[jagorev]

100 KSC-75s are the best headphones under $2000

 

[Patu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by akwok No, the SA5000 is the best can you can buy, period. Other cans don't even come close.

It's nice to know that I own the best headphones out there.

 

[Borat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsychoZX I am so sick of your arrogant posts here...

Serious? You don't think it's funny? I love Artbot, dude. You have to admire the persistence.

 

[jagorev]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Borat Serious? You don't think it's funny? I love Artbot, dude. You have to admire the persistence.

What I want to know about is the script that alerts him to any mention of the SA5000 in any thread on head-fi. And here's a great little quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens I would love to carry Sony cans as I think some are extraordinay. In particular, I think the Sony MDR-XD400 are great for the dough, and the R10 is a real winner (wish I could afford one). However, I think most are pretty poor. I have tried the SA5000 and find it too bright.

 

[fjf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Borat Serious? You don't think it's funny? I love Artbot, dude. You have to admire the persistence.

The even funnier thing is that he does not have the SA5000 anymore...

 

[aerius]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jagorev What I want to know about is the script that alerts him to any mention of the SA5000 in any thread on head-fi. And here's a great little quote:

It's even funnier when you see it in context. The full exchange from the original thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by moongate Hello together, the last time I paid attention to the HD 650 description on the headroom site I read something like,..."Probably the worlds best headphone"

Quote:

Originally Posted by drarthurwells Art: If they sold the Sony SA5000 guess what they would say about it? The world's best headphone (excluding the UE10 pro as a canal phone) for under $2000 is what they should say.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens I would love to carry Sony cans as I think some are extraordinay. In particular, I think the Sony MDR-XD400 are great for the dough, and the R10 is a real winner (wish I could afford one). However, I think most are pretty poor. I have tried the SA5000 and find it too bright.

Whooops!

 

[drarthurwells]

Originally Posted by akwok
I'm sold! The SA5000 is now definitely the best headphone under $2000!



Quote:

Originally Posted by jamesp Are you serious?...to me the K1000 is the best and I owned both.

Art: No, anytime he agrees with me on anything then you know he is being sarcastic.


If I thought he were telling the truth about his opinion of the SA5000 being so good, I would sell my SA5000 and buy something he didn't like (which right now is the SA5000).

The K1000 is very demanding as to amps. All tha tseem good wioth it are above $1000. When I say the SA5000 is the best (as good or better than any other) hadphone doe under $2000, I rule out the K1000 because, with the best amp for it, the cost would exceed $2000 for both the K1000 and its amp.

The SA5000 is really great with a decent (uncolored, natural timbre, realistic resolution, imaging, and dynamics) source and headphone amp. One BADA PH12, E5, and SA5000 owner, who doesn't post here on this site, emailed me recently and said he could close his eyes in listening to a well recorded CD and the sound was so natural and realistic that it did not sound like it was coming through stereo equipment. I also find this to be true, in some passages of a well recorded CD, and mor eso than by past sytems.

Hey guys! Evaluate according to your own needs. We have at least one person here with extensive experience with both the K1000 and the SA5000 who says the K1000 is better. I just wonder if the same amp was used with both and if impedance amp-headphone matching couldn't account for the difference.

 

[PsychoZX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Borat Serious? You don't think it's funny? I love Artbot, dude. You have to admire the persistence.

I guess there is a fine line between persistence and annoyance.

 

[akwok]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drarthurwells Originally Posted by akwok I'm sold! The SA5000 is now definitely the best headphone under $2000! Art: No, anytime he agrees with me on anything then you know he is being sarcastic. If I thought he were telling the truth about his opinion of the SA5000 being so good, I would sell my SA5000 and buy something he didn't like (which right now is the SA5000). The K1000 is very demanding as to amps. All tha tseem good wioth it are above $1000. When I say the SA5000 is the best (as good or better than any other) hadphone doe under $2000, I rule out the K1000 because, with the best amp for it, the cost would exceed $2000 for both the K1000 and its amp. The SA5000 is really great with a decent (uncolored, natural timbre, realistic resolution, imaging, and dynamics) source and headphone amp. One BADA PH12, E5, and SA5000 owner, who doesn't post here on this site, emailed me recently and said he could close his eyes in listening to a well recorded CD and the sound was so natural and realistic that it did not sound like it was coming through stereo equipment. I also find this to be true, in some passages of a well recorded CD, and mor eso than by past sytems. Hey guys! Evaluate according to your own needs. We have at least one person here with extensive experience with both the K1000 and the SA5000 who says the K1000 is better. I just wonder if the same amp was used with both and if impedance amp-headphone matching couldn't account for the difference.

I really love the SA5000 and I hate the Baby Orpheus. The Baby Orpheus SUCKS.

 

[gsferrari]

No sarcasm here: I rate the SA5000s VERY high...Fantastic headphones for the money. I absolutely HAD to get rid of the HD-650 once I got a taste of the SA5000.

AKG-K701/601/501 : if they maintain the sound signature then they are not my thing. I could never get into the sucked out thin sound signature.

I would say that the SA5000s are a close second to the K1000. I rate the Omega-II and L3000 (VERY SLIGHLY) slightly higher though. I rate the Baby Orpheus higher than any other headphone mentioned in this post...bar the Omega-II for certain genres of music.

HE-60 / Omega-II
L3000 / SA5000
Grado RS1 / HD-650


SA5000s take time getting used to. They really reward any changes you make higher up in the audio chain. Extremely resolving of changes to source material, hardware.

SA5000 with a quality vinyl setup = magic!

 

[AdamWill]

Quote:

Originally Posted by PsychoZX I am so sick of your arrogant posts here. What makes you think that you can claim the SA5000s as the best headphones under $2000 when you haven't even come close to hearing half of what is available for under $2000? I am starting to think that with all the raving you have done about the SA5000s that even if you found something better that you wouldn't want to admit it. You seem to have a big problem with differentiating between fact and opinion. You also can't seem to understand the fact that not everyone hears things the way you do. Oh so we are telling others what their opinions should be now?

To be fair, I didn't state a personal opinion (I've never heard SA5000s), I just said "no-one likes the SA5000 as much as you (drarthurwells) do". I stand by that statement, however. German hi-fi magazines may rate the SA5000 highly but I doubt they sleep under custom-printed SA5000 sheets and dream of large, fluffy SA5000s running through fields of grass whose blades are made of tiny, tiny SA5000s, like arthur surely does.

 

[Arnoldhasmail]

If you like the SA5000 so much, that's o.k. and needs no excuses and justifications. It wasn't my cup of tea, as much as I tried to find an adequate successor for my HD 650, which I now have found in the K 701, as it seems. But from your preference I guess the K 701 won't sound neutral to you if your reference for neutrality is the SA5000. Which to me sounds quite colored, while the K 701 is the most neutral headphone I've heard so far, although it's not perfect. It has stronger and more impactful low bass of about equal quality (the SA5000's bass is really good!) and a smoother transition between bass, mids and treble, also it lacks the SA5000's upper-midrange/lower treble hump, has just a hint of an emphasis in the same range. To my ears. And it lacks its hinted hollowness (note the bare, reflective earpieces!) and technical flavor.
.[/QUOTE]


Wow...your description of the 5000's is exactly what I heard. I was trying to find a replacement for my hd600's/zu but the 5000's didn't do it...the slight hollow feeling and the poor transition from treble to bass got to me after a while. I'm using the 701's now and love them. The hd600's are still in the rotation but the 701's are my staple. Mids are a little recessed and I wouldn't call them neutral but I like the big deep soundstage...the bass is a little light but tight. Although I'm sure this isn't true...it sounds to me...like they don't have any bumps in their frequency response. Easy and pleasing to listen to...for me...

 

[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by drarthurwells Well you must have missed the recent German magazine review posted on this forum which rated the Sony SA 5000 as tops, rating the SA5000 above both the Sennheiser HD650 and the AKG K701. Duh! You should change your statement from "no-one else loves the SA5000 as much as you do" to "only critics with access to all quality headphones available love the SA5000 as much as you do as the best available headphone for the money". And yes, Raisin, reading comprehension is often lacking here.

Sorry about the the intrusion, I just thought the comment was interesting, Overseas in the UK area (This may apply to headphones) perceived good speaker sound signature is a different taste then American perception of good sound signature. The speakers overseas tend to have more bias towards a brighter sound, which also is the prefered signature. While brighter speakers here are perceived as harsh.

As I wouldnt think headphones would be much different from speakers, Its quite possible the reason why the Grados and Sony mdr series are so well received while the bassier warmer cans are not.

Anyone ever listen to monitor audio speakers?

 

[drarthurwells]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 Overseas in the UK area (This may apply to headphones) perceived good speaker sound signature is a different taste then American perception of good sound signature. The speakers overseas tend to have more bias towards a brighter sound, which also is the prefered signature. While brighter speakers here are perceived as harsh.

Good point.

The SA5000 has a slight sloping treble rise at around 10 KHz, which with a good source and amp, makes them sparkle with sheen to the highs.

However with a bad source or amp, this sparkle and sheen can become harsh. Also, those sensitive to treble will not like the SA5000 because of this slight 10 KHz peak.

Maybe this explains the love/hate polarity of those who have listened to the SA5000.

My love of them is for their midrange neutrality with very natural timbre, and their high resolution in extracting all the audio info from the signal provided. To those who hear an unnatural timbre in them, I suspect they have an problem source or amp that they are unaware of, and the SA5000 just reveals this which they falsely attribute to the SA5000. Other, less resolving, headphones don't reveal these problems and thus sound better but are not.

 

[J-Pak]

Sorry draurtherwells how are you speculating that the UE10 and Qualia 010 are also the best headphones? From reading your posts you've heard neither