hisoundfi said:

 

mindbomb said:

I can honestly imagine people being content powering an hd800 with an iphone, since music nowadays has such little dynamic range.

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A rockboxed Clip Zip works best lol

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I can confirm from own experience that that doesn't apply. Even with FiiO players the HD 800 doesn't sound very good. High-impedance headphones are a bad match with most portable devices. Apart from that the HD 800 is an easy load – for stationary amps.
 
I just wish Sennheiser's new electrostat be available separately (highly doubt it) and could be driven by a Stax amp. But even then it would be unaffordable for most of us.

$30-40k price tag and they managed to make it look like something that belongs in a tiled bathroom. Fantastic

raypin said:

  mmm.....but if it were priced, say, USD 2,500.00 for the whole system, none of you would be b_____ about the design?, Huh? Honestly.

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We would still be bitching about it. It would then be affordable ugliness, but still ugly.  I would buy it if I had the $2,500 and learn to live with it's looks.  That's if it lives up to it's predessor, the Orpheus.  But even if I did have the $40,000 I wouldn't buy it.  Not the way it looks.  If you're paying that kind of money you should get more.  It's all in the eye of the beholder, and I haven't read every post in this thread, but it seems every post I've read about it's appearance is negative.  I think Sennheiser needs to pay attention to that.   

I will be curious to see if they did any more research on the problem of mechanical resonance with the earcups.  They made some move in this direction with the HD800 using a visco-elastic in the headband but given that there are still HD 800 mods being sold which add  damping material, some owners don't think they solved it. If this new model is just another high-end stat that doesn't deal with this problem it will be obsolete from the start.

I think people underestimate the thirst well-heeled audiophile and maybe more importantly, collectors, have for limited run statement pieces.  If Sennheiser produces 1000 or fewer of these sets, I think they can move them all within 2 years at $50k a pop if they wanted to.  If it become a regular production set, it would obviously lose a lot of its worth and have to be sold at a fraction of $50k, but nothing in its history suggests this will be anything but a limited run.
 
If Sennheiser made it a run of fewer than 500 units, I'd buy it, use it for a few years and undoubtedly sell it for more than what I paid for it.  That's more than what you can say about a crappy $5k Abyss.

mach3 said:

   
Yes try telling people with $1000 power cable on their $5000 system.

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People who buy $1,000 power cords are insane. Power cords will not make any noticeable improvement to sound, especially not a $1,000 worth. I don't understand why some people buy into the more nonsensical gimmicky hi-fi marketing fluff. 

maybe Nomax have some details we dont know... 

edstrelow said:

  I will be curious to see if they did any more research on the problem of mechanical resonance with the earcups.  They made some move in this direction with the HD800 using a visco-elastic in the headband but given that there are still HD 800 mods being sold which add  damping material, some owners don't think they solved it. If this new model is just another high-end stat that doesn't deal with this problem it will be obsolete from the start.

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Does the sound even matter? 

failed engineer said:

  I think people underestimate the thirst well-heeled audiophile and maybe more importantly, collectors, have for limited run statement pieces.  If Sennheiser produces 1000 or fewer of these sets, I think they can move them all within 2 years at $50k a pop if they wanted to.  If it become a regular production set, it would obviously lose a lot of its worth and have to be sold at a fraction of $50k, but nothing in its history suggests this will be anything but a limited run.
 
If Sennheiser made it a run of fewer than 500 units, I'd buy it, use it for a few years and undoubtedly sell it for more than what I paid for it.  That's more than what you can say about a crappy $5k Abyss.

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mmm.....if the guestimate of 40k is accurate, it is still AFFORDABLE. Why? Because it will take another decade or so before Sennheiser produces the next Orpheus after this Orpheus successor. If the run is limited, it will hold its value well (minimize depreciation). And why do I say it is affordable? Well, I think of large capital investments in terms of how many years I can use a product. In this case, assuming that the 3rd Orpheus is 20 years from now and assuming that this Orpheus successor continues to function 20 years from now, that is 40k divided by 20 years. Not that bad at all. Then, of course, there's the residual value, making the annual cost of this Orpheus successor even less. The design element is important but if this is as impressively or epically tuned (sorry I have not had the pleasure of auditioning the Orpheus) as the first Orpheus, then it will be  a very worthwhile investment. Why? Because, to my limited knowledge, no headphone ever has surpassed the Orpheus (or has it been surpassed already?) in terms of SQ.  Hey, 2 grand a year ain't bad at all for the privelege of owning an Orpheus (or whatever they decide to call it, or as I call it the STFUTOTL).

A couple years ago I had a carrara marble wash table, exactly as Senn amp looks like.  With build-in box and mirror... It was not too expensive...
I heared Orpheus several times and can say, this hp was/is only so good because the HEV90  was excellent tailored for HE90. The same HE90 at the LST (my Stax Transformer with two jacks for Stax and HE90, plus separat BIAS for every hp ) and e.g. Accuphase Pre and Poweramp, is in comparison with 009 indeed no more sooo good. Or/and 009 is that much better as with customary estat amps. In my opinion - both is true. Thus, the question is, do we become really a new Senn statement product, much better as Orpheus or 009 is? The marble Senn DAC-Amp (digitalamp) looks not so much promising. What´s about e.g. enough place inside for a big highend power supply? And: Is it to expect the hot tubes run down as "cold tubes" about 30 Minutes after switch off the amp??
I don´t want bash the new Senn, but as well I don´t understand the excitement of last 20 pages without one tone heared from somebody. Otherwise, I possesed HD800 two times and every time sold these, because lack of satisfaction. But, maybe, this set will be so many times better as so many times more expensive is in relation to the Stax System?  Who knows...
@edstrelow: + 1

@raypin I agree.  I'd say $50k is affordable and a downright "smart" investment if the run is limited.  You get way more enjoyment out of it than any stocks you can purchase for the same $50k, and you are almost assured not to lose value when you sell 10 or 20 years later (and probably make 20% conservatively over the period).  The only negative is cash is tied up for that long.  It's purchasing an asset that increases in value AND brings you great personal enjoyment.  It's hard to find both.

I'm going to keep looking on eBay and Craigslist until I see one for under $500, then I'm jumping on it.


If not, I think I'll choose to have a car, and a house...


...and a wife

pachoo5 said:

   
People who buy $1,000 power cords are insane. Power cords will not make any noticeable improvement to sound, especially not a $1,000 worth. I don't understand why some people buy into the more nonsensical gimmicky hi-fi marketing fluff. 

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But... but... cryo-treated copper wire and acoustically-neutral sheathing! And the magnets that impart directionality for the sound ions! You're saying those are just meaningless marketing gimmicks and I'm just getting some run-of-the-mill copper?

mikoss said:

  Does the sound even matter?

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Not really.

Having seen so many complaints about the looks, I would guess that with the exclusivity, a buyer might have an option of choosing a black marble case, which I think would greatly enhance the overall appearance.