HD800 Cable Advice - Page 3

It didn't cost me quite that much ;) but yes I do agree with you. I'll be focusing more on my main components from now on, just want to get the cable out of the way.

 

I agree with Shahrose's list but I would add the AprhoditeCu29.com Zeus cable. It is made out of WireWorld OCC copper (or silver) Eclipse 6 wires. I own the Complement and the Zeus. The Zeus is as good as the complement at a lower price and at a fraction of the weight.

Don't get me wrong, the Complement is and outstanding cable and I love it in my HD800 but so the Zeus. It brought my T1 from almost selling them to extremely close to my beloved HD800. 

http://aphroditecu29.com/Zeus/Zeus_Headphone_Cable.aspx

 

Robert from AphroditeCu29.com sent me an email toady to let me know that the first 3 orders for a Zeus cable will receive 20% discount. That will make an awesome price for a extremely nice sounding cable.

The Double Helix Complement balanced cables totally transformed the sound of 800s for me. Highs, lows, mids, sound-space, you name it, everything is different and far better. They are magnificent. I really did not expect such a dramatic change. I'll give some more impressions later.

Glad you liked it!  Those Bocchinos need to find a happy home on one of my cables...good deal that the Furutechs are a more reasonable size.

 

Anyone else find the Bocchinos to be a tight fit as XLRs go?  Not sure I can keep using them, they take some serious force to plug in.

Qusp did my HD800 balanced cables with the Bocchino BAXLR ending.  Mine fit the Apache just right.  Not too tight at all. They are wonderful cables, copper, and very flexible.  Sound is right across the spectrum.

 

I have not gotten a balanced cable for my HD650 yet, as I run single ended in that system.

 

I will say that taking my HD800 single ended on the Raptor to balanced on the Apache was night and day.  This was especially true of the W5000 with Moon Audio Black cable done balanced.

I think these new BAXLR ravens have slightly oversize pins.  They are a force fit, which is a bit disturbing to people trying to jam them into $4000+ amps.  I think they may have permanently loosened the jacks on my Phoenix, although they seem to still fit smaller XLRs just fine.  You do have to plug them in a few times.  I think previous runs of BAXLRs have been more normal-size, like the ones that Qusp was using.  

 

HD650s really like being balanced.  It does remove the veiled sound, they can really fool you when properly amped.  My HD600s aren't that far from my HD800s when they're balanced.  

I just bought a 10ft balanced Silver Dragon HD800 cable from Drew at Moon Audio.  He said he ran out of V2 cable so he gave me the new, not-yet-announced V3 using 7n UP-OCC silver wire, similar to the DHC silver, but less than half the price.  Terminated with rhodium FP-601s.  New cover - flexible, no microphonics.

 

To my ears, on the Rudistor RP010B or the DNA Sonnet, the HD800s sound dark, lacking in upper harmonics, using either the stock cable or the Adrenalin cable, which is based on the Jena cryo-d OCC wire that I use for all i/c's.

 

The Silver Dragon V3 made the HD800s cleaner and fuller all across the spectrum.  The sound field is mesmerizing - like total immersion. They are only a teeny bit dark now, compared to my reference LA7000s.  In oher words, the V3 HD800s are a vast improvement.

 

I was about ready to sell my HD800s.  They were usefuI only for a cable demo to my son.

 

Now I will keep them, and I will enjoy them.

 

I agree. I've owned a few aftermarket cables for my headphones and the 7N UPOCC silver made the biggest improvement over stock. It's so good that I'm getting one for the Audez'e LCD-2 as well.

Edit: I posted impressions a few months ago here: http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/474329/hd800-and-silver-cable/15

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Edited by Shahrose - 8/5/10 at 10:26pm

Shahrose, thanks for the link tip. 

 

I was pleasantly surprised about this 7n OCC slver cable, because every time I've tried silver i/c's, they sounded bright, tending towards shrill.  This cable is nothing like that.  It's just clean and open, and the sound is enveloping.

 

I do hear an occasional (rare, actually) high frequency warble, like a very high IM distortion, but I've noticed it on the HD800s with every cable.  The first time I heard one I thought it was the disk, but a change of headphone quickly settled that.  I've often wondered whether this might be  one reason the upper harmonics seem damped.  But I haven't read any technical literature about the Senn's, so that's all I know.

 

And now that I can finally enjoy them, it really doesn't matter!

 

 

 

That's strange. Have you tried the 800s from other sources/amps?

"Awhile ago at a meet in DC I had the opportunity to compare my HD800s with silver dragon balanced against 4N6's with Equinox Voice"

Are you comparing the silver dragon balance to the Equinox Voice balance? Do you know if the Voice is balance or single ended?
Edited by Jalo - 8/8/10 at 1:51am

Has anyone tried A Pure Sound cable on HD800 ?

Just read the thread linked here before.

Yes, with two amps and two sources.