The Sennheiser HD 800: The First Listen, The First Review - Page 28

My bad. I hit the button 2 times it was slow, and it posted 2 times

Those $50 headphones may actually have had a frequency response of 8-25K, but they may also have been down -60db at both extremes and -30db at 200 and 2K. Deceptive advertising true enough, but many respected names in audio still resort to it. Unless the variation is stated, as Sennheiser has done here, frequency response means next to nothing.

"Hand made" or not it simply depends on the speed at which they are created. A lot of stuff is hand made or at least hand assembled and doesnt carry a gigantic premium. And again Sennheiser is a very popular name with a boat load of dealers. Ultrasone they are not. You act like they'll be making 50 a month or something. Im confident you'll see ample supply and a very swift price drop. There simply isnt that many people who are going to spend 1400 bucks on a Sennheiser headphone. Thats made even more obvious by how many people were turned off by the price in this very thread. At that price their market will dry up faster than water in the desert.

firstly, a Veyron doesn't cost a mere 1400, and secondly, considering they are aiming these at audiophiles, it would be wise to appease a person whose opinions are worth gold among that said circle. So no, he's not just a customer like the rest of us.

Wow.

As others have said, at $1400, they're really not a replacement for the 650s anymore than the Orpheus would be. It's really a new line. I'm sure I can be happy with my 650s until they scratch a "1" off of that "$1400!"

I actually feel like I get more bass extension out of my Etys than I can comprehend. I love my Senns, but in terms of a quality sonic spectrum, etys reign supreme...in my limited world anyway!

The HD800's spectro-graphy thing looks a lot like the Etys to me!! Flat, consistent, extended and accurate!

On a pair of dynamic Senns perhaps

Seriously though, I think a lot more people will buy them at over a grand than everybody thinks.

Too rich for my blood, but hope they are as good as the initial impressions indicate.

At least there won't 10,00 threads with titles something like this:

"Noob with $1500 budget needs first time purchase advice", etc...

I couldn't disagree more. He is clearly a customer like everyone else. He just happens to run a headphone forum. Also, no his opinion is not worth gold to me personally and his opinion won't have any effect on HD800 sales. It's a Sennheiser flagship. They won't need to hand them out for free because they will sell themselves.

I hope they will come down a bit after a few months too. Hopefully to $850.- 1100.-i think that is probably more realistic but guess we will all just have to wait and see. The Zana Deux i am waiting for broke the bank for a bit anyway.

What do you mean "on a Sennheiser headphone"? There are plenty of people willing to spend $1400 on headphones period, let alone one made by Sennheiser. Are you familiar with the HE60 and HE90? What about the majority of current and out of production former flagships. R10, HP2, PS1, L3000, OIIMKI, ED7, ED9, Qualia, and the list goes on and on. All sell used for over $1400 and most sell for $2000+. People were only turned off by the price here because they were expecting something a little more in line with 580/600/650 pricing.

There ain't going to be a swift price drop on this one. Sorry. Sennheiser will just pull back on production if the demand isn't there. They aren't going to flood the market with these like an HD600/650.

Tell you what. Meet me back here in six months and we'll see who gets the first slice of pie.

I think the MSRP is surprising because with the exception of Senn's electrostatics, they're not 'expensive' headphones... compared to say, GS1000, or D7000, etc. Lets face it, HD650s are a very good bang for your buck can. I think everybody was expecting the same thing out of a new Sennheiser dynamic.

Unfortunately, not every headphone can be an incredible value.

Concur, these are a different animal

By the way you can preorder these on Amazon at msrp. Yikes!

No 1,400 headphone will sell well. Only headphone fanatics and people who can afford a luxury like the 800. 99.9 of the population won't buy a 1,400 headphone. Most think 200 is too much. 6-8 hundred would have been reasonable. If Sennheiser wants these phones to be the succeesors to the 650, they will need to mass marketed at a price point that people are ok with..I'm sure the 800s are worth the asking price, but doesn't change the fact they are still over a grand. Yes, I buy when they are under a grand. On a side note, If the transients are faster then the 48s I'd be very impressed.

Eww $1400!