[complin]

I have exactly the same problem with the HD800's, painfully bright even with Apuresound replacement cable.  Just dont sound natural when compared to my Stax Omega 2's.  So what options are there in a single-ended DHT 2A3 tube amplifier.  Also why single ended as I understand the 800's respond well to balanced drive?

 
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I'm not a fan of these either, but before giving up on them you should at least try them out on a tube amp. The warmer and lusher the better. Single ended DHT would be a good choice. They do have their strengths. If nothing else, one of the best sound stages available .

 
I ended up loving the HD-800 after thinking they weren't going to improve much on the HD-600.

But I'll echo Frank's recommendation of a single-ended DHT. The HD-800 sounds amazing when driven by the 2A3 tube. I've never much liked the HD-800 on solid state and wasn't much impressed by the Beyerdynamic A1. There are a lot of less expensive solid state amps that offer better performance.

 

[vrln]

The amp that erased the hot treble problem the best out of the amps I´ve heard is the Violectric V200. Very warm and punchy amp, but will also make everything sound a bit the same.

 

[complin]

I have also heard that the Siemens or Telefunken famous "post tube" F2a, which was used in many 1950s and 1960s telegrafic amplifiers by the German Post might also be a good choice?

 
Quote:

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I'm not a fan of these either, but before giving up on them you should at least try them out on a tube amp. The warmer and lusher the better. Single ended DHT would be a good choice. They do have their strengths. If nothing else, one of the best sound stages available .

 
I ended up loving the HD-800 after thinking they weren't going to improve much on the HD-600.

But I'll echo Frank's recommendation of a single-ended DHT. The HD-800 sounds amazing when driven by the 2A3 tube. I've never much liked the HD-800 on solid state and wasn't much impressed by the Beyerdynamic A1. There are a lot of less expensive solid state amps that offer better performance.

 

 

[super_fied]

HD 800s really need to paired with the correct amp for them to shine. I thought the RSA apache drove it pretty well when I had them.

 

[ianmedium]

Quote:

HD 800s really need to paired with the correct amp for them to shine. I thought the RSA apache drove it pretty well when I had them.

This is so true! I heard them last week with my stepdance and was left feeling not much love for the HD's. Yesterday I heard the exact same pair through copeland integrated amp and liked the sound a great deal more. Still not my personal cup of tea sound wise but that has nothing to do with the sound quality, just my preference of sound.
 
 

 

[Icenine2]

You need a better amp for sure and make sure your source is decent too otherwise you're just spinning your wheels. Get a Woo WA22 if you want balanced or a WA2 if not. Or a Grace 903B which has a built in asynch DAC if you want SS. Cavalli Liquid Fire is coming out. too.

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

The amp that erased the hot treble problem the best out of the amps I´ve heard is the Violectric V200. Very warm and punchy amp, but will also make everything sound a bit the same.

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).

 

[pachku]

RWA Isabellina. Works very well with the HD800 - got a Valvo CCa Tube in mine, and it sounds very clear, but not edgy at all, bit warm, excellent resolution. Almost too much space... which can be cured by listening to the LCD-2

 

[vrln]

 
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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).

That´s why I ended up returning the V200... That said, it´s the only amp I´ve heard that made the HD 800 something I could live with in the long run. The Sennheiser flagship does certain things amazingly well - it´s a compromise option. Unfortunately the list of available amps isn´t as vast here in the EU. In the US/Canada area it seems to be much easier to match the HD 800 (Woo22, DNA Sonett, Dana Zeus etc.) That´s why I ended up going STAX instead, as importing the US gear would be so expensive and risky I could just as well go the electrostat direction.

 

[orkney]

I agree that the 800s take some care in matching but this needn't mean megabux. I've heard them sound excellent out of quite modest setups, including M-Stage, BH Crack and retubed Woo 3. Using Fidelia and via a V-DAC/WA3 combo (@650.00 used) they're quick, spacious, revealing and musical without any edge to my ears. Do they scale well with higher-end kit? No doubt, but I think this idea that the HD800 (like the HD650 not so long ago) requires 5000.00 of source and amplification to not sound piercing/strident/awful/all but broken is silly.
 
o

 

[Tony Plachy]

Quote:

You need a better amp for sure and make sure your source is decent too otherwise you're just spinning your wheels. Get a Woo WA22 if you want balanced or a WA2 if not. Or a Grace 903B which has a built in asynch DAC if you want SS. Cavalli Liquid Fire is coming out. too.

I have had HD600's for quite some time and drive them with an Ear Max AE amp.  Very neutral in my opinion.  At the White Plains meet I tried the HD800's and really liked them especially on the Woo WA2 and the Apex Peak (stock tube had been rolled) with the Volcano PS.  I like the HD800 sound so much I too bought a used pair of HD800's from a forum member and while the sound pretty good with the Ear Max I will be going to the Bayside meet with them to listen to more amps if I can find them there.  I think tubes are the way to go with the 800's.
 

 

[atothex]

Tubes kick ass. I can't think of any headphones that dislike tubes.

 

[Eric_C]

DT880 owner here, been using mine with a few SS (and 1 budget tube) amps and am still happy with their sound. IMO the 880 is prone to harsh highs too.
On that note, I've demo'd them with the A1 and found no harshness. I have also tried it with the Linearossa K3 and found this combination unbearable.
 
As for the HD 800, I just demo'd them at my local Sennheiser showroom not 2 hours ago! Was very excited to, and they had it hooked up to a Lehmann Black Cube Linear, with a CD player I don't recognise as its source. They played a CD I am unfamiliar with, of the vocal jazz variety. 
 
OP, I now know how you felt. The tonal balance is a little too nasal/bright for my liking, intruding with some of the singers and some of the acoustic guitar. Unless someone's going to tell me that Sennheiser themselves put their best foot forward in terms of music and amp, I'm confident in saying the HD 800 is not my cup of tea, and is indeed brighter than the DT 880.

 

[raja]

You can tame the highs of the HD800 a variety of ways. Depends how DIY oriented you are; a few signal path changes (tantalum resistors) will round off the edge definition enough to make most recordings very palatable (you can do this with SS gear too).

 

[graben]

I agree with the monkey as always. If you want the best headphones just get some Stax.