[jjcha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan I'm going to borrow Jahn's SR71 today. It's normal gain. the one i have now is high gain. "since it's bass w/o the treble boost" hmmm... the bass is affected by treble... BOOST?

Eh, sorry, meant to say "the bass of the Coda w/o the treble boost of the SR-71 with the Sensas make the Coda sound dull to me..."

-J

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan I'm going to borrow Jahn's SR71 today. It's normal gain. the one i have now is high gain. "since it's bass w/o the treble boost" hmmm... the bass is affected by treble... BOOST?

Ayep, got the SR71 and Darth Beyers here for Lan to check out - if that combo is still playing "hide the bass" once he gets them home all I can say is...he needs my Solo then lol. Brought along the SR200/CPads for fun but they're going home with me

 

[TonyTripleA]

Probably worth mentioning that the NAD 542i source I am using isn't as bright as many of the higher end sources I have auditioned. Certainly the Cambridge and Arcam players have a stronger upper treble to my ears. I'd call the NAD warm rather than dark, but it pairs with the SA5000s very well.

As I said previously the DAC1 I have ordered may be a bit bright with these cans - I'll report back on my feelings and by the time it arrives I might have the Sonys just about burnt in.

Cheers,

TonyAAA

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyTripleA As I said previously the DAC1 I have ordered may be a bit bright with these cans - I'll report back on my feelings and by the time it arrives I might have the Sonys just about burnt in.

It'll be interesting to hear what you have to say. I found the CD3000, even modded, to be too bright with the DAC1, but the R10 goes together better. Considering Scrith likes the DAC1+Q010 combo, I wonder if the SA5K will be brighter a la the R10/CD3K relatioship.

 

[lan]

SA5000s are not as bright as Qualia. At the last few encounters I had with Qualia, it is was brighter than K1000. I couldn't handle it.

 

[tkam]

The SA5000 are more balanced headphones than the CD3000. They are more detailed and also have stronger bass than the CD3000.

 

[jjcha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lan SA5000s are not as bright as Qualia. At the last few encounters I had with Qualia, it is was brighter than K1000. I couldn't handle it.

One thing I've learned is that every time I want to disagree with lan, even if it's just on a matter of degree, I ought to shut my trap, because three weeks or so later I end up realizing that I agree with him.

So, all I'll say at this time is that I don't find the Qualia to be bright at all out of my "bed rig". Quite a change, as I did find the Qualia to be very uncomfortably bright out of my iPod + SR71 way back when I originally auditioned it, but that could be explained by a lot of factors.

Best,

-Jason

 

[mysticaldodo]

So in the end, do you feel the SA5000 leans towards the bright side? (even if a little bit)

 

[GoRedwings19]

I am wondering how the Qualia would sound hooked up to a good tube amp. Now that would be interesting. Take a bit of the highs off and give it a little warmth. But then again that would defeat the purpose the Qualia was designed for????

 

[Kieran Comito]

The doorbell rang and to my suprise, the SA5000 showed up today. Thanks jjcha. I can't believe they got here so fast. So, I stopped what I was doing and set up the SA 5000 with the Ray Samuels Stealth and hit repeat on the cd player to get things burning in. Everyone coments on how bright these phones are so I thought I would try them with a tube amp first. After about 8 hours I put them on for some intial impressions and some comparisons with the R 10s. I only played about 4 tracks with each headphone. Here is what I can tell right now. They do indeed seem bright and yes they are very detailed. Every frequency is there to be heard. Every instrument can be focused on. For example, It was very easy to follow baselines, and so easy to hear guitar lines in the recording or anything else I wanted to focus on. Compared to the R 10, the first thing I noticed was the SA 5000 seemed like a more condensed presentation, not compressed or bled together, just condensed. In other words all the intruments were present, just out there in a smaller space. In the R 10s everything else was so spread out and it took a little more effort to focus on the same type details with the R 10s. Another thing I noticed right away was the drum hits. They seemed very thin and tiny on the SA 5000 Compared to the R 10s. However, I have yet to hear a headphone do drums the way the R 10s do. That is all I can say for now. Hopefully I will have more to offer later.

 

[Zoide]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkam The SA5000 are more balanced headphones than the CD3000. They are more detailed and also have stronger bass than the CD3000.

What about soundstage?

 

[Wmcmanus]

I'm just tuning into this thread. Thanks, Tony, for your impressions. I like your style of writing. Nice to see someone put everything out there in terms of how they make you feel as you're listening to the music, rather than trying to delve into micro details. That can come later as you get used to them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kieran Comito Compared to the R 10, the first thing I noticed was the SA 5000 seemed like a more condensed presentation, not compressed or bled together, just condensed. In other words all the intruments were present, just out there in a smaller space. In the R 10s everything else was so spread out and it took a little more effort to focus on the same type details with the R 10s.

Kieran, as you get more used to the SA5000's, it would be nice if you would follow up on this point. It makes me wonder if it's a front-stage, back-stage sort of issue, or width of stage, or something altogether different. R10's are known for creating a 'euphoric' sense by luring you in seductively (what some think is coloration, but I happen to like a lot about them nonetheless). From what I've been reading about the SA5000's (and the Qualia 010's for that matter), there isn't this sense of euphoria, but instead, they can get you to sit on the edge of your seat (I think bozebuttons said that about the Q010's) in rapt attention. This doesn't seem like such a bad thing either! Anyway, I realize they are new to you, so have some fun with them and comment as you can.

 

[Kieran Comito]

Okay, I've done some more listening. Again I used basic rock recordings with guitars base and drums. I try to keep it fairly simple so I can pick out differences. This time I used a portable cd player with the SR 71. The instruments on the R 10s sound so much more full, kind of heavy or should I say they have a lot of body in comparison to the SA 5000. The SA 5000 sounds tiny and thin(by comparison). For example the base has so much wieght with the R 10s. Despite this the SA 5000 seem to have just a little more clarity. This is very noticeable with guitars. For example if there is two guitar lines in a song, both phones do a great job with the prominent (lead) guitar line but with the SA 5000 it is easier to hear the other less prominent guitar lines in a track. In other words, something that is burried in the recording mix has more priority with the SA 5000 than with the R 10s. To sum up, it appears the SA 5000 is a very good detail phone as everything in the mix is there to be heard, but it does not have the wieght/body or 3Dness of the R 10s. I guess when you compare the price of the two phones, that is to be expected. Some other things to consider the SA 5000 only has 24 hours of burnin whereas the R 10s are two years old. Plus, things might sound different with different gear. Next I will compare the two phones with a Cary CD player hooked up to the Ray Samuels HR-2. Sorry I don't not own other brands of amps because the Ray Samuels stuff will probably yeild the same results.

 

[Taurui]

I guess it will soon be available in Germany too, if you can trust http://www.cyberport.de/
They list it as "available at the 7th of april" for a price of 490 Euro.

-Taurui

 

[jjcha]

Not really in response to Kieran's post above, but I have come to realize I'm really not a fan of the SA5k + SR-71 combo. Actually, I've tried three Sony phones now out of the SR-71, the R-10, Qualia and SA5k, and I have to say, I don't like any of these matchings.

It's not bad - I think the SR-71 drives the SA5k better than the Coda (sorry HeadRoom, and lan, I'm trying, but as of yet don't see what you appreciate about this amp), but it brings me back to my early complaints about the SA5k. It sounds bright again and is a bit punishing to me. I've lost that tightly controlled bass (edit: that is really present out of the Grace), and as a result sounds a bit thinner.

I do really like my Senns, Sensaphonics and my old Shure E5c though with the SR-71. Right now my time split between Sony and Sennheiser is about 95%/5% - not a whole lot of time anymore with the HD650. But I think if I hadn't gotten the Grace, and was just listening out of the SR-71, I'd be listening to the Senns a whole lot more.

I am very curious about the Stealth though. I listened to both the SA5k/Qualia very briefly out of tk_suki's Stealth, and liked it a lot, but then again, I was listening to his Rokusan turntable...

Best,

-Jason