[vcoheda]

despite my heavy reluctance and probable disappointment with them (due to price alone), i still want them.

damn head-fi!

i hope to give a pair a good listen at the next NY meet. hopefully that will help me decide one way or another.

 

[iamoneagain]

I finally get to listen to my L3000 again. I just moved to Seattle and was in temporary housing for the last month, so the headphones were in storage. I finally got my setup up and running last night and they sounded much better than I remember.

I also sold my PS-1 to get these and after spending more and more time with the L3000, I know I made the right decision. There's just something more enjoyable about them. I loved the PS-1 too but I can spend much longer time listening than I ever could on the PS-1 and it's more than just comfort.

As far as being overrated, I don't think they are. The build quality is amazing, the sound is incredible and unique, and it holds it's value. If you can afford to have over $2K tied up with the knowledge that if you ever needed it back, you'll be able to easily sell them for what you paid for, if not more.

 

[WittyzTH]

^
^
^

would you mind if I wanna try your L3000s?

just wanna compare them with my beloved W5000s.

 

[electrathecat]

L3000 is many things but not overrated, at least not compared to whatever else is currently (or has ever been) out there. Sure, if you believe any headphone over $2,000 is overpriced then these are too, but if you can accept the cost being what it is (it's what the market will bear, after all), then these are actually a great value relative to similarly-priced cans. They're certainly built more solidly (and more luxuriously) than HE60s or PS-1s, and they sound at least as wonderful (at that price level it becomes more about personal preference than sonic fidelity).

 

[003]

Quote:

Originally Posted by electrathecat /img/forum/go_quote.gif (at that price level it becomes more about personal preference than sonic fidelity).

What if sennheiser decided to release a new headphone with comparable sound quality to the HD595 for $3000?

 

[iamoneagain]

I got to try my L3000 against WittyzTH's W5000 the other day on my equipment. We also hooked up with Corda Opera just using the amp part with my DAC.

I definitely preferred the L3000 when it came to rock music. The drums were so much more realistic and it at better sense of space. The L3000 had more depth and was like a small circle for soundstage with precise placement of the instruments in that space. The W5000 was wider but more like a thin oval with very little depth. They also had that closed in echoey sound to them. They also seemed much brighter with the bass not going nearly as low. On the L3000, you can almost feel the bass down to your bones.

On classical, the W5000 was a much better choice. It seemed to have more air and the wider soundstage gave it a bigger sound. The L3000 seemed a little choked. It did handle the wood instruments better and had more texture but overall didn't work as well in that genre.

Between the 2 amps we used, the Mapletree and the Corda, it's a tough choice. The Corda has more control and was more precise but the Mapletree had a more organic sound. The differences between the two were not as big as I thought they'd be. I was also surprised that the soundstage stayed about the same.

As far as price, I'm not sure if I owned the W5000, that I fork out that much more for the L3000. They are actually pretty different sounding so I can see how one would prefer one over the other. The L3000 did sound technically better and had more texture and realism but some may not find it aggressive enough for some rock music or find the highs too soft. For me, I like how it seems to sound better the more you listen to it.

 

[Zanth]

I'm not a closed headphone kinda guy but the L3000s certainly have the most going for them as far as closed headphones go in my books. Save for the R10's awesome shimmery high end and some magic timbre, the L3000s take them in all other areas, at least then in terms of closed headphones 2k is not outlandish...2500 either I suppose given that R10s sell for 5k now.

 

[Fitz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What if sennheiser decided to release a new headphone with comparable sound quality to the HD595 for $3000?

Some people would be all over it like it was a new diety, and some people would stand on the sidelines with blank expressions.

 

[Elephas]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 003 /img/forum/go_quote.gif What if sennheiser decided to release a new headphone with comparable sound quality to the HD595 for $3000?

You can be the first one to buy it and tell us it is a "K1000-killer."

 

[mikeliao]

Quote:

Originally Posted by electrathecat /img/forum/go_quote.gif (at that price level it becomes more about personal preference than sonic fidelity).

My one word rating of the L3000 is "Fun". A slightly better, and more descriptive 2 word review is "Most Fun". Not "More" or "Better" but "Most". Its the kind of headphone that you shouldn't listen to at night because you'll be staying up far too late and end up telling yourself the next morning you should be more responsible. How can "fun" be overrated?

Value, that's a different question. Would you pay $200, $2000, or $20,000 for fun? Fortunately I probably scored the cheapest pair of L3000 ever and is easily one of the best value purchases I ever made.

The phones work well and scales with most equipment I've thrown at it....except for the GS1. Excellent amp GS1 (perfect with the W5000) but just not a compliment with the L3000.

IMHO, the L3000 look classy. Wearing K1000 or R10 on the street would get you really odd looks. L3000 outdoors would probably get you mugged in one part of town, "oh pretty" looks in the other.

 

[Fing]

My pair of L3000 were recently offered up to the UK Meet for audtions and I came away from it determined to sell them as to me the Koss KSC75 sound so much better and detailed out of my 4G Ipod.

I'll be putting them FS soon at $400 and I hope someone will buy them from me since they're not even worth $500 apparently.

***************

Ok, joking aside, I think it's a given that these will sound average out of average gear and do in fact require careful system matching to sound superb.

I'm glad Duggeh could articulate so well how I actually feel about them. Deep shaggy carpets, smoking jackets, whiskey and cigars all the way.

I've got a pretty good synergy going with them at the moment with an Extreme Platinum & Paradisea+ DAC with various tweaks to get the right sound.

They actually sound very different from how I expect L3000 to. The music has become very detailed, soundstage increased and imaging improved. It's almost gone too far the other way and I am missing some of the previous palpability and immediacy I experienced without the tweaks to the DAC, but I'm resisting for a while to see how I adjust to the sound. The tone is a little odd as well. I'm not sure if it's true or whether it's me.

Whatever, it does sound fantastic. Add ballet slippers to the ensemble. Once these headphones have enough brute force to really drive them, they really fly....

 

[3x331m]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fing /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'll be putting them FS soon at $400 and I hope someone will buy them from me since they're not even worth $500 apparently.

KSC75 FS at $400 ? I'll get a couple of pairs.

 

[yuchengxx]

I really want to have a pair of L3000 that it probably can satisfy my mum with its sound and good looking!

 

[iamoneagain]

I just got the DHA-3000 amp/dac combo for my L3000 and it brings them to another level. In my previous setup, the L3000 sound really good with lots of texture but was missing the punch of the PS-1 and was a little thick. You had to listen for a while to be amazed.

With the DHA-3000, you are instantly wowed. My music has the bass punch again but with very deep controlled bass that is never even slightly bloated like the PS-1. It also brings out the highs which takes away the thicker sound. It's been a while since I heard the PS-1 but I'd say my L3000 now sounds closer to them but with incredible soundstage and comfort.

I was already using a Mac as my source, so having to use only one device for the digital output was perfect. It takes up less space and looks beautiful.

The only negative aspect I can see is I believe my previous DAC might have been a little better. It seemed to have more texture and smoother vocals. The DHA-3000 is much better overall because of the system matching and the amp section. I did hear my previous DAC with the Corda Opera anolog input, and while it brought control to the bass, it still had too thick of a sound.

Anyway, I think the L3000 really needs to be heard with the DHA-3000 before making any judgements.

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by iamoneagain /img/forum/go_quote.gif I definitely preferred the L3000 when it came to rock music. The drums were so much more realistic and it at better sense of space. The L3000 had more depth and was like a small circle for soundstage with precise placement of the instruments in that space. The W5000 was wider but more like a thin oval with very little depth. They also had that closed in echoey sound to them. They also seemed much brighter with the bass not going nearly as low. On the L3000, you can almost feel the bass down to your bones. On classical, the W5000 was a much better choice. It seemed to have more air and the wider soundstage gave it a bigger sound. The L3000 seemed a little choked. It did handle the wood instruments better and had more texture but overall didn't work as well in that genre.

i came pretty much to the same conclusion when i heard the two side by side at a recent meet.