My First Look at the Sennheiser HD800

[M3NTAL]

Tyll, your comparison did not include the Qualia 010, do you have any comments on that?

Thanks - and Pre-Ordered

[manaox2]

Originally Posted by kelvinz

Wow I'm floored by your impressions very tempted to cancel my D7000 order from J&R and order the HD800.

Honestly the only reason why I'm on the fence is that historically Sennheiser MSRP has been dramatically different than their street prices. As you said money is king at the moment and I'd be angry if I purchased a full MSRP only to find the street price to be 30% less a month later

Honestly, I would expect since these are handmade, they are not going to have the supply overload the demand for a while even at these prices. Sennheiser only makes deals with authorized sellers who are required to stick by MSRP they set. Its not going to be less then a month for certain.

I also suspect the lower end HD680 that fills in that nice big price gap they just created to come out in a year after demand settles down so that the two don't compete. MSRP is going to stay at the top of these for a while, these may go the way of the SA5000 when discontinued.

[FritzS]

Originally Posted by kelvinz

Wow I'm floored by your impressions very tempted to cancel my D7000 order from J&R and order the HD800.
Honestly the only reason why I'm on the fence is that historically Sennheiser MSRP has been dramatically different than their street prices. As you said money is king at the moment and I'd be angry if I purchased a full MSRP only to find the street price to be 30% less a month later

I have a D7000 here for testing (Denon Austria loans me one for 3 weeks for testing, my great thanks to Denon Austria!).

I am very insecure what shall I do, buy the D7000 (I need a second but closed headphone) or wait for the HD800 or a new headphone from AKG.

I past time AKG Austria (Vienna) had loan me some test samples from her headphones too - my great thanks too.

I hope Sennheiser is generous too!?

[The Monkey]

Tyll, where does the 800 rank on the euphony scale?

[mypasswordis]

Wow, both Jude and Tyll think this is just the bee's knees. I've got to have a listen myself, sometime. In the end, I don't care if the headphones look like cow dung and have diaphragms made out of cheese if they apparently sound this close to perfection. Unless the cheese diaphragms started growing mold and became a nest for bug larvae.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I just ordered a pair of HE Audio JADE electrostatics on 12/31/08, which ship in about 2 weeks. Now I have to go out and order these too. Damnation I'm so retarded I'm gonna dew eet!

[Sherwood]

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict

I'm gonna dew eet!

YAY! Go, Larry, go! Also, invite me! I'll bring the Electrocompaniet!

[donunus]

My plans to make my hd600 sound great with different amps have died down. I'm getting these suckers instead. Now gotta find some money. They should be great already out of my glite and tube dac I guess er I hope...

[Tyll Hertsens]

Originally Posted by manaox2

I also suspect the lower end HD680 that fills in that nice big price gap they just created to come out in a year after demand settles down so that the two don't compete

The HD680 is total dis-information baloney. Ask Jude. You guys are so easy!

[Voltron]

Thanks for the review details Tyll! With all this talk about Brothers In Arms, did you play any Dire Straights or other rock or just smarmy audiophile tunes? I would think this design would be sweet with some fast rockin' tunes.

[tintin47]

Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens

They're the best headphones I've ever heard.

Mention a flaw of any other over $1000 headphone---GS1000 too tipped up at both ends; Denon D-7000 a bit too much bass; AKG K1000 to hard to drive and poor extension; Sony R10 just bit too loose sounding; Stax Omega poor bass and dynamics; etc---and get rid of the problem. That's the HD800.

Sorry, but yes, even in only 20 minutes of listening, they're that good.

Heck I got a 30-day satisfaction guarantee, take me up on it, you won't be sorry .... if you really can afford them.

edit --- Oh! I was listening to my iRiver iHP140 with my reference wav file collection through my very own hot-rodded Portable Desktop Amp---a system I am immanently familiar with.

Don't go buying them if you can't afford the though, dahmik! Now is not the time to be a fool with your money, and I don't want a bunch of refunds and b-stock 800s.

But if you've got the dough and a good headphone amp, rock on, they're terrific.

Wow. I am not in the market for phones in that price range, but endorsements like this are making me consider stopping all audio spending until I can afford them.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Tyll, read my PM already!

[Wmcmanus]

Originally Posted by Tyll Hertsens

And you're perfectly aware of the fact that I have no problem "taking up arms" with folks---even Jude---but methinks he and I are lock-step, arm-in-arm on this one.

PS -- We're going to see Diana Ross!!! on Monster Cable's dime tomorrow night, Jude and I, and I expect we're gong to have a rollickingly good time. Hyeah, nyeah nyeah, nyeah, nyeah.

She's still hot, IMO. Enjoy the show!

[HeadphoneAddict]

Pre-order completed!

Sherwood, I'll let you know when they arrive, and you can mooch off me and have a listen...

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by donunus

My plans to make my hd600 sound great with different amps have died down. I'm getting these suckers instead. Now gotta find some money. They should be great already out of my glite and tube dac I guess er I hope...

Don't know how I missed this. You might actually have a better idea here than trying to upgrade to a balanced HD600 rig.