Amp-related question - Those of you who live in Europe and cannot/do not wish to purchase American/Chinese products - what are the recommended amps for the HD800? Is Sennheiser's own HDVD 800 a recommended option? I have heard good things in terms of pairing with the following European amps:  ...

Does anyone use the Feliks Audio Elise with their HD800?

  Interesting personal opinion, thanks. I do not own the K1000 however I own a late SN HD800 (40K+) and about 20 recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas, including the DG Gilels box set the reviewer above has selected. I, too, am intimately familiar with the sound of a pianoforte as two members...

  My late SN (40K) HD800 work really well with a Violectric V200 and a Corda Classic, both readily available in Europe. No issues with ringing of treble peaks with most of my music (classical, ECM jazz) and these amps.

  I find that whenever that happens I tend to dislike the same recording on my speaker setup, too. So, as others have suggested, I chalk it down to poor recording technique.   Incidentally, I'm listening to Backhaus' Beethoven sonatas on Decca Original master - beautiful stereo recordings...

  That doesn't sound like my V200 I'm afraid. Any chance you might own a faulty sample? Mine renders micro-detail marvellously. I am lucky enough to have listened to the same performance live and on recording (Jordi Savall and Hesperion XXI on AliaVox). I am extremely familiar with Jordi...

I have to disagree with the opinion below. My (late SN) HD800 works beautifully with my Violectric V200 - beautifully detailed, incredible microdynamics on well recorded acoustic music. The match is, to my ears, superior to the one achieved with the Schiit amp I had before (admittedly, one of...

Hi guys   I was wondering if there is a set of recommended settings for the V200 + HD800 combo. I'm using the Violectric USB 24/96 DAC module FWIW. The back jumpers on the V200 are currently at the -6db position - and my listening volume is mostly at the 11-13 o'clock range, depending on the...

  Hi thanks for the above - what music do you listen to, mostly?

  Have to disagree. Jascha Heifetz has been captured on excellent audiophile recordings (RCA Red seal SACD); Wilhelm Kempff has been served extremely well by DG (the mono and later stereo Beethoven sonatas for example are really fine imho). I have several CDs by both that sound astounding on my...

Anyone?

Any impressions on this? I'm trying to decide whether to go for a used V800 or shell out for the new 850. Amp would be their V200 and headphones are a pair of HD800.

  Ahhh, the good old "ipse dixit" of Pythagorean memory!    Between a "well known music reviewer" or an open community of people who actually sit down and measure the dynamic range of tens of thousands of recordings using a foobar2000 plugin - I know whose data I would rather trust.  ...

    I do not think you are experiencing an amplifier or headphone problem. I think it is more likely that the issue is with the poor quality (high dynamic range compression) of the recordings you are listening to. If you visit the Dynamic Range Database and input "empire of the sun", for...

    I see your point thanks. So could the HD800 S be considered, in your experience, a more 'forgiving' type of instrument compared to the HD800, designed to give satisfactory results with a broader range of recordings?