Sennheiser HD800 v Grado GS1000i - Page 2

The FR of the 800 looks like the 650 with a little spike in the high, lol maybe is the famous high definition of the HD800.

Its still the matter of taste, cos HD800 seems to be on the neutral side, while GS1000 are naturally colored, but both demend their own set up, so up here they are quite the same...
I think we have to wait a little longer until more folks have them to compare, but also give them the time, cos thats what will answer all questions...

Why don't you compare the PS1000's and the HD800? That's what there going to be really compared to anyways...

If you were asking me.

I am not sure what to say, cos never tried any of the products you mentioned, so, its like sorry man..., but if you have any chance to audition first, please do, at least with the source, which can be crusual. You may post some thread on AMP section and ask that about Lehmann over there, cos I am almost sure someone have tried GS1000 with it. Have you consider other sources instead of Linn. I am not sure how much Linn goes for, but I tried Ayre CX7 new, upgreaded version and was very pleased, if not say more, simply great source, which will match with a lot of differ systems, imo. I tried it with my PrimaLuna and K1000 and I was very impressed. Also tried Naim 5 for comparison and it was no go at all. Sure thing, Naim was almost 2x less with price, but thats what I am trying to say, he just didnt matched at all, to my taste anyway and he cost EUR 2500 new up here, while Ayre EUR 4500 or something. So, trying different sources with the same speakers or headphones, but also amp, gives you the best impression you can get, at least very close one.

Looks like the HD800 may pull the longest straw here...

Plug it in into a Miniboxe-E+ with bass boost, lack of bass and thiness won't be the first thing that pops in your mind. Plenty of body and adequate bass. The bass is very detailed too. The ER4S will scale up quite a bit depending on upstream gear.

Hi

Re- Linn gear, I've just bought a set of GS1000i's after my friendly local Hifi dealer arranged a set of GS1000 for home dem for a few days. I used these with a Linn Ikemi and also sometimes routed through my AV5103 pre amp(from the Ikemi). I had a set of RS2's as well for comparison. I had also the Naim Headline on dem with various Naim power supplies(and some other Head Amps) from the also very helpfull local Naim dealer, this worked well with the Linn front end and I've ordered the Headline as well. Not been able to get any HD800's for comparison.
By all accounts the New DS range is meant to be very good(if expensive) so I would think would improve upon the Ikemi although you may need the Majik DS upwards to do that. Not listened to the DS's but they are next on the list to try out for my main system.
The GS1000 do appear to be sensitive to the source and amp perhaps more so then the RS2's which seemed to still retain their characteristic sound with different front ends/amps where as the GS1000 seemed more influenced by their source/amp. I wouldn't buy blind, a full demo would be a must I think.

I heard the gs1000 (not sure if it was the new i model) and the hd800 in a dutch head-fi store fed by the lehmann black cube amp and that fed by a topnotch cd-player. I personally preferred the hd800 but the gs1000 was no slouch either, just a bi tmore sibilant, not as comfortable and not as accuratw with imaging.
Greetings, Anouk,

It should - it pulls a bigger price tag too.

I found that the GS-1000 at meets struggles. I also find that the GS-1000 struggles in comparisons A/Bing. I brought mine to a meet once and wondered why I owned them

But when listening to them at home even compared to my other phones, they bring the music to life. John Grado has never been anal about neutral or any of those other things that people here seem to think they want.

The GS-1000s are colored on purpose and have a timbre and natural excitement to the sound. So saying this is better than that or breaking down or comparing different aspects like bass, soundstage, detail. The GS-1000 has never been about that. It's all about it's sound signature and the enjoyment when your brain meets it where it's at.

Well put.  I read so many criticisms of the GS1000, but for me, they simply make my music sound good, fun and engaging.  Comfort is another story... how I wish the GS1000 felt as nice on the head as the DT990/600 or T1.