[Sonic Defender]

Heard these briefly today, around 20 mins so pinch of salt etc. I really liked them, they were well balanced with no obvious exaggeration, a good sign in my experience. They had the velour pads on, very comfy. The the shop assistant was willing to get leather ones but sods law I had a meeting after lunch.

Overall, very competitive with my SRH1540, think pioneer has it licked!

Yes the SEM 5 is pretty darn nice and as I said before, given the build quality and sound quality, in today's crazy expensive headphone market, the Pioneer is actually fairly priced.

 

[Janus99]

These headphones don't seem to get much attention, but I happen to like them a lot. Anyway, if anyone is interested, they are currently on sale at B & H photo for $550, which should make them much more tempting to many people.

 

[LaCuffia]

Wow that’s a great price. The Monitor5 is a really underrated headphone - very clean sound, comfortable and superbly built.

 

[dpump]

These headphones don't seem to get much attention, but I happen to like them a lot. Anyway, if anyone is interested, they are currently on sale at B & H photo for $550, which should make them much more tempting to many people.

Thanks for posting this as I would not have known otherwise. Couldn't really afford to order but I did anyway. Too good to pass up at $549. I'm pretty sure they have been discontinued and Pioneer is trying to clear their stock. Pioneer has hired a former Klipsch man to head up the development of a new line of high end phones but the build quality on the SE-Monitor 5 is way better than anything at $549. Hopefully the sound quality will be to my liking. May end up selling my Denon 7200 if the Pioneer works out.

 

[Janus99]

Thanks for posting this as I would not have known otherwise. Couldn't really afford to order but I did anyway. Too good to pass up at $549. I'm pretty sure they have been discontinued and Pioneer is trying to clear their stock. Pioneer has hired a former Klipsch man to head up the development of a new line of high end phones but the build quality on the SE-Monitor 5 is way better than anything at $549. Hopefully the sound quality will be to my liking. May end up selling my Denon 7200 if the Pioneer works out.

I think you're right about Pioneer trying to clear out their stock. What they need to hire are some better marketing people. There are almost no reviews of these headphones in English, and many potential customers likely don't even know they exist. Or even if they've heard of them, they aren't willing to shell out so much money without reading a number of reviews.. I hope you like them. It seems to me that the biocellulose drivers particularly benefit from burn in, with the bass improving substantially over time. The price is so good I considered buying a back up pair. The build quality is so solid, however, that the ones I have will likely serve me for many years.

 

[Sonic Defender]

The SEM5 at that price is a stunningly good value. I personally feel this headphone is a fantastic sound signature and as others have noted, extremely well built and very comfortable. Shame to think they may be being discontinued, but perhaps there will be a new model coming soon. I totally agree with the poster who mentioned more reviews would have helped. I will be doing my part and over the next few weeks posting my review here.

 

[Svatopluk]

I'm a big fan of the SEM5 as well. Looking forward to your review.

 

[music_man]

I just noticed BH. I thought I was the "Pioneer" lol. Beat me too it. No worries, just ordered them. Compared to what I usually dabble in this was like a giveaway. So if I do not like them do not even care but
I bet I do.

It would be nice if someone gave away "A" stock Z1R so more people could have them.

 

[headpfizer]

These headphones don't seem to get much attention, but I happen to like them a lot. Anyway, if anyone is interested, they are currently on sale at B & H photo for $550, which should make them much more tempting to many people.

Thank/curse you. I now have a pair of these on the way!

 

[Sonic Defender]

Thank/curse you. I now have a pair of these on the way!

At that price, or frankly even at full retail I think you will be impressed. The SEM5 does nothing wrong, plenty right and is just very well built. My one complaint is the changing ear pads is extremely difficult to do. For future iterations I would want to have pads mounted on detachable rings so that switching was easy. When you look at the current design it is clear that this could be accomplished rather easily. So if you do decide to change the pads, first know that while quite difficult, it can be done and shouldn't be avoided as trying to see which pad works best for you is worthwhile. The changes aren't extreme, but they are noticeable IMO. Great decision to try this headphone, I still really love it and have no regrets about buying it.

 

[headpfizer]

I'm in the UK and even with import tax it's still £150 / $200 better than I can find over here. Got in just in time, the offer has ended now. I may have to sell a pair to make room for them in my collection.

 

[waveSounds]

Have any of you chaps had experience with both the Monitor 5 and AKG K872? My current go-to closed backs are the Shure SRH1540, which I love, but want to migrate them to be a permanent fixture at work, and the K872 or Monitor 5 are the two I'm considering to take their place at home.

How do their sound signatures compare? I'm not that fussy as long as it's not bass-light (which I doubt either of these would be lacking in this department), but have a preference towards a warmer signature. Any opinions would be much appreciated!

 

[Sonic Defender]

Have any of you chaps had experience with both the Monitor 5 and AKG K872? My current go-to closed backs are the Shure SRH1540, which I love, but want to migrate them to be a permanent fixture at work, and the K872 or Monitor 5 are the two I'm considering to take their place at home.

How do their sound signatures compare? I'm not that fussy as long as it's not bass-light (which I doubt either of these would be lacking in this department), but have a preference towards a warmer signature. Any opinions would be much appreciated!

I'll be honest, I found the 872 horrid, very grating and to me without any naturalness. I had it at my place for a few months as I was selling it for a friend. I could barely stand it for more than a few minutes. I'm not trying to be unkind, but while I could see somebody making a case that it is for "professional" purposes, I certainly found it an un-musical signature. The Pioneer is leaps and bounds above it in terms of listenability, IMO. This may mean something or nothing, but the person who purchased my friends 872 put it up for sale within a few weeks. I also sold my friends Pioneer SE Monitor 5 for him, and the person who bought it simply loves it to this day. Make of that what you will.

 

[LaCuffia]

You can’t go wrong with the Pioneer- great build quality, comfortable, and with a detailed sound signature that is not clinical or sterile. I wish I had it again. There was a crazy price of $560 or something like that on B&H Photo not too long ago. That was quite a deal.

 

[Sonic Defender]

You can’t go wrong with the Pioneer- great build quality, comfortable, and with a detailed sound signature that is not clinical or sterile. I wish I had it again. There was a crazy price of $560 or something like that on B&H Photo not too long ago. That was quite a deal.

By the standards of today's pricing that price was an absolute bargain. I still love the SEM 5, just an all round total package. If I could want something, it might be more sub bass depth, but the overall linear, and well controlled and textured bass makes up for any lack of the deepest bass.