[pigmode]

Actually there have been a few salient questions brought up by this thread, in terms of the sound signature of the W5000. I also have a J&R W5000 (still within its return period), and have found it difficult to come up with a solid impression of this headphone. There are moments when I am close to packing it up for return, and other times where it feels as if it has earned a solid place in my line up. 
 
I will say this as far as break-in is concerned. My experience has been that the W5000 benefited substantially to its initial 10-12 hr break-in, to the point where any judgments before hand would have seemed highly premature. Its out-of-the-box sound was characterized by a flabby and overly warm upper bass and lower mid-range, and significantly its forward mid-range signature had not even begun to bloom.

 

[MrSpenkelink]

What you regard as salient, I see as commonplace within these forum threads. Just to add to the divergent perceptions, I honestly couldn't describe any aspect of the W5000's presentation as flabby or warm. 

 

[wind016]

This thread makes me want to buy another W5000 again just to see what happens. I highly doubt that there are THESE many different versions though. My impressions of the W5000 matches pigmode, but I actually packed it up and sold it. It did sound a bit flabby/warm. I was also not impressed by the soundstage as so many people are. Classical music on it was not as great to me as some say it was for them. I honestly was not impressed at all. Did most of us get bad pairs??? That would be far too reckless on AT's part.
 

 

[MrSpenkelink]

^ I don't think so but at least it keeps the conspiracy theorists amongst us engaged over the holiday period.

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

This thread makes me want to buy another W5000 again just to see what happens. I highly doubt that there are THESE many different versions though. My impressions of the W5000 matches pigmode, but I actually packed it up and sold it. It did sound a bit flabby/warm. I was also not impressed by the soundstage as so many people are. Classical music on it was not as great to me as some say it was for them. I honestly was not impressed at all. Did most of us get bad pairs??? That would be far too reckless on AT's part.
 

I hope to have more impressions before too long. My issue is I need to be conservative right now in what I discuss, due to the impending completion of the last two corners of my equipment triangle. I have had the Yamamoto for a couple of days, and my new cdp is being sent out tomorrow. 
 
Yes, I have also had question marks with wierd, or more particularly distracting soundstaging. I plan to give it an additional 150+ hr break-in along with the new cdp, as I have found subtle changes in this area during the ending of my first break-in. OTOH, my last really positive listening session with the W5000 was with Telarcs Vivaldi/Ozawa/Boston Symphony Orchestra "The Four Seasons". The point is, if my W1000 went SOL, I might still see myself turning to the W5000. Without the presence of my W1000 and the HD600, the W5000 would for me right now be golden.

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

 Just to add to the divergent perceptions, I honestly couldn't describe any aspect of the W5000's presentation as flabby or warm. 

Yeah, you need read my post again.

 

[pigmode]

Quote:

^ I don't think so but at least it keeps the conspiracy theorists amongst us engaged over the holiday period.

At this point I do find you negatively oriented commentary amusing to a certain extent, but overall it is somewhat tedious. As you tend to stay a half step away from trolling, go ahead and continue to knock yourself out. OTOH, how about sharing some more concrete impressions of your own experiences?

 

[wind016]

Quote:

I hope to have more impressions before too long. My issue is I need to be conservative right now in what I discuss, due to the impending completion of the last two corners of my equipment triangle. I have had the Yamamoto for a couple of days, and my new cdp is being sent out tomorrow.   
 

When I read that you got your Yamamoto, I think I got excited for you  XD Please post your impressions. Especially with the W1000 and the W5000.

 

 

[KonstantinN]

And yes, even though I'm a W5000 fanboy, I will readily admit, that stock, these are some great, but ultimately flawed headphones. I still have no idea what they were thinking with the way they bent the headband so that its near impossible to get a good fit. They could have at least made the pads a bit thicker to compensate. I have a pretty large noggin and its never fit well for me, so I can only imagine how bad it is for people with smaller head sizes.

Absolutely true. I had to perform headband bending (see picture, took 24 hours to adjust the shape) and change the ear pads to a thicker ones (custom, lambskin) to get great fit and better isolation. But the sound is that beautiful, that i am not disappointed.