[Paganini Alfredo]

The... space bar... isn't that hard... to... use... trust me...
 
Or... even a... well placed... comma (,)!

 

[The Monkey]

Quote:

 
You can see my signature, if you really want to know.  And... those who would argue that dynamics can not sound as good as, or reasonably close, to Stax phones, simply have never heard those dynamics with a "well matched" setup (i.e.  electronically matched, not "tweaked") - they're simply reflecting the strong bias, and inexperience, no matter how many phones they've heard (they just didn't hear them with the right sources and amps). 
 
 

 
And, of course, those who would argue that dynamics sound as good as, or reasonably close to, Stax phones, simply have never heard Stax phones with a "well matched" setup, blah blah blah.  We could go on like this ad infinitum.  Both arguments are the functional equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and singing "nyah nyah."
 
 

 

[wink]

"nyah nyah." "nyah nyah.""nyah nyah.""nyah nyah.""nyah nyah.""nyah nyah."
 "nyah nyah."
 etc, etc.
 
 
 
 
 

 

[The Monkey]

Something like that.

 

[wink]

Yep, we all suffer from that from time to time, and some all the time.........

 

[dharma]

m0gwai wrote:..."I'm coming from the home theater scene"...

it could be an answer (to yourself)...

Maybe you are accustomed to deep bass physical impact (on your body, not only ears)
And, smaller BW 8 series speakers are not exactly pro studio monitors too (too musical ).

It seems that Sennheiser HD800 is not made for only HiFi purpose, but also must "work" as monitoring/mixing tool for "pro"s. For me they are well balanced between two mentioned goals.
Sennheiser 800 as also AKG 7 series, some other "monitor" headphones have sometimes nasty habit to resolve all mixing mistakes on recordings (finding all "alien or not balanced" ingredients in "honeypot"), so with such headphones choose your "input" carefully. And avoid any signal distortion (no EQ, no LOUDNESS, no 3D, no any "compensation".. just direct link from input to your headamp (or DAC)

It seems, that your budget is not too much restricted, so you can "roll" (buy and sell or loan) different headphones, including more or less "bassy" versions like Denon 5 and 7 series, Ultrasone, T1, etc. or even some Grado's for added liveliness...

But it could be, that no headphone/amplifier setup is 100% fully satisfying you (but your speaker/system is?)

Maybe it just takes time

 

[dharma]

SHAHROSE WROTE:
..."That is the major failing of the Violectric amps. They're not very transparent and imbue their own thick, warm, dark sound signature over everything IME. (Some people will like this constant colouration, but I don't)."...

Well, German pro audio devices company Lake People is making VIOLECTRIC stuff for HiFi, but under their own name (Lake People), they make purely pro stuff, including headphones amplifiers... those are very neutral (as some international reviewers are figured out)...

And as for record, it is known, that some important Sennheiser headphone designers are using Lake People head-amps too...

 

[InnerSpace]

Quote:

SHAHROSE WROTE:
..."That is the major failing of the Violectric amps. They're not very transparent and imbue their own thick, warm, dark sound signature over everything IME. (Some people will like this constant colouration, but I don't)."...

Well, German pro audio devices company Lake People is making VIOLECTRIC stuff for HiFi, but under their own name (Lake People), they make purely pro stuff, including headphones amplifiers... those are very neutral (as some international reviewers are figured out)...

And as for record, it is known, that some important Sennheiser headphone designers are using Lake People head-amps too...

Agreed - and the V200 is a completely different circuit than the other Violectric amps and broad conclusions should not be drawn from it.  And anyway, I don't agree that even the V200 is thick, warm or dark.  It's very slightly sweet, that's all.
 

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

And as for record, it is known, that some important Sennheiser headphone designers are using Lake People head-amps too...

Yep, one of the HD800 designers used the V100 for his own pair, which is why I bought the amp. It's too bad, because there are much better amps out there for the Senns.
 

 

[jcotteri]

I was going to suggest this.. Whether there is or isn't such a thing as burn in, who is really harmed if we think either way

 
Quote:

 
Hehehe, IpodPJ,  I would just like to point out that the same psychology of expectation actually works both ways.  It also works on you because of your belief that burn-in doesn't change the sound of any headphones.  Because of that belief, even if the sound does change, you won't perceive it. and just like you said " THAT has been proven to occur due to the nature of the human brain."
 
For instance, I once put a college student under hypnosis and I told her that I would put two color blocks in front of her and then asked her to open her eyes and tell me what she saw when in fact I put three colors blocks in front of her.  But when she opened her eyes, she can only see two color blocks.  Suggestion/belief and perception are amazing things.

  
 
 

 

 

[dharma]

Some H800 locations/positions on head can be somehow "wrong" or harder to manage/tolerate... here i'm speaking about sound (not about physical fit). If adjusting HD800 (look for stripes on top of HD800) I found that position 3 stripes (and little toward face) or 6 stripes (and little back from face) are most usable and involving listening positions, somehow its not ease to tolerate positions from 4 to 5 stripes?!

Sure it depends from person head size, ears position and ears shape (plus some other varieties)... ...

 

[Jalo]

Quote:

I was going to suggest this.. Whether there is or isn't such a thing as burn in, who is really harmed if we think either way

 


 

Well it turns out there are four possible outcomes:
 
1.     For those that believe in no burn in + the fact that there is no burn in = result in no perception of sound improvement.
2.     For those that believe in no burn in + the fact that there is actual burn in = result in a loss of perception of sound improvement.
3.     For those that believe in burn in + that fact that there is no burn in = result in increase in psychological perception of sound improvement.
4.     For those that believe in burn in + the fact that there is actual burn in = result in increase in both psychological and actual perception of sound
        improvement.
 
Which category would you rather be in  

 

 

 

[Skooks]

I, too, had the 800s for a time, and I cured part of the problem of the upper end with a Cardas cable. You definitely have to get rid of the stock cable. But, even with the new cable, I just never was satisfied.
I now have Denon 2000s which I have started to work on. I first added the newest JMoney ear pads, and that started opening up the soundstage and bringing the mids front and center... also balanced the bass. I then saw the potential in the Denons and decided to have them re-cabled with Moon Audio's Blue Dragon. Boy, Drew does a super job... very quick turnaround... but more than that, very professionally done! And, boy, did that open up these good phones!
I want to next see what wooden cups can do with these good phones. At their initial cost, you can sure do a lot and not give away the farm.
Now, power wise... I have two good ones. I first purchased the Burson 160 from Moon Audio, upon his recommendation. I am basically a tube man, but I took him at his word and I've not been sorry. It is a very good amp with enough tube like warmth to make me feel at home. But, it has very controlled dynamics without any edginess. Vocals are right on. But, every instrument is laid out in it's own place... very transparent and detailed. I think the stepped resistor volume control is probably the ultimate way to go soundwise. The only draw back is sometimes not having the volume just at the exact spot you want it.
I just recently purchased my 3rd Little Dot amp... another Mk III. This time I ordered it with the upgraded driver tubes (M8100/CV4010), and while breaking it in, I ordered new power tubes (6H30). This tube combination makes this beautiful little amp a real buy. If there is an amp this good for the money, I'd like to hear it. And, David, their front end guy, is really responsive to questions... very good customer service!
Both of these amps do an excellent job with the Denon 2000, AKG 702 and Senn 800 (I drove my 800s with my first LD Mk III and LK Mk IV).

 

[swifttal]

So m0gwai, did you end up getting your lcd-2s or did you make the 800s work for ya? Let us know how it turned out - best of luck in your quest

 

[pp312]

Yes, I'm hanging out to find out what happened as well. Don't keep us in suspenders.