[genesisproject]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaZZ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Latest info from the German HiFi Forum: There's a quote from a Mail to a forum member from Sennheiser Germany stating that distribution in Germany is planned to start early July. .

Thanks for the info - much appreciated. I see that TTVJ has received another shipment of the HD 800's

 

[slackman]

Pure desperation, temperaments running high.
We all want the HD800 that bad

It's no longer just a headphone haha

Btw no email yet from the German dealer.
But I'm ok with how it stands now.
I trust I'll get the HD800 somewhere in mid/end July for a fair price.

 

[paulb09]

Not sure I'm going to have the money for one straight away, but if they're on audition at my local store, I'll check them out anyway.

 

[divasson]

Talked today to the Spanish distributor, to whom I preordered the HD 800 1 month ago. He told me that Sennheiser informed him that the units have been shipped. Go figure. He expects to fulfill the orders before month end.

 

[nor_spoon]

Wow, join date Jul 2005, and your first post comes now. About time, after almost 4 years of lurking

 

[divasson]

At least no one could call me a troll...

I have learned a lot from you all during this time.

 

[jorgillo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nor_spoon /img/forum/go_quote.gif Wow, join date Jul 2005, and your first post comes now. About time, after almost 4 years of lurking

Better late than never

 

[nor_spoon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorgillo /img/forum/go_quote.gif Better late than never

Exactly.

There is a wealth of information on this forum, but can sometimes be a pain to go through all the bs to find the good stuff.

I guess this post is of the former

 

[slackman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by divasson /img/forum/go_quote.gif Talked today to the Spanish distributor, to whom I preordered the HD 800 1 month ago. He told me that Sennheiser informed him that the units have been shipped. Go figure. He expects to fulfill the orders before month end.

Go figure indeed!
This would be so strange. HD800 in Spain before Germany (and Netherlands/rest of Europe)
Or he's wrong in them beeing shipped (which I can hardly beleive), or maybe the rest of Europe is shipping now too and we'll get them sooner than end of July?
Strange.

 

[Karlosak]

Just had a phone call from the Sennheiser dealer for Czech Republic. He has received his first batch of HD800s, among which should be one preordered pair of mine!

I was quite surprised, that he got just 8 pairs out of 15 or so ordered.

I should drop by him tomorrow with my HD650s and bunch of favorite CDs. Unfortunately he has only Benchmark DAC1 and some lowly Marantz player at his disposal. If everything goes well, I should walk out of the shop with a big bag and empty wallet pretty fast, depending on how close the contest will be.

For those interested in the price, in Czech they sell for 26,800 CZK. That means at current rate about 990 €.

I plan to amp them with my Dynamight. Hopefully there won't be any drastic sound change for the worse. Having read how picky these phones are, it wouldn't be pleasant to hear them perform worse at home than in the dealer's rig.

 

[John Willett]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karlosak /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just had a phone call from the Sennheiser dealer for Czech Republic. He has received his first batch of HD800s, among which should be one preordered pair of mine! I was quite surprised, that he got just 8 pairs out of 15 or so ordered.

Dop***! (very rude Slovak word).

A friend of mine is #9 on Panter's list - so they will have to wait a bit longer.

 

[xenithon]

To my surprise, I got a reply to an email I sent to Sennheiser HQ yesterday (specifically regarding local availablity and the info blackout from the local Sennheiser office).

The response was along the lines of: We just started shipments for our new top model. Due to internal reasons first quantities have been only delivered to the US market. First shipments to South Africa are currently planned for July 2009.

Seems like July shipments seems to be the general theme.

 

[genesisproject]

Quote:

Originally Posted by xenithon /img/forum/go_quote.gif To my surprise, I got a reply to an email I sent to Sennheiser HQ yesterday (specifically regarding local availablity and the info blackout from the local Sennheiser office). The response was along the lines of: We just started shipments for our new top model. Due to internal reasons first quantities have been only delivered to the US market. First shipments to South Africa are currently planned for July 2009. Seems like July shipments seems to be the general theme.

Xenithon,

Thanks very much for the update - much appreciated boet

 

[genesisproject]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karlosak /img/forum/go_quote.gif Just had a phone call from the Sennheiser dealer for Czech Republic. He has received his first batch of HD800s, among which should be one preordered pair of mine! I was quite surprised, that he got just 8 pairs out of 15 or so ordered. I should drop by him tomorrow with my HD650s and bunch of favorite CDs. Unfortunately he has only Benchmark DAC1 and some lowly Marantz player at his disposal. If everything goes well, I should walk out of the shop with a big bag and empty wallet pretty fast, depending on how close the contest will be. For those interested in the price, in Czech they sell for 26,800 CZK. That means at current rate about 990 €. I plan to amp them with my Dynamight. Hopefully there won't be any drastic sound change for the worse. Having read how picky these phones are, it wouldn't be pleasant to hear them perform worse at home than in the dealer's rig.

Karlosak

Wondering whether you picked up your HD 800'S yet.

 

[Karlosak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by genesisproject /img/forum/go_quote.gif Karlosak Wondering whether you picked up your HD 800'S yet.

Yes, wanted to post tomorrow, since I'm quite exhausted now from all the listening.

I had about 45 minutes at the dealer to test the HD800 against my HD650 with Equinox cable. What was interesting, the HD800 I listened to had a low serial number - #206. Maybe a preproduction model? From my memory the pads were different and maybe a bit more comfortable, was that the famous alcantara?

I thought that the HD800 would blow the HD650 out of water, but it wasn't so easy. Yes, the soundstage was huge and cavernous, transients lighting fast, bass as strong and more textured, but was it $1400 better (€990 better)? Out of the Benchmark DAC1 I didn't think so. I even hesitated to not buy them and return home with my bellowed 650. What finally converted me, was one aspect of listening to them - whenever I put them on, they simply disappeared. The music just flowed and I had no urgency to swap, I just wanted to listen on and on. Only after a while I remembered while I was there, to compare. Switched the phones. But the HD650 didn't do that magic for me. Oh, and one more thing that was readily aparent - whatever the Headroom graphs say, the HD800s have astoundingly low distortion. No matter how loud you listen, everything is still clear. The HD650 weren't as capable (surprise).

I tried to get some discount since I paid in cash, but the dealer was uncompromising (even though we are friends). He said that Sennheiser is very strict at keeping the price and he could have problems. After payment I received a brand new pair, one of the eight that arrived (out of 24 originally ordered!!!) My serial number is #1230.

So I walked out of the shop with a big plastic bag as promised (and a Sennheiser T-shirt as a bonus) and slowly drove home through the typical Prague traffic jam. One question was still on my mind: how will they fare in my home rig? Is the price justified?

All the concerns were out after I plugged them to the Dynamight (Dynahi to be correct, cable retermination next on my list). Who said SS amps are not good with these cans? Out of the box they are great. I'll post some more impressions in one of the other threads shortly.