Has anybody here auditioned the Sennheiser HD800?

[bhanja_trinanjan]

Impressions please!

 

[bhanja_trinanjan]

Nobody?

 

[spirovious]

I have HD202 not the highend.

 

[sachi]

i have heard it..with a TTVJ 307A

 

[bhanja_trinanjan]

Describe your experience...

i have heard it..with a TTVJ 307A

w w!

How was the experience? I have had my crosshair on it for a while, I am pitying my wallet before I pull the trigger!

 

[sachi]

Re: Describe your experience...

w w!

How was the experience? I have had my crosshair on it for a while, I am pitying my wallet before I pull the trigger!

Its a very nice headphone. Don't think i'd ever buy it for the asking price, for that matter even at 1000$ probably not. Bear in mind i only got half an hour on it, so maybe they are the kind that grow on you with time.

Then again my impressions aren't gonna mean much to you probably, cause i don't like the AKG K701 much either.

 

[bhanja_trinanjan]

Re: Describe your experience...

Its a very nice headphone. Don't think i'd ever buy it for the asking price, for that matter even at 1000$ probably not. Bear in mind i only got half an hour on it, so maybe they are the kind that grow on you with time.

Then again my impressions aren't gonna mean much to you probably, cause i don't like the AKG K701 much either.

The K701 is a mix of things excellent, good and average. It does have a lot of nice traits when fed with a beefy SS/Hybrid amp.... however, I am looking for absolute perfection....

What kind of music do you listen to? Does it include western classical? What did you dislike about the K701?

Have you ever heard the K1000?

Did you find anything particularly incorrect about the HD800... tonlality wise?

 

[sachi]

Re: Describe your experience...

The K701 is a mix of things excellent, good and average. It does have a lot of nice traits when fed with a beefy SS/Hybrid amp.... however, I am looking for absolute perfection....

What kind of music do you listen to? Does it include western classical? What did you dislike about the K701?

Have you ever heard the K1000?

Did you find anything particularly incorrect about the HD800... tonlality wise?

yes, i listen to western classical..a whole range of genres..right now exploring indie rock music mostly with some breakbeat.

Yes, I've heard the K1000, owned it for a while.

With respect to the HD800..it didn't have any glaring mistakes other than the price
My orthos will best it in a lot of areas though, mainly bass, midbass and midrange. Sound staging the HD80 does really well however. But that isn't too important for me.

The K701 has always seemed like a dull and boring headphone to my ears. and i've heard it with some of the best Hybrid amps out there.

 

[sachi]

What I auditioned was a Senn HD-800 Balanced with Headroom Balanced Ultra amp.

Thanks for the insight. Was almost 6 months ago that i heard the HD800. Been wanting to listen to it again in my home system. I forget the source they were using in the TTVJ room at canjam earlier this year. It was their reference setup at the meet. I just wasn't blown away with the setup i guess.

Your friend would do well to upgrade his amp i would think. No offense to the headroom guys, Tyll's a ton of fun to hang around with. A balanced B22, EHHA or a headamp GSX ought to do the trick

 

[bhanja_trinanjan]

yes, i listen to western classical..a whole range of genres..right now exploring indie rock music mostly with some breakbeat.

Yes, I've heard the K1000, owned it for a while.

With respect to the HD800..it didn't have any glaring mistakes other than the price
My orthos will best it in a lot of areas though, mainly bass, midbass and midrange. Sound staging the HD80 does really well however. But that isn't too important for me.

The K701 has always seemed like a dull and boring headphone to my ears. and i've heard it with some of the best Hybrid amps out there.

:lol:

The K701 is harsh and sterile out of the box.... but they settle down after several hundreds of hours of pink noise and Freq sweeps.

Pink noise worked wonders for my K701 and they sound very nice now, but not perfect.

The stock K701 is definitely a wee bit 'dry' and 'bland' at times... and that is why I am closing in on the HD800. hyeah:

What I auditioned was a Senn HD-800 Balanced with Headroom Balanced Ultra amp. Its one of my friend's setup as he's a complete headbanger geek! I own a Senn HD-600 with the Cardas cabling mod) and some of the most important differences I found when I auditioned the HD-800 setup were:

1. The ebb & flow of every single musical nuance was so easy to follow through
2. Small, small louds & softs that every musician plays are so easily recognizable now that usually gets buried.
3. On western classical material, the separation of every instrument within the Orchestra is much more precise.
4. The original tone of instruments, esp very dynamic ones like sax, percussion are perfectly delineated now with not a trace of any harshness or sting.
5. On massed voices like a choir, you get this "hear every voice" capability.
6. The whole presentation is much airier like a high quality loudspeaker setup.
7. The 3-dimensionality is much more than other cans.

Note: This friend uses a state-of-the-art source setup that is the EMM Labs CDSA SE cdp which is hooked to the Headroom via balanced XLR and the headphones too being balanced, its a no-compromise setup.

:yahoo: I just can't wait to listen to them! I mailed Sennheiser, but they told me that the demo unit of the HD800 is in Mumbai... and I am here in Kolkata... :sad:

 

[bhanja_trinanjan]

As I've said earlier, this "can" friend of mine is a one!! He's approached:

1. Vladimir Shushurin - President & Chief designer of Lamm Audio Lab for addressing this HD-800 Bal and they are working on some 3 Watt Pure Class-A tube design based on one of the rare Russian types of tubes for him with balanced in/out.

2. Tim de Paravincini of Esoteric Audio Research for again some custom-made Pure Class-A Tube Headphone amplifier with Balanced in/out.

When I casually asked him as to how much (are you / will you) plan to spend on this, he claims he's cool with $7-8k :lol:

Where does he work? How old is he? How does he afford all this?

 

[bhanja_trinanjan]

He's 64 yrs old and an eminent Cardiologist. Earns enough to buy small toys like these......

Wanna get in touch with him.... gr8 to know that people with such busy, stressful lives get time for these things!

Does he frequent these forums? Head-fi?

 

[sachi]

As I've said earlier, this "can" friend of mine is a one!! He's approached:

1. Vladimir Shushurin - President & Chief designer of Lamm Audio Lab for addressing this HD-800 Bal and they are working on some 3 Watt Pure Class-A tube design based on one of the rare Russian types of tubes for him with balanced in/out.

2. Tim de Paravincini of Esoteric Audio Research for again some custom-made Pure Class-A Tube Headphone amplifier with Balanced in/out.

When I casually asked him as to how much (are you / will you) plan to spend on this, he claims he's cool with $7-8k :lol:

Right on!!..MY vote's for the crazy Russian one and also cause Lamm gear is just awesome!