I think the problem results from the stock cable, which is made from silver plated cooper.Some final thoughts on the YH5000SE – having listened now to a wide range of classical music with various amps. The presentation has been stable from first listening.
While I typically prefer dynamic phones, I think the Yamaha has some appealing qualities. I find it can be quite beguiling in the way it deals with lower frequencies. I think of these phones as building on weight and power.
But for me the recessed mid-band (as I hear it – I haven’t measured it) remains a problem.
I think the Yamaha can deliver good detail and timbre with some recordings. But I feel the mid-band presentation imposes some significant constraints. Clarity and precision can be lost in a wash of sound when musical lines are complex. To my ear the Yamaha lacks the refinement and delicacy of good dynamic phones in terms of separation and dynamic shading. The music often feels slightly closed-in as a result.
Surprisingly, I find the Yamaha can also be a little ponderous and congested when bass lines are complex – not lithe or articulate – another problem for a ‘natural’ presentation, I think.
Perhaps my response to the Yamaha just tends to confirm a personal preference for a diffuse-field tuning – which does seem critical in my case to capturing the life in classical music. But, for what it’s worth, I can’t really imagine anyone who values the open spaces and separation of phones like the HD800S and ADX5000 being happy with the Yamaha.
I do hear the signature of SPC on YH5K which can be described as:
- Smooth and warm tonal especially mid to low mid-section. I do hear a nice tonality in the vocal section, with great amount of airy representation and airflow in the presentation, but it still lacks some clarity.
- Slighty emphasize on low treble, which make cymbal sound more presence but lack of micro tiny envelope after the strike.