[Saberpunch]

I think final result it depends on many factors including the source, amplifier and the headphone. Pure silver cables can also have different characteristic depending on quality/type of the conductor and general construction of the cable.

However from my experience silver (DIY, 6N purity in teflon insulation) brings higher resolution, clarity, air. Bass is tighter and overall sound quicker, micro-dynamics are improved. Bass can be even more powerful (punching harder), but because it is cleaner it can be interpreted as reduced. So it is quantity vs quality, but also depends on preference. Silver not necessarily makes the sound brighter, but it can bring to the surface more unpleasant imperfections of the source or recordings.
On the other side silver lacks in my opinion just a little the timbre of copper, especially in midrange and vocals. It is more neutral while copper gives pleasant warmth and colour, which I like.

So silver plated cable can be indeed good solution that connects both worlds. But I wouldn't say it can give the best of both. It will be somewhere between rather.
Another interesting alternative are gold-plated silver cables, but even more expansive.

For Onkyo I can recommend Forza Audioworks Noire Hybrid (7NN UPOCC and silver mix). It makes the sound little darker but resolution is better than stock. Soundstage is wider (on stock I hear it more up and down).

Other interesting cable is 7N OCC Litz Silverplated from Lunacables on AliExpress. It has really great midrange and vocals, comparing even to more much more expansive cables. The resolution and detail is amazing for the price. Soundstage is not very wide, but instead you get intimate and involving vocals.

Happy to see another pillar in the Onkyo A800 community

Appreciate the advice on the cables. Right now, the cable exploration has been on hold. I’ll probably resume around July. My current plan is getting 2 more DAC/Amp just to add in the collection. I do have a bad habit of looking in the used market so I’ll keep my eye on some Forza Hybrid cable, Gold-plated silver cables, and Lunacables. I would most likely stick with SE as well since the equipment I’m getting don’t use balance. I have one tube amp that uses balance, but the other 2 amps I’m planning to get only uses SE output.

Really appreciate the information and glad to see you here @arturro13

 

[arturro13]

Thanks for walm welcome

I also like to purchase second hand gear, especially cables are easy to trade. However Lunacables, the version I mentioned is just 80$ for 1.6m. And surprisingly for me it is better than any Forza cable that I know... Mind that also Forza is coming from my country (Poland), so I really would like to be otherwise And has good reputation worldwide. But for my ears Luna manages to give midrange (especially vocals) quality combined with good resolution and clarity that is not present in other cables I own (which includes both hybrid silver-copper TOTL Forza and also full copper Claire MK2).

However as I mentioned earlier Forza Noir Hybrid pairs with Onkyo very nice, synergically I would say. But I couldn't compare with Luna yet, because I borrowed it to friend. After all he also liked this cable it and bought Luna for himself, just different version (silver). So I will have opportunity to check another one soon.

 

[Saberpunch]

Thanks for walm welcome

I also like to purchase second hand gear, especially cables are easy to trade. However Lunacables, the version I mentioned is just 80$ for 1.6m. And surprisingly for me it is better than any Forza cable that I know... Mind that also Forza is coming from my country (Poland), so I really would like to be otherwise And has good reputation worldwide. But for my ears Luna manages to give midrange (especially vocals) quality combined with good resolution and clarity that is not present in other cables I own (which includes both hybrid silver-copper TOTL Forza and also full copper Claire MK2).

However as I mentioned earlier Forza Noir Hybrid pairs with Onkyo very nice, synergically I would say. But I couldn't compare with Luna yet, because I borrowed it to friend. After all he also liked this cable it and bought Luna for himself, just different version (silver). So I will have opportunity to check another one soon.

Don’t got $80 bucks to spare right now. But if you got a link to the Lanacables, that would be great. I think when I search for them in Ali express, they keep showing me cables for IEM. I will probably buy them when I’m done with my current project (improving my sources).

Right now, I’m trying to clean up my source. Recently purchase a DDC and a streamer (Raspberry Pi). I not going to talk about it in the Onkyo A800 thread since it seem off topic. I haven’t gotten my Pi2AES, only the DDC (Matrix 2) so far. But man, adding the DDC was probably the best I could ever do to my chain right now. I never knew there was another level of clean like that. I tested my ATH-L3000 on the PC Roon > [USB] Matrix X-SPDIF 2 > [AES] Mojo Audio Mystique EVO > [XLR] Allnic HPA-5000XL chain. Clarity level was insane! I never knew the ATH-L3000 clarity could get to that level before, it was unreal. Obviously, tried the Onkyo A800 on the same chain and… . Now the Onkyo A800 feels like a almost perfect package. The Onkyo A800 is a complete package before I discover this chain, but now it’s nearly perfect. Clarity is high, soundstage is still intimate but good enough, nice sub bass slam, good level of detail in bass, timbre on instruments is spot on, and vocals as always is really sweet. The Onkyo A800 really has everything now except soundstage. Protoss put up a mod earlier on increasing soundstage, but I feel it’s too risky with only 1 Onkyo A800 right now.

I heard PC as a source will always hold back a chain because of all the heavy loading it always got to do. So I bought a Pi2AES to have a dedicated source on just playing music. I can’t imagine it get better than what I already have, but I also didn’t think improving my source will have this much of a huge difference. Super excited next week to try my Pi2AES

 

[Saberpunch]

I found a really cool website to properly test headphones. I thought I would share it with this thread just in case someone wants to compare the Onkyo A800 to your favorite headphone. The Binaural Test actually spook me LOL. I didn't expect the door knocks to sound ultra-realistic.

https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

 

[Since1991]

I found a really cool website to properly test headphones. I thought I would share it with this thread just in case someone wants to compare the Onkyo A800 to your favorite headphone. The Binaural Test actually spook me LOL. I didn't expect the door knocks to sound ultra-realistic.

https://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

Here's a video that'll spook you out as well.

 

[Saberpunch]

Here's a video that'll spook you out as well.

HOLY ***

Just listen only to the first minute and my mind was like "HUH"

I switched over to my speakers when you sent that link because I finish testing the CD3000 soundstage. I let my amp heat up again and switch to my headphone setup. 1st 30 seconds of the intro, and then the door knocks. My immediate reaction, take off my headphone and check my speakers (speakers located on stage bottom right from my headphone setup). Then I was like, wait a minute... I turned off my speakers. Replay the door knock part again and take off my headphone to double-check if the sound was actually coming from my headphone (right now I'm using the CD3000 because I spent the entire morning testing its soundstage, which is pretty amazing considering its a close back for under $1000). Bottom line, that's a great video recommendation, sound engineering at its finest Time to watch the rest of it.

Edit: Ok, don't want to derail this thread too much, but next part is the water bottle. How the hell that man shake the water bottle behind my head . This video is too good.

 

[Busyman201]

Just bought the a800 very luckily brand new, I think its one of the most underrated headphone of all time, crazy good tonal balance, great technicalities and comfort, just tried swapping with zmf pads and comfort is further improved, highly recommend.

 

[Since1991]

Just bought the a800 very luckily brand new, I think its one of the most underrated headphone of all time, crazy good tonal balance, great technicalities and comfort, just tried swapping with zmf pads and comfort is further improved, highly recommend.

Where did you manage to get a brand new one?

 

[Saberpunch]

Just bought the a800 very luckily brand new, I think its one of the most underrated headphone of all time, crazy good tonal balance, great technicalities and comfort, just tried swapping with zmf pads and comfort is further improved, highly recommend.

Nice, congrats on joining the Onkyo A800 Club

Yep, I agree ZMF pads is the way to go. I’m using my Onkyo A800 with the Caldera thin pads, up the clarity while still retaining a good amount of bass. I might buy more ZMF pads in the future to try more out, especially the new Caldera ultra perforated pads. People are gassing up the Caldera Suede pads and I remember not liking them on the anything (ATH-L3000, Caldera, and Onkyo A800). I’m getting influence to give the Suede pads another shot.

 

[Busyman201]

Where did you manage to get a brand new one?

Its a new old stock, i bought it second handed from a very nice seller, who bought it long ago but never had the time to enjoy it. How lucky am I

 

[Busyman201]

Nice, congrats on joining the Onkyo A800 Club

Yep, I agree ZMF pads is the way to go. I’m using my Onkyo A800 with the Caldera thin pads, up the clarity while still retaining a good amount of bass. I might buy more ZMF pads in the future to try more out, especially the new Caldera ultra perforated pads. People are gassing up the Caldera Suede pads and I remember not liking them on the anything (ATH-L3000, Caldera, and Onkyo A800). I’m getting influence to give the Suede pads another shot.

Thanks, I only have the auteur lambskin solid and i think it makes the bass too overwhelming, Suede and perforated pads might be a better match for the a800.

 

[boodi]

Perforated lambskin and perforated hybrid give a different sound, both good in their own way. The added centimeter do the trick ( elevate high freqs too ). I run them balanced only as the improvement - in dynamic on everything - is quite dramatic for a800 ( vs single ended )

 

[Saberpunch]

Thanks, I only have the auteur lambskin solid and i think it makes the bass too overwhelming, Suede and perforated pads might be a better match for the a800.

Back with some more updates on my Onkyo A800 adventure. The central theme will be about trying the new Caldera ZMF pads on the Onkyo A800! Mainly the thin perforated pads and the suede perforated pads. I felt too lazy to remove the Cowhide (slim) perforated pads from my L3000. I order new ZMF solid pads to replace them, so I will probably try the Cowhide (slim) perforated pads on the A800 after I swap pads on the L3000.

I played at least 1 hour and 45 minutes on play time on my favorite tags in Roon for both pads. For the final test, I just chose 6 songs and swapped pads after finishing those 6 songs. Sorry, I just felt like listening to Jmusic today. Felt lazy, so I use Brambleton - Pusha T 1st 20 seconds to get a feel for the sub-bass.

Songs Use:​

Party Rock Anthem - LMAO
未来の人へ Orchestra ver. - TRUE, FILMharmonic Orchestra Prague
Harmony of One's Heart - Kairi Yagi
Shadowbringers - FFXIV Masayoshi Soken
あのバンド - 結束バンド
青春コンプレックス - 結束バンド

Gears: Roon > Mojo Audio Mystique EVO > Nitsch Magni Piety > Onkyo A800​

Quick review:​

I honestly think the thin pads did everything better than the suede. At 1st, I really enjoy the suede pads because they were very comfy and vocals seem to shine a little more from my previous pads. When I switch to the thin pads, I instantly realize that the suede pads have been decreasing the sub-bass slam. I never really notice because a lot of the songs I listen to don't really have a slam and I've been using the Caldera for like the past 2 weeks while switching to the L3000 and A800 (suede pads). Electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums sound soooooooo much better on the thin pads. For the thin pads, the guitars have a more lasting effect (I guess a more echoing effect), especially noticeable in the first 2 minutes of Shadowbringers. Vocals sounded less veiled to me on the thin pads, that might be because vocals sounded way closer on the thin pads. With the suede pads, the vocals seem like the middle rows to me. Thin pads felt way closer, maybe the second front row. The A800 soundstage was never too impressive to me, so I like its more intimate soundstage with thin pads.

The A800 vocals, which I care about the most, shine the most using the thin pads. Going forward, I will probably use the thin pads for the Onkyo A800. I'll probably compare the thin pads with the cowhide (slim) perforated pads when my ZMF solid pads come in for my L3000.

​

For anyone reading this, try the Onkyo A800,​

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year​

^This was my review on the Caldera Thin pads and Suede pads. Thinking back, I think the only reason I didn’t like the bass /subbass on the Suede pads. Reverb (like echoing effect) wasn’t too good compare on the thin pads, but that might be that the bass is a little more controlled on the Suede pads.

Suede pads is the way to go if the bass/subbass is to overwhelming for you.

 

[boodi]

Also gaining an extra thickness in cheeks ( only front part of pads/drivers ) helps definition of the sound

 

[dpump]

Which Yaxi earpads are recommended for the A800?