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Originally Posted by johnwmclean /img/forum/go_quote.gif
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Running around at Canjam armed with a pair of grossly undercooked HD800’s trying to find the best amp is downright silly.
Although I find IPodPJ impressions fun to read and have enjoyed them, they mean diddle squat. Sorry IPodPJ I just can’t see how you accurately accessed all these impressions under the circumstances. I should imagine that a percentage of amps that under impressed will gain a righteous place among the most neutral amps for the HD800, but at the moment it’s anyones guess.
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That's okay if you don't find the information useful. I know which amps sounded good with them to my ears and those are the amps I will consider purchasing. What I think would be downright silly is that if you purchased an amp for them based on zero impressions or without hearing the amp for yourself. I'd be pretty disappointed if I purchased an expensive amp only to find out later that they sounded better with something else that cost the same or less.
It doesn't take me long to know whether I like the sound an amp or source offers. I can save the more detailed impressions for later when it is in my home, but at least I know from a 10-60 minute session whether it is something I find worthy of spending my money on. I did my testing with tracks I am very familiar with, not just random music playing on someone's equipment. If short listening sessions aren't a good first method of gauging a piece of gear, what the heck is the point of the vendors or members exhibiting their gear at CanJam?
And with regard to the headphones not being fully burned in, I just don't buy it and neither do many vendors in the industry that I have spoken to about this. Headphones don't go from mediocre to greatness with burn-in. Yes, they can exhibit some change when the drivers loosen up but they don't turn into a completely different headphone. If you don't like the headphone before burn-in, you won't like it after burn-in. Anyone that says otherwise is suffering from the effects of placebo by way of mass opinion. The AKG K701/K702, hailed to be one of the most drastically altered headphones with burn-in, had very little difference from my listening at 0 hours, 100 hours, 200 hours, and 350 hours. What usually happens is that a great deal of people get their new headphones during the day and try them fresh out of the box during the daytime, when power output from the power plants is at the maximum and their home or work power is suffering from lots of line noise from all the equipment turned on in their neighborhood, apartment building, office building, etc. After the headphone has been burning in for the magical 300 hours, most people pick up their headphones in the late evening when the line noise is at a minimum and many people in their neighborhood or apartment buildings are asleep. If you think this isn't true, try it for yourself the next time you get a new headphone.
