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I received the SA5000 a few days ago from Amazon and right out of the box, have been very impressed. As a source and amp I am using the Apogee Duet which does very well with low impedence phones such as the SA5000. Most of all, I find it neutral with a cool tint, as opposed to the Audio Technica AD2000 (another suberb headphone) which is neutral with a warm tint. The included metal stand is a GREAT touch, highly useful and I wish other manufacturer's would take a cue from Sony in this respect. Highly recommended for those who like an open, fast, detailed presentation and have a decent source to match. On to the sound. The headphones are extremely light, comfortable, with good build quality. The SA5000 is extremely fast, detailed, and had good impact.
In the past I have owned DT880, K701, and Grado 225 so I have a preference for detail and air over the common Sennheiser sound which has more weight in the bass but to me, loses out in terms of clarity. I prefer an accurate and neutral presentation which will allow me to hear the recording as accurately as possible. The SA5000 absolutely crushes it (best in class) with fast music such as electronica and death metal; however, I also find it competent with most of the genres I've thrown at it.
Unfortunately these headphones are way too bright. The SA1000 are not as comfortable but you will be able to decide if you want them or not. Vocals will make the hair on your neck stand up, because you will think the person singing is in the room with you. I use a Rega Apollo cd player. Buy a used Cardas cable (or equivilant from another company) made for your particular headphone and try it, you can always re-sell it. The SA1000 use the same driver components and I liked them as much as I like these.
FYI the much cheaper MDR-SA1000 series sound almost identicle to these.
They are very revealing to the point of being a flaw.
I was the biggest skeptic regarding expensive aftermarket cables, A GOOD CABLE IS A MUST HAVE.
The MDR-SA5000 produce freakishly realistic sound.
I now use HD600's (these are better than the more expensive HD650's) with a blue Cardas cable.
I felt that these headphones had the potential to be the best, but I could not get past the brightness.
I ended up selling them however I still wonder how they would sound with an aftermarket cable.
If you are using headphones that cost $200 or more get a good cable or don't even bother.
You will not believe the difference.
I got a pretty nice outcome with one of the best soundblaster cards and turning the basic treble and down to 50% where there is no reduction or enhancement and did it manually with the Sound out equalizer and this is the settings i found to be happy with. This product is great if your like me and been dreaming of this forever and stepped up from some cheap 30dollar pair of headphones the difference is going to be big at first but you going to wonder wheres the Bass/Treble when you first hear it. These headphones are made to withold the high db in both your bass and treble. My friends and i are greatly impressed with the difference now. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v159/rhodeder/equalizer.jpg
These headphones are expenseive but worth the price. Their light weight and very comfortable design permit long sessions without any discomfort. The sound quality is absolutely perfect. I liked these much better than equivalent Sennheisers I have tried.
I wear headphones for very long periods of time, and I have to say that these are wonderfully comfortable, and are of superb quality, however, the sound bleeds out and can easily be heard by someone sitting across the room, even at the lower volume levels. I've never experienced this with any other headphones, so would not recommend these if you're going to wear them whilst sitting relatively near to someone else.
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