really, the SA5k is a pretty good headphone, it's just maddeningly difficult to get good system synergy with it.

Oh yeah I have learned that lol. I thought the SA5000s were too harsh and "metalic" sounding on some songs, after I upgraded my source it became apparent that that was the EMU0404 I was using at the time, NOT the SA5000s.

Hopefully the tube amp/preamp I have coming will Synergize well with them, and the Gilmore Lite if I use it as a preamp

Thanks for the reply

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

I ended up replacing them with the W5000, which caught my intrest first for its' looks and heritage. After trying them out in person, I found them to sound quite amenable as well. It took a while for me to give them a try, but once I had them in my house for a while, it was clear I preferred them to the SA5K, because it ended up only being used for comparison's sake.

I found the W5K to have a more impactful bass, though not quite as deep. The increased impact I found to be part of a general fuller sound, from the bass up through the middle midrange, which sounded more natural, realistic, and enjoyable in the long run. This improvement, without losing any of the great detail and precision I got from the SA5K. Both have very detailed and extended treble, though I found the W5K to be a bit more delicate in presentation, and thus able to be a bit more realistic when it came to acoustic instruments. The SA5K had a wider soundstage at certain margins, though I've found the W5K to be a bit more precise in the other dimensions.

All that said, the W5K didn't blow me away at first listen, more like I thought "hmm this is pretty good, must hear more" and over time I began to realize what I was missing with the SA5K. It's not a question of technical performance, the SA5K is excellent there, but more of how the details are presented and put together to form a more coherent whole. The beauty and build quality of the W5K seals the deal for me, and helps rationalize the higher cost.

Other headphones I've heard at length that I could live with instead of the SA5K: HE90, HE60, L3000, later-built R10, Qualia 010. Other than that, most other headphones I've tried have been sidegrades / different flavors at best, downgrades at worst.

 

[Svperstar]

Thanks for the lengthy reply. I would like to try the W5000s but I don't know if it is $900 better than the SA5000

The only thing is you mention it has stronger bass, that is a turn off, I absolutely hate stong bass in headphones, will need to check out the W5000s thought

 

[Sovkiller]

I get it to try to get a replacement for my discontinued old CD3K, and till now I still have them around, and the SA5K was sold the next week, sorry till now I have not found any that I like better that I could afford to buy...

My main complaint was the bass performace, too lean, no impact, and if this is what others call "tight bass", IMO it is toooooo tight, that IMO I feel it almost non-existent, also they are extemelly analytic, and not musical to my ears, if this was the answer from Sony to the old school (R-10 CD3K, etc...) that was a total failure IMO...I still prffer the R-10 over the Qualia, and the CD3K over the SA5K

 

[Svperstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller My main complaint was the bass performace, too lean, no impact, and if this is what others call "tight bass", IMO it is toooooo tight, that IMO I feel it almost non-existent, also they are extemelly analytic, and not musical to my ears, if this was the answer from Sony to the old school (R-10 CD3K, etc...) that was a total failure IMO...I still prffer the R-10 over the Qualia, and the CD3K over the SA5K

I am very interested in how the CD3000 sounds. To me it seems like it may be the perfect can, one of my main complaints about the SA5000s is its small sound stage, I understand the CD3k has a very wide soundstage but is still bright and analytical

 

[the terabyte]

I had the SA5000s for a few months after the K1000s and, while the detail was nice and the response was ok, no amount of modification could get rid of the reverberations I heard with them. This made it such that the headphones never "disappeared" and that's really what I want. Nothing really sounded real on them, either (e.g. timbre was all off). I replaced the SA5000s with HD600s and haven't looked back. I also recently chose the HD600s over a Stax Lambda system, so I think I'll be with these for a while.

Edit: To address some more of your questions, I like the HD600s more because they don't sound like headphones. Like with the etymotics, you can't tell where the transducer is (or if there even is one). They also image much much better than the SA5000s to my ears. While the SA5000s had a big soundstage (due to the cavernous sound, imo) nothing was really as focused as it should be. Finally, I can now listen to acoustic music and have the instruments sound the way they should, which is always important to me.

Click the link in my sig to see what I listen to.

 

[Svperstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by the terabyte I had the SA5000s for a few months after the K1000s and, while the detail was nice and the response was ok, no amount of modification could get rid of the reverberations I heard with them. This made it such that the headphones never "disappeared" and that's really what I want. Nothing really sounded real on them, either (e.g. timbre was all off). I replaced the SA5000s with HD600s and haven't looked back. I also recently chose the HD600s over a Stax Lambda system, so I think I'll be with these for a while.

Sounds good, I disagree that the SA5000 sounds unatural, but thats just to my ears. Since I already have the Senn 580s I don't think I would make the jump up to the 600s since they are so similar in sound signature, some say they can't even tell the difference at all.

 

[rocktboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by the terabyte I had the SA5000s for a few months after the K1000s and, while the detail was nice and the response was ok, no amount of modification could get rid of the reverberations I heard with them. This made it such that the headphones never "disappeared" and that's really what I want. Nothing really sounded real on them, either (e.g. timbre was all off). I replaced the SA5000s with HD600s and haven't looked back. I also recently chose the HD600s over a Stax Lambda system, so I think I'll be with these for a while. Edit: To address some more of your questions, I like the HD600s more because they don't sound like headphones. Like with the etymotics, you can't tell where the transducer is (or if there even is one). They also image much much better than the SA5000s to my ears. While the SA5000s had a big soundstage (due to the cavernous sound, imo) nothing was really as focused as it should be. Finally, I can now listen to acoustic music and have the instruments sound the way they should, which is always important to me. Click the link in my sig to see what I listen to.

We just all hear different things on headphones. I too have hd580's and I think the sa5k is 2 notches above it in terms of sound quality in every department.

To the OP sa5k are my main 'critical' listening cans. Only the best recordings sound good on them. Most (80%) of the music I own (low bitrate mp3's, not so well recorded stuff) sound absolutely awful on them. On true audiophile recordings, they are untouchable by the headphones in my signature plus hd650 and k701. Getting the right amp for it is crucial. I have the Bada PH12 which has incredible synergy with the sa5k.

Nothing wrong with expanding your headphone collection for different types of music...I'd expand your amp collection too as the sa5k reveals differences in amps like no other headphone I heard!

 

[Carl]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Svperstar Well specifically, what is it about the W5000 that souinds different than the SA5000?

Well, they have similar goals in mind, but their timbre are quite different. The woodies have a very plain and normal sound for most of the frequency range, excluding a big lump of honkiness around where female vocals lie. The Sonys are quite electric sounding by comparison.

Quote:

Oh yeah I have learned that lol. I thought the SA5000s were too harsh and "metalic" sounding on some songs, after I upgraded my source it became apparent that that was the EMU0404 I was using at the time, NOT the SA5000s. Hopefully the tube amp/preamp I have coming will Synergize well with them, and the Gilmore Lite if I use it as a preamp

The SA5000s scale really high, unlike most comparitive cans excluding prehaps the HD650s, and a lot of great amps sound like complete crap through them despite sounding good on most other things. The W5000s work with just about anything in the amplification department, and it's the quality of the source that matters most instead. I can imagine something like an iMod+SR71 would work perfectly happily with it.

Quote:

Thanks for the lengthy reply. I would like to try the W5000s but I don't know if it is $900 better than the SA5000

It isn't at all, but factor in the fact you're saving with respect to amplification and it doesn't sound so bad.

Quote:

The only thing is you mention it has stronger bass, that is a turn off, I absolutely hate stong bass in headphones, will need to check out the W5000s thought

The bass on the W5000s is quiter than on the Sonys, only more tactile.


Quote:

Originally Posted by Sovkiller and if this is what others call "tight bass", IMO it is toooooo tight, that IMO I feel it almost non-existent, also they are extemelly analytic, and not musical to my ears

I liked the multichromatic bass tones, personally. Most dynamic speakers are too monotonic in the bass regions.


Quote:

Originally Posted by the terabyte While the SA5000s had a big soundstage (due to the cavernous sound, imo) nothing was really as focused as it should be.

Big soundstage and lack of focus? That sounds about the 180 degree opposite of the SA5000s I knew...

 

[Svperstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocktboy To the OP sa5k are my main 'critical' listening cans. Only the best recordings sound good on them. Most (80%) of the music I own (low bitrate mp3's, not so well recorded stuff) sound absolutely awful on them. On true audiophile recordings, they are untouchable by the headphones in my signature plus hd650 and k701. Getting the right amp for it is crucial. I have the Bada PH12 which has incredible synergy with the sa5k. Nothing wrong with expanding your headphone collection for different types of music...I'd expand your amp collection too as the sa5k reveals differences in amps like no other headphone I heard!

Yeah sounds like we have identical opinions on the SA5000s, it is just too honest with bad recordings, that is why I listen to the 580s with them, and with minimal music
I totally agree about the amps

That is why I currently have the Little Dot II+ Tube amp on the way

http://cgi.ebay.com/Little-Dot-2-II-...QQcmdZViewItem

I ordered it last friday, and he said it will be 4-14 days to recieve it, luckily almost all of the mail that comes from asia passes through my city, have one of the busiest airports in the world here, so it shouldn't take too long

I was looking at the Little Dot II about 2 months ago but stories of hum kind of turned me off of it. However the latest versions eliminate that, and the II+ is brand new and replaces the tubes and all the other components with higher quality parts, and to give it more of a "tube sound"

Maybe best of all, it also has preamp outputs. I want to hear how it sounds on its own, but I am planning on running the LDII+ as a preamp for my Gilmore Lite, I think the synergy might be great.

A very "tubish" tube amp combined with th Gilmore Lite's more analytical sound. The LDII+ supposedly also has a very wide soundstage, so if it widens the soundstage on the SA5000 that would be excellent.

I am going to post a long review of it when it comes.

I wonder how it would sound if you had a very warm natural source, like that chinese Renaissance non-oversampling Tube dac, combined with an extremely warm amp like the Earmax Pro. Would be great to hear how the SA5000s sounded with that combination

 

[Svperstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl multichromatic bass tones

Multichromatic bass, I will have to remember that one

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl Big soundstage and lack of focus? That sounds about the 180 degree opposite of the SA5000s I knew...

Yeah, on certain songs it can sound wide from time to time but overall the SA5000s soundstage is pretty tiny

 

[jimmyjames8]

Current SA5K owner here. I don't know about the lexicon of superlatives to describe the sound of these cans. The more cans I own, the more I find that a particular kind of music or more specifically a particular cd suites a particular can at a synergistic level. My current fave cans right now are the old style Beyer DT880's. I am really grooving on these right now. Considering that I bought them new for $220 it doesn't make sense to buy a pair of SA5K's for $350+ but I did and will keep them for the time being. They take a long time to burn in and about an hour to warm up for each listening session and they really need tubes.

 

[Svperstar]

lol nice Godfried Helnwein avatar