gimmeheadroom
Headphoneus Supremus
LOL yeah. I always say a pair of 800s will make you hate most of the recordings you used to love
Agreed!
I knew it was inevitable that ZMF would be mentioned when you showed up
A little help for a beginner :)
- Thread starter PurpleFury
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- prince sennheiser
Except the Z1R, most high-end closed backs are planars. Not a good fit at all with the AQ Cobalt. There are then the Fostex TH900mk2 or the Denon AH-DX200 models that are well regarded. They wont sound their best with an AQ Cobalt but you should get enough volume and like you said, can get a better source/DAC/Amp later.
You seem to be wanting the HD800s a lot and its a very special pair of headphones but it doesn’t align with what you say you need. Want, need, not always easy to separate right!
You seem to be wanting the HD800s a lot and its a very special pair of headphones but it doesn’t align with what you say you need. Want, need, not always easy to separate right!
PurpleFury
New Head-Fier
Gjallarhorn JM edition
They absolutely looks amazing, but I'm from Sweden and a little hard to come by.....
PurpleFury
New Head-Fier
Thats exactly why I'm hereExcept the Z1R, most high-end closed backs are planars. Not a good fit at all with the AQ Cobalt. There are then the Fostex TH900mk2 or the Denon AH-DX200 models that are well regarded. They wont sound their best with an AQ Cobalt but you should get enough volume and like you said, can get a better source/DAC/Amp later.
You seem to be wanting the HD800s a lot and its a very special pair of headphones but it doesn’t align with what you say you need. Want, need, not always easy to separate right!
JDFlood
100+ Head-Fier
If you are truly looking at 800s as an option then you should consider spending a thousand on a headamp DAC and the rest on headphones. Sennheiser are good but as mentioned hard to drive. Perhaps Woo fireflies / and Sennheiser Hd with what you have left the HD 300 series or there bouts.
The really high end headphones will lay your components bare and make them sound bad. Also, HD800s are incredibly good sounding headphones and not overly trebly at all, if driven by good high end equipment. In fact in my system there is not much difference between my Focal Utopias and the 800s. But I have about $10K or $15K of equipment driving them, as intended And they sound spectacular. Many folks stretch too far for headphones and sub optimize their system. The electronics are key to making any headphones sing. The streamer part as well.
The really high end headphones will lay your components bare and make them sound bad. Also, HD800s are incredibly good sounding headphones and not overly trebly at all, if driven by good high end equipment. In fact in my system there is not much difference between my Focal Utopias and the 800s. But I have about $10K or $15K of equipment driving them, as intended And they sound spectacular. Many folks stretch too far for headphones and sub optimize their system. The electronics are key to making any headphones sing. The streamer part as well.
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PurpleFury
New Head-Fier
Yeah I get that, that's why I want help with the way to think. The sennheisers feels a bit overkill for me at this point. The Swedish Market feels a bit limited aswell.
Curious if you mean there is not much difference in the treble or in the sound all together. I find that the Utopia is a vastly different headphone than the 800s. Anyways you give great advice to the OP.
You can order directly from Kennerton. Only issue is you will have to pay customs fees and such. Took about a week to get a set shipped from Russia to the USA. Just recently they signed a USA distributor and so I will order my Kennerton from them from here on out, but I have had a few sets sent to me directly from the Kennerton website without any hick ups.
PurpleFury
New Head-Fier
That sounds good but then I wouldn't be able try them out first....
That is true but you can return them if they are not for you.
What brands are sold locally in Sweden? Maybe I can recommend something you can audition.
JDFlood
100+ Head-Fier
@stayngs
“Curious if you mean there is not much difference in the treble or in the sound all together. I find that the Utopia is a vastly different headphone than the 800s. Anyways you give great advice to the OP”
I was surprised myself. Basically every aspect... except the soundstage was still a bit wider and more open on the Sennheiser (open back... so of course). But what it says is that once you feed it really a high quality signal with all the power it can use then both sets of headphones are converging on the same sound... meaning that the top tier headphones are all designed to do the same thing, reproduce music with great fidelity... but that feeding them a suboptimal will result in different kinds of reduced fidelity between different headphones. 800s needs massive power and a very natural signal... the Focal are much more efficient... need less power to get there. I have discovered this before, in an isolated case... but this was startling. The better my source the closer in sound they got, until they are nearly identical.
“Curious if you mean there is not much difference in the treble or in the sound all together. I find that the Utopia is a vastly different headphone than the 800s. Anyways you give great advice to the OP”
I was surprised myself. Basically every aspect... except the soundstage was still a bit wider and more open on the Sennheiser (open back... so of course). But what it says is that once you feed it really a high quality signal with all the power it can use then both sets of headphones are converging on the same sound... meaning that the top tier headphones are all designed to do the same thing, reproduce music with great fidelity... but that feeding them a suboptimal will result in different kinds of reduced fidelity between different headphones. 800s needs massive power and a very natural signal... the Focal are much more efficient... need less power to get there. I have discovered this before, in an isolated case... but this was startling. The better my source the closer in sound they got, until they are nearly identical.
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You do have good equipment ..... so do I. I found the Utopia is very amp dependent. It is sensational on my PrimaLuna. Less so on a Trafomatic Head 2. My Auris Nirvana didnt sound anywhere as good with the Utopia. The Ifi Pro ICAN was crap with it. (The Rosson Rad-0 was super good on the ICAN but not great with any of the other amps...go figure) 800s sounded similar with the tubes. Not to my liking with the Ifi. I didn’t get to hear either headphone with my Rogue which replaced the Auris. My source is very good with a Rockna Wavelight fed by a Lumin Streamer Or a VPI prime with a very nice Soundsmith cartridge with a near $3000 phono stage. It is interesting how different equipment shows with each headphone as with my system the Utopia and the 800s are significantly different. The Utopia was startlingly dynamic, in your face details. They are the defining immediately obvious trait when listening on my system. The 800s, however, has so much air, imaging and soundstage but is not extremely dynamic because of these defining traits. Almost opposites in my system.
THe sum of the story is they both sound amazing fed with high end stuff....I just find it fascinating that your system makes them them sound so similar And in mine they are so different.
THe sum of the story is they both sound amazing fed with high end stuff....I just find it fascinating that your system makes them them sound so similar And in mine they are so different.
PurpleFury
New Head-Fier
Big thanks to everyone for coming up with ideas and knowledge. I will make a list of the ones that sounds most interesting for my setup and taste...
PurpleFury
New Head-Fier
What do we have on the
Kennerton M12s?
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