mulveling

Nice impressions, thanks. The L3000 really steps up to the next level with good vinyl. The HD650 steps up a level and possibly a bit more (I still usually prefer the L3000 though).

I found they sounded pretty decent when I pressed the cups against my head hard enough for most of the air to be squished out of the pads. Though this was pretty fatiguing - for my hands & arms, not my ears. So obviously I have no long-term listening impressions for this form of the W5000. I still prefer the L3000 to even the squished-in W5000 sound. Note - I am not a member of the W5000 mafia

Also it's real classy how Grado seems to have made no attempt towards notifying potential customers of the change, until after they'd received the new headphones from an online vendor

I think they look piss poor. I had a nice set of RS-2 a while back that looked leagues better than this. This is what $500 buys you at Grado these days?? Anything above $200-250 for this is a questionable value, IMO (even the nicer old ones were way overpriced). I posted my thoughts on head-fi as well

Definitely agree on the L3000. Modded players also don't retain their value nearly as well as the L3000 should, especially when Denon comes out with new models every year Not sure on the recable though, recently I've been becoming more of the opinion that headphone cables change flavor of the sound rather than the overall quality - have not heard a recabled L3000 though. See if you can get the stock cable with it, otherwise you might be stuck be wondering what they'd sound like stock. Plus, the stock cable looks damn nice. Still, if it comes down to it - make a run now on a recabled L3000 over a modded player.

Haha, did anyone notice that the ALO logo on the cable plug in their website banner reads like "DIY" (http://www.aloaudio.com/)? Very appropriate - both as a recommended course of action and as a statement on the quality of product offered That's what they get for printing their logo in a pretentious font and then taking a pic of it upside down.

Also, the overall resolution of the L3000 is better than the w11 but not quite at R10/Qualia 010 levels, but then what is - it doesn't impede my enjoyment of their sheer musicality. Sweet! I wish I'd obtained the L3000 within a year of my entrance into this hobby. Took me 2 years to the the plunge with a >$1K headphone. If only I knew than what I know now....many sad purchases could have been avoided, like that $200 Total Airhead

Sounds like you have an issue with the imaging or perhaps the transients/speed. The L3000 is at least an incremental improvement in imaging, and a more significant improvement in speed. I can see how the W5000 would be considered faster than the W11; the L3000 will not fall behind the W5000 here. I think you'll like them quite a bit

THAT's exactly what I was talking about earlier, about the W11jpn being fatiguing. I think I was listening to Queen I, when that first became apparent to my ears (Freddie Mercury...). The L3000 does not do this, not even a trace; they're a dream to listen to for hours with everything I've thrown at 'em BTW, Rush is one of my favorite bands (got Rush, Fly By Night, Caress of Steel, Hemispheres, Grace Under Pressure, 2112, and Presto on vinyl) and they're freakin' AMAZING on the L3000 Hmm, I'm not sure I quite understand what you're referring to here. When I think of haze, I think of a thin layer of grain superimposed over the music - this can be caused by headphones, sources or amps. I didn't get that with the w11jpn; they're very smooth and grain-free in my book, just like the w5000 and L3000. Are you referring to something in the imaging or something with the bass resolution? The L3000 significantly bests the W11jpn in those areas, though I didn't think the w11 was very weak there to start with. One other random quirk about the w11jpn - it seemed to be an excellent match with the ha2002 amp. I didn't think the ha2002 was a great match for the L3000.

They sold quite easily due to the ravings of Sovkiller/that big Ultrasone thread, and the supply issues Ultrasone was having at the time. AFAIK, the buyer Zoide was very happy with them

Well it DID seem to extend really deep - I'll give it that. It's also pretty grain-free through the spectrum. And I usually don't mind a bit of extra bass, but as you say, the lack of texture and natural tone is a deal breaker.

Nope, no GS1000's have come this way so far :'( Neither of us have been tempted to pony up the dough. The odd looks aren't helping to convince me

In review, here are your options so far: * Move On - Look for somewhere else to live. This can't be the only sufficient residence. * Get Clever - It can't be that hard to outsmart a wacko landlady. Get to work. * Stand Up - Stand up to the bitch and let her know the wisdom of your ways. What's she doing browsing through your stuff anyways?? * Partially surrender - Get a 1-box source but KEEP the Zana Deux! * Fully Surrender - This option will make cry, beacuse I probably won't have funds available for the Zana Deux when you sell it I'd be pretty skeptical there's any 1-box solution that could stand up to a decent source with the Zana Deux, even considering balanced drive. * Go Vinyl - It won't solve your problem here, but this is like, always an option man.

I didn't think they were that great for hard rock/metal, either. Having natural tone & bass response is usually still a big plus for those generes. Unfortunately this isn't like 3 years ago, when the HP1000 could be had under $700 and a new L3000 for $1500. The Edition 9 is perfectly positioned to look like the prince of the current dynamic world, but really it doesn't do anything to elevate it above the far cheaper DX1000, HD650, possibly K701 and others. In fact I prefer the HD650, DX1000, and possibly K701 to the Ed 9 regardless of price. I feel pretty confident the Ed9 could compete with at least the HD600 and RS1, though I was excited about them for a while because they sounded pretty damn decent (but not great) out of the box - from all the hype, I was expecting for them to transform and blossom after sufficient burn-in, ala L3000. First 20 hours came and went, then 300 and 350, a bit nicer but no major change - my issues with its main sonic quirks had not been addressed. Then I started to give up on them for good

Yay, an Edition 9 bashing thread, let me join in the fun I wanted to like these, I really did, but the mids are bit too far on the cold and sterile side. The HP1000 pulls off a cool-ish midrange quite nicely, but the Ed9 is no HP1000. The tone of the bass is unnatural and incapable of conveying texture. The soundstage is very closed-in and restricted, probably even more than some John Grados (RS1). Not a terrible sounding headphone overall, but IMO it's handily outperformed by the HD650, which can be had for $300 NEW, less than 1/3rd the cost of the Ed9. It's also outperformed by other headphones that come in well under the $1500 MSRP, including the JVC DX1000. Oh yeah, and the plastic headband looks like crap. The box is ok, but not super nice. I didn't really go to town on these at head-fi, but I feel more comfortable doing so here

I think your food system probably isn't at a level for Bacon Salt to really perform. First you'll definitely need to upgrade your meats, dairy, nuts, and fresh fruits. Then you should probably upgrade your silverware. Surely you're not just eating this stuff off of plastic or paper?? After that we can talk tables, centerpieces, and interior lighting. Then you MIGHT be ready to see bacon salt really shine.

That pretty well sums up how I feel about vinyl vs digital, too. I haven't listened to a full CD in my home rig for 3 months now and don't miss it a bit. I'd been through a couple digital sources that cost more than my TT, too - G08 and SCD1 (even considering SACD). Digital is fine for my work rig...which consists of PortaPros...straight out of my Dell PC (HD650 or L3000) and vinyl, is where magic happens.

That's the ONE area I'd consider fairly consistent between the L3000/W11jpn/W2002/W5000/W10vtg... They've all got that intimate feeling, medium-sized soundstage/headstage. Other than that, the sonic balance and quirks can be all over the place between various models. And yeah, the pads are all the same with the exception of the W5000 (a bit bigger).

Yes, I'm ashamed to say I indulged my need for a spare L3000. Luckily I got both while they were still relatively affordable, back in summer '05. At least I'm not as bad as those R10 collectors/hoarders The only other headphone I've owned two of at once was the W2002, and that didn't last long since I never listened to them.

So get both TT & L3000 - for the cost of just 2 L3000's! C'mon, what's an L3000 rig without a worthy source and tube amp. You Melos Gold will do great as amp, so you're almost there! You have access to a credit card, right?

Yeah, if I were to send it in, I'd also get the higher voltage mod for the 6BL7GTA/6BXGT/etc tubes. However, the thought of being without it for 2+ months, plus the shipping costs, plus the risk of shipping - has kept me from doing so. That's why I wanted to know if there was any special thing to the preamp outputs; otherwise a simple adapter will do fine by me. Now the clicking mentioned by Dusty Chalk is more troubling. I haven't experienced that noise myself, but I have noticed that the DC offset from the SDS can be rather high (via ratshack meter) - with the current tubes it can get as high as +/-50 mV, though it usually cycles around and spends most of its time at lower levels. Certain "bad" tube sets will get it as high as 100mV though The Sugden Headmaster stays within +/-5 mV DC, but of course it sounds leagues below the SDS With my new speaker rig being fairly spendy, I'd rather be safe than sorry, hence the motivation for this thread.

I'm with you there. While I had them, it became too tempting to sell knowing what else I could do with that money. Getting a nice vinyl source increased my musical enjoyment, on all genres, much more than the R10. Currently the L3000 and HD650 cover all my headphone needs superbly. Kinda wish I'd kept the K1000 though, now that I'm going to have a really nice tube power amp. Didn't love 'em when I had 'em, but then my power amps at the time were not up to the task (Outlaw M200, PS Audio HCA2).

Cool, thanks Earl! Sounds reasonable, I was hoping that was the case. I just didn't want to be missing out on some super secret Singlepower cryo'd military spec preamp-gain-cell box (with red paint, of course)

Thanks guys! I've been lusting for the Dimensions for quite some time now, and finally got a good opportunity right after the sale of my Legacy Sig III. Can't wait for the VAC tube amps to get back from the factory with upgrades Check out the stock connectors on the binding post panel (bill is for size reference): Those fat pink-ish cables are the STOCK jumpers - "Van Den Hul MC The Wind Mk I Hybrid Halogen" is what they've got printed on them, whatever the hell that means. Looks to be 11 gauge. Jumper terminations are WBT "Pure Copper" and the binding posts are also WBT. By far the highest quality stock connections I've seen yet.

Yeah, that was basically what I thought. Then I saw KG list the measured output impedance of certain RSA tube amps; in these cases the output impedance rose drastically with input impedance of the power amp! I don't know much about electronics but I know that is a really bad thing. Just wanted to make sure I was in the clear with my 5687'd SDS I also noticed the SDS has way more gain than the typical preamp (especially with 5687s); too much for the typical digital source, but it works out quite nicely with my analog rig. Subjectively, I agree that the sound is excellent. I was also wondering whether Mikhail adds any special circuity or parts when he adds RCA preamp outputs to his headphone amps. Anyone know?