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Aside from the company's move to a Y cable over the W1000's left-handed single connection—I find the latter more congenial as it doesn't create a necklace and doesn't want to twist—the W5000 nets no demerits from me. The leather ear cushions clean far easier than the black velour fabric on Sennheiser's reference and the winged pads eliminate an adjustable headband with its propensity to alter spacing during handling. Of all the schemes I've come across to comfortably secure a pair of transducers around the ears, audio-technica's is the most sophisticated and simple. I particularly appreciate not having anything contact the crown of the skull. It would take a very large head to max out the available space and actually touch the two metal bands. On wear comfort and ticking off all the physical items of manufacture including a generously long leash, the Raffinato nets a full hundred.
 

In my Sennheiser HD800 review, I sketched out the core traits of my headphone quartet by calling the Grado PS-1000 a Vandersteen, AKG's K-702 a Green Mountain Audio, the HD800 a Wilson Audio and audio-technica's W5000 a Sonus Faber. That's our prompt into today's sonic assessment.


The tie with Sonus Faber runs deeper than love of wood and leather. The Italian speakers at least to my ears and with the founding father's models were always first about music, flow and tone; and second only on linearity, precision and steep resolution.


Don't agree? No matter. That's what the Raffinatos sound like. Their focus isn't on the leading edge as the Sennheisers but on what happens right after. This minor shift causes more softness upfront and follows up with deeper tone. At the same time, the HD800's pronounced aeration of a very fast open top moves downwards as anchor point with the 5000s.

Things now become more about the midrange while a fine texturing further emphasizes more of the flow between the notes than the incisive tattoo of their beginnings. Though open-backed, Grado's metal-ensconced PS1000s with their wooden undies have the more potent bottom end than the sealed Japanese. The latter's gentler touch affects the entire spectrum. 'Hard rockers'—somewhat of a euphemism with headphones I think—would prefer a grittier, more in-the-face sound than the ultra suave deeply civilized Raffinators or triode amps bring to the table. But even headbangers might appreciate that particularly classical with its soaring strings and brassy fanfares does exceptionally well with them. Ditto elegiac ECM-type fare like the Tord Gustavsen Trio where the magic is as much about what is said as about what isn't.

Naturally, choice of amplifier, cables and source can and will stretch this base fabric. A super-clean potent driver like Burson Audio's HA-160 will add on the side of transient pop while a deliberately contoured triode amp like Yamamoto's further underlines the cantabile qualities and turns up the heater on color saturation. But the general flavor remains.


Where the Sennheisers stage wider and inject a champagne-type sparkle into the proceedings, the Raffinatos are more sensual and intimate but not as earthy and rambunctious as the PS-1000s from NYC. The latter will rock out without hesitation but full support from the bass bottoms while the W5000s approach things from the middle. Driven pushy fare will relax and mellow to have listener attention fall lower into the body than with the headier, more exuberant and outgoing Sennheiser. If your in-the-head session are very lengthy to place a premium on avoiding fatigue, the Japanese and Americans are preferable to the Austrians and Germans in my book.

So-called resolution is often irretrievably mixed up with presence-region and treble illumination. From that perspective, the gentler Raffinatos and warmer PS-1000s will seem less acute than the AKGs and Sennheisers. Between the former two, the Grados more overtly exploit air-chamber resonance. That is readily verified by moving one's hands back and forth over their backs, even closing in on them. The sound gets considerably bigger without any obstruction. But it also betrays remnants of 'acoustic reinforcement'. The audio-technicas don't divulge theirs by comparison. Put differently, the Grados show faint parallels with ported alignments while the W5000s display higher damping like sealed ones.


They truly don't lack any rhythmic control, just its dry front-loaded plosive attributes. The combination of impedance and sensitivity also means that these cans come on song quickly. They don't require cranking to bloom. This feeds into long-term ease where prolonged high levels are fatiguing. The Raffinators are the most satisfying from my bunch for cozy drawn-out sessions. Perhaps because that tends to be my main MO these days; and perhaps because at day's end I remain fascinated by valve sound which their voicing replicates in their own clever way - the audio-technica ATH W5000s replace my W1000s (since inherited by a musical friend together with a Glow Audio Amp One) as my current favorite earspeakers.

For microscopic inspection of the grooves and more adrenaline-fueled sessions, I reach for the Sennheisers. In my estimation they rank a close second but for different occasions. I find the Grados most handy for high-volume get-down sessions. Those tend to be shorter and rarer but definitely part and parcel of the complete program. Neither ballsiest, grandest of staging, most exciting and flashiest nor most resolved or linear, the Raffinato to me is the most sophisticated player in my four-square collection; the female cellist in an otherwise male string quartet. Considering my own audiophile evolution and the various aspects I've explored so far, I would predict greater—or easier—popularity for the Grados and Sennheisers. To my way of thinking, the special appeal of the Japanese proposes itself most often later when enthusiasm with louder extravagance, unbridled vitality and fireworks has made room for a gentler insistence on the beauteous and poetic dimensions of the art of listening.

Quality of packing: Supreme.
Reusability of packing: Indefinitely.
Condition of component received: Flawless.
Completeness of delivery: Perfect.
Wear comfort: 100%.
Website comments: Multi-layered, it reflects a diversified operation with a deep portfolio but information is complete and nicely presented once the final destination is reached..
Human interactions: None, the review pair was purchased outright.
Pricing: Less costly than the Grado PS-1000 and Sennheiser HD800 but of true reference caliber. Worth its weight in solid ebony.
Final comments & suggestions: None, this is a completely 'dialed' product.
audio-technica website