It’s funny because every time I move to the W5000 from the W3000ANV, I immediately am rewarded with a bigger sound. However after a few minutes I would feel the fuzziness of the W5000 sinks in and I would want to get back to the W3000ANV’s smaller but significantly clearer sound. Also, the W3000ANV many times has succeeded in getting me lost in the music, whereas the W5000’s limitations keep on reminding me that I’m listening to the W5000.
Furthermore, the W5000 doesn’t have the genre bandwith of the W3000ANV, not only due to the bass body, but also somehow the more refined and less engaging overall presentation lacks attack and PRaT for many modern music. I had a listen to Queen on the W5000 and I think it did a good job, but I really wouldn’t use it for modern Rock. While Audio Technica’s audiophile line up aren’t quite known for their PRaT, but in the case of the W3000ANV, it still pulls a decent enough PRaT for the faster paced modern pop/rock music.
I think what’s happening here is the case of a newer technology (W3000ANV) taking over the older but a higher end product (W5000). The reality is that the W3000ANV’s superior soundstage, timbre, and clarity is a testament of the improvement in technology that the Audio Technica engineers have acquired throughout the years, and they were able to implement those technology advancements in a new headphone with a lower model number than the flagship model. It certainly would be interesting if they decide to update the W5000 with a new flagship (they may even be working on one at the moment).
Audio Technica headphones have mostly been polarizing in my experience. Excelling in some aspect but usually a little weak in genre bandwith. However, the W3000ANV may be the most fun and musical Audio Technica headphone I’ve listened to, up there with the lowly ESW-9 headphone. Obviously the ESW-9 doesn’t have the refinement and technicalities to compete with the big cans, hence the W3000ANV may be one of the best Audio Technica headphone currently produced, combining the refinement of full size Audio Technica and a highly musical sound.