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Sony MDR-SA5000
MSRP $699.00
Seeking musical detail resolution precise enough to hear the wind whistle through the cellist's nose hairs? The SONY MDR-SA5000 is an astonishingly accurate, fast-toned headphone without any of the timbral glare you might expect. Singularly able to resolve the mids and upper treble ranges with microscopic clarity, these headphones are bound to please those who love nuance and subtlety above all. Extremely comfortable, lightweight and superbly audio engineered, these cans are a true joy with classical and symphonic music. DISCONTINUED / SOLD-OUT.
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Product Features:
- Exquisite high-resolution listening on the 'airy' side of deep accuracy
- Massive 50mm driver arrays with new nanocomposite diaphraghms
- Stunning build quality with extra-light magnesium metal headband
- Genuine soft glove-leather earpads and comfortable ergonomics feels very easy on the head
- Sony's top-performing audiophile reference model featuring HUGE 6Hz to 110,000kHz frequency range!
What's In The Box:
- Pleather storage / travel pouch
- Owner's manual
Applications:
The top-of-the-line Sony MDR-SA5000 headphone is a marvel of audio engineering. Huge bandwidth of up to 110kHz (!) and incredible 120dB dynamic range are achieved by employing newly developed silica/polyamide nanocomposite diaphragm materials and high-power neodymium magnets exclusive to Sony. The result is the kind of timbral detail, quick dynamic transients, and precise musical resolution expected from a set of $8,000-to-$10,000 room speakers. The new nanocomposite High-Definition [HD] SA5000 diaphragm supresses unwanted resonances while allowing very high amplitude in low-frequency ranges and a smooth, rapid response into the uppermost range of human hearing. This advancement makes the SA5000 the most 'open-toned' and fully extended headphone in the current Sony line. The soundstage image presentation of the SA5000 can only be defined as vastly expansive with a spacious instrumental separation that well-serves audiophile classical and symphonic recordings. Very clear, very detailed true reference headphones for serious listeners.
The SONY MDR-SA5000 headphone features natural leather earpads and a unique open-mesh headband design that minimizes weight while maximizing long-term wearing comfort. The uber-light magnesium headband frame supports large full-size open-back earcups that have a porous housing for optimal air flow and extremely low vibrational resonances. The ergonomics of the SA5000 are superb; the pressure around the ears very evenly distributed for most wearers via the cirumaural glove-soft deep-well earpads. The SA5000 cord measures roughly about 10ft long and is an OFC/6N-grade rated cord featuring an outer cloth sheathing that delivers both durable cable protection and superb high-purity conductivity of the audio signal. 1 Year Sony manufacturer's warranty on all parts.
Specifications:
- Manufacturer Warranty: 1 Year Parts / 90 Days Labor
- Connector Type: 1/4
- Isolation: 0
- Weight: 9 oz. (w/o cable)
- Impedance @ 1kHz: 70 Ohms
- Detachable Cable: No
- Cord Type: Straight Y
- Cord Length: 8ft
- Coupler Size: Large
- Ear Coupler Type: Full-Size
- Driver Type: Dynamic
- Acoustic Seal: Open
- Headphone Type: Full Size
- Sensitivity: 102 dB
Average Rating
Posted by nightmedia from San Diego, CA on 2010-06-22
Recommend Product: No
Pros: Comfortable, good sound stage
Cons: break easily
They worked fine out of the box, no burn-in necessary, with a great sound stage, maybe the only pair of cans that have exactly the same sound signature as my Event 8 active monitors in the room. I was in acoustical heaven.
I had plenty of issues, here's the down and dirty:
The cables suck.
They are microphonic, I had to learn to wear them with the cables leading down my back, to minimize the cable noise. After a few months, a cable started interrupting, and had to cut out the broken part, open the cans, and re-solder the cable. After another couple months, the other side of the cable did the same thing. I did this routine twice over.
The drivers suck.
After a bit more than half a year of wearing them, one driver stopped working and had to send the phones to Sony for repair. They fixed it, it costed me still $100 for the replacement.
After less than a year, the other driver stopped working. I decided to retire the cans and give them the well deserved rest.
This is my second Sony pair of cans. Considering the cost and the rather crappy headband that feels like it's gonna break any time you set them aside, I would not consider buying Sony again.
7 out of 14 people found this review helpful. Did you?
Posted by Radiola from New York on 2010-03-16
Recommend Product: Yes
Pros: intense revealing and amazing detail and fidelity
Cons: look like a brainscan on my head
OK..there is a caveat to the last paragraph. These sound better to me than the HD600 but they do sound "sterile" by comparison, which are the wages of high speed. The HD600 have a warm midrange and lower treble. The Sony's seem to benefit from some treble lift because they can come off sounding muted on some material.
All the same, these cans are almost as tactile as they are audible. They have enormous dynamic response and range. After a reasonable break in time I began to get the sensation as if there was nothing but a hole in the earpieces and I was listening to the music coming from outside through the holes in the earpads.
These cans are in the new genre of superphones with big diaphragms, neodymium magnets and drivers angled from the front of the head slightly towards the back. The other two models that come to mind are the Senn HD800 and the Beyer Tesla T1............The Sony is obviously the best buy at half the price of the HD800. Not having heard the others I cannot judge but my guess is the Sony is as capable as the others. It has the widest frequency response reaching more than double the range of the other two at 110kz. Nobody hears that far out but speaker design is a messy undertaking with no obvious boundaries. Most speakers respond horribly at their frequency extremes so the farther it gets extended the better the phones will be in the audible range.
So far I don't have any data on the durability of these. One thing to point out is that the large 50mm diaphragm is almost naked exposed. So there is no protection from jabs from foreign objects. So always store these on the provided stand which is also good protection for the phones.
One thing I can say though is that you can expect mind-blowing vivid reproduction of music from these phones.
Added 3/27 Ok for those for which it matters ... These have a somewhat laid-back tonal quality, a little dark, but all the same a tad sparkly in the highest treble. That gives them an open sounding sensation (as they do seem very transparent) but deserving of some treble lift when listening to darkly recorded material.
16 out of 17 people found this review helpful. Did you?
