Denon's AH-D5000 headphones were previously our favourite pair of cans since the Sennheiser HD 650s. Now they've got an official successor in the form of the Denon AH-D7000s.
These £800 monsters were, for us, the most exciting headphones of the year, and after over a month of testing and daily listening, we're ready to sing their praises. They're on sale now.
Design
The D7000s give an even higher level of luxury than their D5000 brothers -- if that's possible -- with glossy varnished mahogany enclosures, golden lettering than doesn't wear off over time, and larger, softer leather earcups. They're also a little more snug than the last version, clinging to the head better.
Although unchanged internally, cabling has been improved. The D7000's Elastomer cable is less prone to tangling and more resistant to being repeatedly packed away and unpacked. Good news, because our in-house D5000 cabling is looking battered these days.
Of course one of the main selling points of the D5000s was the use of real wood to house the drivers. This appears largely unchanged here -- they exhibit the same natural warmth that the wood provided in the previous model.
What hasn't changed much to look at is the padded leather headband, which still extends delicately on ball bearings. We found them extremely comfortable, with looser clasp to the skull than the HD 650s, but more so than the D5000s. They're one of the most comfortable pairs of headphones we've ever used for hours of perpetual listening, beating the Audio Technica, Sennheiser and Beyerdynamic models we've become so fond of over the years.
Features
Inside these lightweight enclosures are microfibre diaphragms, and behind them a 50mm Neodymium magnet. Denon claims the D7000s feature more powerful circuitry than before, enhancing the magnetic power of the drive unit by just over 10 per cent.
Many other specifications remain largely unchanged. The cans can handle a 1,800mW maximum input, respond to frequencies between 5Hz-45kHz, feature 3m of 7N-OFC cabling, and offer a very low impedance of 25ohms. But they have a slightly increased sensitivity of 108dB/mW, however, compared to the D5000's 106dB/mW, helping to yield a marginally louder output.
What's interesting about these headphones is their impedance, or the amount of power required by an amplifier to drive them. Such a low impedance means they're more easily handled by portable players such as iPods, whereas more power-hungry cans really should be used with a headphone amplifier of some kind.
Performance
As such, we've tested these headphones with our usual reference amplifier (coincidentally also a Denon), and a hand-built Woo Audio 2 valve-based headphone amp -- which, actually, is typically more suitable for higher impedance headphones. Our musical choices came from both CD and Apple Lossless-encoded files from an iPod classic, via an Arcam rDock.
The first thing we noticed was the tighter, slightly less boomy bass. These cans have a hugely extended low-end response, and to accompany it is an even more transparent, open and detailed treble. A hi-hat rudiment during Ingrid Michaelson's Starting Now was just that bit clearer through the D7000s -- just that little bit more detailed and more believable.
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paulchiu 11 January 2009
Good: It's like a pair of Mordaunt Short speakers velcro to my Head
Bad: ear pads will generate heat after long sessions
Comment: After about 2 days of burn in with a system consisting of an Apple Macbook Pro, Headroom Max Amp, and enough Apple lossless tracks to continuously play for weeks, I listened first to Bach's Toccata & Fugue on Telarc CD performed by Michael Murray.
Outside of some serious free standing subs and audiophile speakers, the presentation of the AH-D7000 was tight and did physically vibrate my shoulders and send shivers down to my stomach on non deafening volume during the 40hz portion. I have held how Stax Sigma, Sennheiser HD650 and Shure SE530 handle this note, and the Denon did it with the least distortion and closest resemblence to quality subs.
The mids, as when auditioned with Jazz at the Pawnshop on Proprius - Audiosource CD was nearly what I expected from a great British speaker, like from Mordaunt Short. The complexity of the smoky bar was simplified for me to the point that I nearly forgot that the cans were there or that I was listening to a recording.
I felt at this point to stop, as I was getting a little jaded and remember that first impressions maybe wrong.
Burn in for another 2 days.
I figured let's do some Sir Mix-a-Lot.
Well, the butt thumping in the beginning of Baby Got Back was so realistic, I actually had ass on my face, which is yeah!
Next, more vocals with Diana Krall, Pink Martini, and then piano by Ashkenazy and Dick Hyman.
Finally, a non stop 3 hours session covering MFSL Gold CDs of Pink Floyd, Moody Blues, Roxy Music, and LPs of lez Zeppelin, Van Morrison, and others.
The AH-D7000 performed everything smoothly and I heard many new things for the first time. This, from recordings I have listened to dozens of times over many years.
In terms of comfort. The AH-D7000, while comfortable, I cannot claim that the Denon AH-D7000 will disappeared after putting them on as they are big and you'll know they're there. But you will want to put them on, as the experience is so unique for a pair of headphones. The sonics will win you over.
Now, the bad things.
With the clarity rendered by the Denon AH-D7000, you will hear weakness from your system. For me, it was the noisy Macbook Pro's analog outputs and the sloppy handling of instruments in certain symphonic CDs. The Denon AH-D7000 will reveal all the breathing mistakes, audience noise, and engineering lapses of any recording, so you may have to get better ones for the ultimate listening experience.
Lastly, listened to everyday low fi stuff like TV and video, and gaming sources. Here, I cannot recommend the 7000 as the truth hurts. Get less revealing phones instead.
The Denon AH-D7000, the best headphones I have used to date.
Paul
1/10/2009
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