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Sennheiser Owners & Discussion Thread


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They excel with a Phonitor SPL 2 and also Sennheiser's dedicated amps. They are very transparent and judgemental on the upstream.

agree best I heard the 800 was with its matching dac/amp.

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not sure I tried the hd800 myself with 4 different amps. tube to SS to hybrid to pure class A . definitely I think it works best with the senn dac/amps for pairing. but preferred the older hd580s/600 myself and finding the hd700 more to my taste again. in end sold the lot and sticking with the grado/tube amp combo as most love its sound. still I do think the hd800 is a top line headphone. but just its style of sound maybe that people can perhaps live with. well not everyone. but have no doubt for quite a few will be just the thing. 

 

just seems so many being turned over though, which I still think is very unusual for such a top line item. that said am sure individual owners will have their own reasons to keep or sell :)

Incorrect in saying they pair best with the sennheiser dac amp.

In fact the sennheiser dac is pretty ordinary, the amp is above average.

I would recommend you to try it with a decent standalone dac and one of the tier 1 amps, then only then make your judgement.

The hd800 is capable if great things but you need to give it good equipment to reach there.

Would you buy Wilson puppies and use a rega turntable or a schiit audio dac with it? No right as they deserve finer equipment.

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Incorrect in saying they pair best with the sennheiser dac amp.

In fact the sennheiser dac is pretty ordinary, the amp is above average.

I would recommend you to try it with a decent standalone dac and one of the tier 1 amps, then only then make your judgement.

The hd800 is capable if great things but you need to give it good equipment to reach there.

Would you buy Wilson puppies and use a rega turntable or a schiit audio dac with it? No right as they deserve finer equipment.

Please allow me to agree with @al,

I've heard the HD800 through a number of amps at Jaben Audio in Melb, A2A, Tivoli HIFI. at most of these places the Phonitor SPL II drove them with an audiophile recording that excel any I've heard. It was thst impressive that it delivered you there. With every other combo it just didn't agree with me with a wow factor. The next I picked up the HD800 was at the 2013 Melb HIFI show when Sennheiser had there stand. Somehow this combo jell well together to my ears, possibly not as good as a Phonitor SPL II but it was very good.

The cost Is what brings this set down, there are other sets that will get you there and sounds good with any upstream component. Alternative in cost is a entry level Stax but they lack bottom end impact.

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That's a good thing because there is a bunch of shilling at head-fi. That's the only way to keep revenue going through sponsors and ads so Jude can afford to run the site. If you go against there FOTM products expect a warning or a ban.

 

That said the HD800 is ruthlessly revealing, amplification is more important then source with the HD800's, they are finicky little bastards. 

 

Or you can do the anax rabid dogs mod to tame the treble.

Agreed - for me the most important item in the chain was the Metrum Aurix - it plays nicely with both my X5 line out and either the HEX or Octave MKII

 

Don't need the Anax Rabid Dogs mod but I have to admit I have on occasion downloaded various templates to mod them - not since getting the upstream components right however

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That's a good thing because there is a bunch of shilling at head-fi. That's the only way to keep revenue going through sponsors and ads so Jude can afford to run the site. If you go against there FOTM products expect a warning or a ban.

 

That said the HD800 is ruthlessly revealing, amplification is more important then source with the HD800's, they are finicky little bastards. 

 

Or you can do the anax rabid dogs mod to tame the treble.

And yes Head-Fi can be pretty ruthless to anyone who goes against the grain or speaks out against the FOTM - Have had a few of their 'fave's' and quickly 'flipped' them :-)

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Guest yamaha_man

Would you buy Wilson puppies and use a rega turntable or a schiit audio dac with it? No right as they deserve finer equipment.

I was running Wilson WATT/Puppy 6.0 and my source was a PS3, I loved it but found each time I uograded my system they kept on sounding better and better, I spent my entire budget on my speakers and it was the best thing I ever did. So my answer is yes, yes I would.

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I was running Wilson WATT/Puppy 6.0 and my source was a PS3, I loved it but found each time I uograded my system they kept on sounding better and better, I spent my entire budget on my speakers and it was the best thing I ever did. So my answer is yes, yes I would.

Well that's an approach you took, and glad it worked for you. But I'am not talking about a journey to a Wilson headed system. If you know what I mean.

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Guest yamaha_man

Well that's an approach you took, and glad it worked for you. But I'am not talking about a journey to a Wilson headed system. If you know what I mean.

Well I wouldn't have made reference to it only you asked the question.

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The Metrum DACs sound very nice but arent in the league of the HD800.  The HD800 are so transparent that the better the source, amp and cable the more they give. Thats how its is with  "A" class gear. Any bottleneck will degrade the sound.

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The Metrum DACs sound very nice but arent in the league of the HD800.  The HD800 are so transparent that the better the source, amp and cable the more they give. Thats how its is with  "A" class gear. Any bottleneck will degrade the sound.

Not my experience at all and I have tried some very nice Dacs, - I chose both the Octave and the HEX to specifically be a source for the HD800 - The HEX is "A" class gear without any doubt and is backed up by a great many respected reviewers saying exactly that.

 

Metrum Dac's are also very dependent on source - much more than anything I have ever tried - if I used the standard RCA digital in with most of my sources I would be tempted to agree with you but using the USB implementation and Audirvana + the sound is just breathtaking.

 

Perhaps more accurately you prefer a different sound signature because after a certain level of 'transparency' it comes down to preference rather than one being 'better' than the other surely?

Edited by Beyer guy
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The problem with the Wilson analogy is you dont need to spend more than the cost of the speakers on the amp, as some of the headphone amps that are considered "suitable" for the HD800 cost more than the phones.

 

Anyway, good work Al at driving down prices - particularly the fake's line. Just picked up a HD800 cheaper than the last one I sold.

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The problem with the Wilson analogy is you dont need to spend more than the cost of the speakers on the amp, as some of the headphone amps that are considered "suitable" for the HD800 cost more than the phones.

 

Anyway, good work Al at driving down prices - particularly the fake's line. Just picked up a HD800 cheaper than the last one I sold.

 

not sure price comparisons for gear ever works. tend to be a lot of pearls out there that dont cost the earth. more a case of finding the perfect match for yourself I think.

 

 

haha not sure I have done anything with price ! , consider what I paid rrp, which was all could buy at when they were available only from sennheiser, $1999 yep ! have come down in price a lot since even in rrp.

 

re the fake thing. thats easy to protect from, just matter of asking for a receipt which is what I tend to do for something relatively new, would give some sense of confidence of what your buying :)

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just seems so many being bought and sold here ! for a flagship headphone ! thats quite expensive just wouldn't expect it myself.

 

They're quite expensive.     People deciding there is no longer that much value in their investment?   Money could be better spent elsewhere?

 

I must say, in my short audition of them, I didn't think they were worth the (significant) extra bucks.

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quite possibly…king for a day..and soon yesterdays hero ! :D

 

They're quite expensive.     People deciding there is no longer that much value in their investment?   Money could be better spent elsewhere?

 

I must say, in my short audition of them, I didn't think they were worth the (significant) extra bucks.

HD800 are not the only headphones that i question the price/value equation - pretty much anything over $1000 would go into that category for me, they all have different characteristics and bar the uber expensive none particularly sounds substantially better to my ears - just different and I have tried/owned a fair few. Problem is when/if you audition them you tend to audition them on the same amp (I did) and headphones sound sooooo different on different amps it's not a fair audition. Even the right $350 pair of headphones sounds stunning through the right amp (thinking the HD600 and AKG Q701 here - the AKG Q701 particularly goes into another league when you get the synergy right)

 

I think by this stage with the technology available there aren't many real 'sonic' breakthroughs here - just playing around the edges with the sound to market similar technology with a different price ticket and casing. Got sucked in with the HE500 to HE560 upgrade on this point - thought it would be a better sounding product (newer) but actually preferred the HE500 by some margin (which I plan on keeping and having buried with me)

 

 

Call me nuts but I've decided to save some raw materials/oil and magic fairy dust and .......sigh.....be happy with a $1500 pair of headphones that just sound stunning until they actually........wear out...........goes against the grain for me as I tend to sell stuff before it shows sign of....shudder.....wear, effecting the second hand value.....if they end up being worth $300 i'll just buy another pair :-)

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Everything sounds ok until you try some ESL headphones. 

I have a feeling I would agree with you on this as their characteristics sound to be right up my street. I just (finally) made a choice to be happy with the headphones/rig I have got as otherwise it becomes an endless quest - my headphone setup has a retail value of $8400 approx (hf/dac/amp) - that's now my 'end game' :-)

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End game can't be determined by price, if it sounds good enough to the point you stop upgrading regardless of new stuff. That's end game. My whole setup has a MSRP of over $20k (obviously less for the prices I paid). That's excluding my speaker setup. 

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End game can't be determined by price, if it sounds good enough to the point you stop upgrading regardless of new stuff. That's end game. My whole setup has a MSRP of over $20k (obviously less for the prices I paid). That's excluding my speaker setup. 

Absolutely - but I think that's a conscious choice where you say 'i'm not going to get tempted by anything else' regardless of what it sounds like - otherwise for many (including me to a point) there is then never an end game, there's theoretically always something better that would (no doubt) give you that percentage point more clarity/definition/emotional attachment - i'm sure there are people out there who have tried stax and still aren't at the end of their journey......so yep the comment 'sounds good enough' is a great one - my rig sounds great but I know that I could better it with a SRM009 :-) - I can (now) live with that......

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then you enter a different league.....

 

curiously for me ESL headphones were about mid journey so far...which following some mis adventures with Stax headphones had me swing tact back to dynamic headphones.

 

having gone through many phones, and iterations of systems driving them over the years, I feel finally reached that point that I just listen and go wow not sure can get better. a chance meeting...a match made in heaven...and so the story goes...  :love

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curiously for me ESL headphones were about mid journey so far...which following some mis adventures with Stax headphones had me swing tact back to dynamic headphones.

 

having gone through many phones, and iterations of systems driving them over the years, I feel finally reached that point that I just listen and go wow not sure can get better. a chance meeting...a match made in heaven...and so the story goes...  :love

Purely as a matter of interest what is your current combo?

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