Sony CD3000 impressions

[HeadphoneAddict]

As stated above, the WA6 would be nice depending on the tubes, and I found an Amperex Bugle Boy GZ34 in my WA6 made Blutarsky's CD3000 sound better than with his ZD which sounded more SS and colder to me with the CD3000 (but the ZD was tuned perfect with HD650). Based on that, I'm guessing the Cavalli CTH or Head-direct EF1 with a Mullard 12AU7 would do the trick as well.

[blessingx]

The CD3Ks sounded amazing out of the Luxman P1. I go back and forth if I prefer the warmth of the Extreme Plat or clarity of the GS1 with them. Padam which source are you using?

[The Monkey]

Oooh, I could see the Luxman being a nice pairing.

[boomana]

Good find. Congrats. Some of the best pairings I have heard with the CD3000 have been with the Woo Audio amps. Not sure if the WA3+ or WA6 satisfy the "budget" criterion for you, but I've liked the CD3000 out of the amps every time I've heard them.

I second the Woo recommendation. I listened to the CD3000 with the Woo6 at CanJam, and liked it quite a bit.

[padam]

Thanks for all your comments.

blessingx: I don't have any amp at the moment and the Pico line-out isn't good either so you wouldn't want to know but I can tell it is better than the Realtek onboard I might change my source (the Pico) as well, depending on things.

Luxman P-200 maybe?

[penger]

I heard the P200 only briefly, but if I had to describe it in one word, it would be polite. I don't recall it as being "warm". Anyone who has had more time with it, please correct me if that's incorrect.

[digger945]

In the short time I've had mine, they have proven to respond quite well to both amp and source changes. The foam that covers the driver grill had deteriorated pretty bad and pieces had fallen through the grill and were buzzing during deep bass passages, but some careful work with tweezers has revealed a phone capable of some pretty funky soundstaging.

I like 'em.

[blessingx]

I haven't spent enough time with the P-200 to know, but for those that have seem to indicate it's sound isn't necessarily related to the P-1, so I wouldn't automatically associate.

The Pico is a pretty good source, but as it doesn't err on the warm side, if you replace it you can choose where to add your warmth. As the CD3K is so easy to power I wonder if source might be your best bet. The CD3K hasn't been my main cans for awhile so I haven't pushed them. In fact their lack of requirements are where they've found use for me (Pico DAC/amp or even straight from the iPhone).

Back when Sony was making them it seemed like everyone was powering them with Singlepowers. Probably some nice tube combos with the PPX, MPX3, Extreme, etc. Although I never had the WA6 and CD3K the same time, I could see the Woo with the right rectifier moving the midrange nicely forward and keeping the top from being too bright (why I sold my first two pairs). And I suspect HeadphoneAddict may be on to something with the Cavalli. Although I wouldn't call it warm, and it's obviously not a tube choice, I wonder about the FET-A too, as it would seem to have a complimentary signature. Voltron may be able to pipe in on that as he has/had both.

[Voltron]

I love the CD3000 with the P1 and the Woo 5/6. It also sounded great with my old MPX3. I am not super familiar with the P200 but I was not impressed from a quick listen and others have even said it seems flimsy (compared to the P1 an Abrams tank might seem flimsy though). Anyway, I could try it with the FET-A because I don't have any recollection of pairing them. I really like that amp and had the same thought before Ric mentioned it because of your desire for a budget amp. I'll let you know.

[padam]

Thanks again.

I already like them a lot so I am planning to use them as my main phone.

What about another type of Cavalli amp, the SOHA II (just found one FS in the UK), anyone heard it?

[IceClass]

My CD3Ks sound substantially better out of the Woo2 than out of my PPx3.

[swt61]

I liked mine from the Darkvoice 336i, especially with a Tung-Sol tube Fitz sold me.

[deepak]

Surprised so many veteran posters like the CD3000 \

Being 100% honest they were one of the worst hifi purchases I've made, fortunately they were easy to sell. They are interesting in that no other headphone sounds like them.

I have heard them at meets out of the Woo Audio as well.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, I dig 'em too.

Though I don't know if I'd want to warm them up -- not to say that they're already warm, they aren't, I'd just want to complement their strengths which are frequency extension and detail (modded X-CanV2 did the trick alright). But if that's what you want, then go for it. Haven't listened to them out of any of my tube amps recently, will give them a try later.

[The Monkey]

Surprised so many veteran posters like the CD3000 \

Being 100% honest they were one of the worst hifi purchases I've made, fortunately they were easy to sell. They are interesting in that no other headphone sounds like them.

I have heard them at meets out of the Woo Audio as well.

deepak, out of the Woo amps, what did you think were the weaknesses?

[deepak]

deepak, out of the Woo amps, what did you think were the weaknesses?

I believe same as my initial impressions in the first post. Maybe some more body to the sound, which is a very big benefit. It has been a long time though, IIRC it was the last NY meet that you and I were at.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I liked mine from the Darkvoice 336i, especially with a Tung-Sol tube Fitz sold me.

When I tried the CD3000 with the 336i I had a Sylvania VT-231 in front and Tung Sol 5998 in the rear, which was great for my HD600 but it was too bright and nasal sounding with the CD3000.

I suspect that my RCA or Hytron brown-base 5692 paired with the Tung Sol might have been a better match for the CD3000, as that combo helped tame the highs in my Grado RS-1 and gave them a fuller sound when using bowls for their bigger soundstage (bowls make RS-1 brighter and thinner sounding, and the 5692 helped with that).

I still think the WA6 with an Amperex GZ34 rectifier would be a better choice than the 336i. An M^3 with bass boost might also be good with CD3000 since it was good with W5000.

[AmanGeorge]

Love these cans. Incredibly colored midrange (maybe the most colored I've heard...) but colored in a way that is very musical depending on what you're listening to. Also reasonably aggressive and forward with a very nice and large soundstage for a closed can. The main problem with them is brightness with the wrong setup - to the extent that you can find an amp that smooths out (and maybe even rolls off) the highs, you'll be happy with them. I think that my recabled pair is more detailed (or at least more obviously detailed) than my K701.

[Voltron]

Listening out of the TTVJ FET-A for the last hour and it is a very pleasing combo. I have been listening straight out of a Squeezebox (crappy streaming Rhapsody) and also from an iMod so not the highest fidelity, but certainly enough to get a sense of the combo. I quite like the way the cans sound from this amp, especially with the iMod. The FET-A gives them some good body but it is a nicely clean, detailed amp so you aren't losing out on some of their strengths. The bass is nice and the highs are extended but not harsh.

The MoFi Cowboy Junkies is playing now and it sounds great so I'm going to let it ride while I do some work. Nice enough combo that I am going to leave this setup in place for awhile.

[blessingx]

i really loved the CD3000s when they were the first expensive cans i owned. i ended up loathing them.

Some of us went the opposite direction. Early on when they were my only decent cans their issues quickly got on my nerves (bought and sold twice). Now that they're not, I can accept them on their own terms (as necessary with a lot of cans) and may never sell my current pair.

[luvdunhill]

Listening out of the TTVJ FET-A for the last hour and it is a very pleasing combo.

has anyone ever peeked inside the FET-A?

[penger]

I remember someone mentioned Todd was supposed to post pictures of the insides around the time of release. If he did, I haven't seen them posted.