Audio-Technica ATH-W10VTG – Over-ear Mania

The W10VTG was the first Audio-Technica wooden headphone, released in 1996. It features cherrywood cups, with a superb sanguine color. I could not find information on the production but apparently it was limited to 3000 units, though it’s not a rare model like the W11R or the more famous “leatherhead” ATH-L3000.
The comfort is quite good and I can get a better seal than many other Audio-Technica headphones, because the cups are angled inward (towards my jaw). Very easy to drive.

○ Release : 1996
○ Current status : Discontinued
○ Type : Over-ear / Closed-back
○ Measured weight : 380g
○ Impedance : 48 Ohms
○ Sensitivity : 100 dB/mW
○ Average used price : $300-400

Sound Impression
The W10VTG is a warmish sounding headphone, with traditional “AT” midrange weirdness. Bass is elevated, mostly in the midbass region (70-120hz), but lacks extension. Bass it a bit too one-note sounding. Midrange is warm and peaky in the same time. I hear a strong peak around 3-4 khz giving forwardness to vocals, just like I can hear it on the AD2000 and (but less) on the W1000X. For comparison, the A900X is much smoother here.

Treble sounds certainly dipped around 5-8khz, with a moderately strong mid-treble peak, and mild lack of air past 10khz (just like most A-T I have heard so far). The treble peak is no Beyer peak, but it can sounds a bit sharp at times.

With stock pads (and W1000X pads), it sounds a bit closed-in, lacking clarity and staging width. With W5000 pads, sound signature is not changed a lot, bass boominess a bit reduced and improved openness. I find the dynamics a bit compressed, similarly to the A900X. Resolution is only decent. Sadly, I could not find any measurements of this rare headphone. Imagine an A900W with much more (6-8 dB) upper-mids around 3-4 khz and you are pretty close.

Measurements & Resources
https://www.audio-technica.co.jp/atj/products/hp/ath-w10vtg.html