[Orcin]

Great job as always, Larry!

My experience has been very similar to yours, although more brief as I only got my HD800's a month ago. I fell in love immediately, and I remain captivated one month later. I don't have stats or other gear to pull me away, so my month has been spent exclusively with the HD800. First, I went through all of my "audiophile" favorites, then I started on selections I hadn't heard for a while, then I went to selections that I previously didn't like all that well with headphones. In each case, the HD800 outperformed anything that I had heard previously (in my admittedly limited experience).

I listen to a lot of rock music... Nine Inch Nails, R.E.M., U2, plus a lot of classic rock from the 60's and 70's. I had tried a lot of different phones looking for a "rock" phone that beat the recabled D2000. Only the JVC DX1000 and Sony CD3000 had come close in my opinion. I loved the presentation of various Grados but the tonal balance was still more pleasing to me on the Denon.

So I was most worried about impact and bass performance when I ordered the HD800, and specifically how they would handle my favorite rock music. I have been pleasantly surprised that the HD800 outperforms my recabled Denon D2000's on this type of music. Even music like AC/DC, Judas Priest, and Evanescence sounds best on the HD800.

I hear detail that I do not hear on my other phones (even the HD600). I also hear additional bass content and the overall bass is far more defined and clear. The D2000 has great bass to be sure, but the overall presentation of the D2000 is muddy compared to the HD800. There is probably more quantity of bass with the Denon but the slam is all still there with the HD800. In fact, it is even more exciting to experience the music with this phone over the Denon because the HD800 is much faster.

I have a warm and powerful amp (Woo WA6SE) and I am using a Moon Audio Blue Dragon cable. I suspect that both of these elements enhance my pleasure with my musical choices but I haven't really made the effort to find out. I am having too much fun listening to my entire music collection again to spend time experimenting with ways to make the phones sound worse.

Before I got the HD800, I used my HD600 for vocals, jazz, and light rock while the D2000 got the call for most of my music. Now, the HD600 is in the box and the D2000 is gathering dust on the back post of my headphone stand. I am seriously considering selling them both because I doubt that I will ever listen to either of them again unless someone else is using my HD800.

 

[Skylab]

Larry - as always, a terrific review, which I greatly enjoyed reading.

 

[mypasswordis]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict In reality I get a less cohesive center image when fully opened, and a big drop in deep bass which hurts the sense of ambience that you would normally hear in a recording from a big concert hall. For me the K1000 wings must be rotated inward to the "half-way out" or 1/3 out position to get a more cohesive soundstage, and at that point the HD800 seem to have little difficulty matching them, even when using an amp that is optimized for K1000 (SAC KH1000).

Have you tried crossfeed with the flaps fully open?

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypasswordis /img/forum/go_quote.gif Have you tried crossfeed with the flaps fully open?

Not until wiatrob is done building my Meier Corda Cross, which I had found as an unassembled kit last year. I suppose I could use my 3MOVE or Headroom Micro Amp as a preamp to a more powerful amp, and engage the crossfeed with those and try it. But the Corda Cross is reportedly mostly done so i was just waiting till then.

 

[tosehee]

Great review, HPA.

Helps with killing time while waiting for my WA22.

 

[AmanGeorge]

To echo everyone else, thanks a lot for sharing Larry - it was a great read. When reading your work, it is always striking to me how carefully and purposefully you choose your words - thanks for taking the time to do so. I look forward to spending some time with my own personal pair of HD800s once they get here in the next few days

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Thanks for the comments guys!

After doing the review I have been listening to the HD800 in my bedroom rig with the Woo WA6, and I must say I'll still loving that combo and don't always feel the need to run down to the basement to listen in my main rig.

I have to use the ALO Amphora for the hour that it takes my WA6 to warm up fully because a cold Woo is duller with less detail. The HD800/Warren Audio cable/Amphora amp combo has an overall brighter sound signature that makes me want to switch back to the stock cable. So, once the WA6 is warmed up and I switch over to it I find the combination of warmth and sparkle in the WA6 really does suit the HD800 a bit better. It's like a mini-ZDT with less power and soundstage, but still good synergy. I still wish my wife hadn't kicked my main rig out of the living room and into the basement, since my disability makes it harder to run downstairs just to listen to music.

Now she's giving me grief over the plethora of small amps in the bedroom... (but I need them for my reviews I tell her)

 

[myk7000]

Great Review once again!

I really love my HD800 and have not looked to buying anything else after purchasing the hd800 due to it. I would like to ask though- have you ever compared your amps to headroom amps? (Ultra desktop, ultra micro, etc)

Just curious where my headphones stand with my nice little setup.

 

[fraseyboy]

You put what I heard when I auditioned them briefly a few months ago into words very well HeadphoneAddict. Great review. I fully agree with everything you said and will undoubtedly buy a pair when I become rich and famous in the near future.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by myk7000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Great Review once again! I really love my HD800 and have not looked to buying anything else after purchasing the hd800 due to it. I would like to ask though- have you ever compared your amps to headroom amps? (Ultra desktop, ultra micro, etc) Just curious where my headphones stand with my nice little setup.

Thanks. I liked the Headroom amps with them at various meets, but I have not been able to set them down side by side and compare them directly and don't know what all of the models were. I tried them off a balanced desktop in July and thought they worked well together, with a little more bass oomph than the Amphora with them. I have not bothered to try them on my Headroom Micro Amp yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fraseyboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif You put what I heard when I auditioned them briefly a few months ago into words very well HeadphoneAddict. Great review. I fully agree with everything you said and will undoubtedly buy a pair when I become rich and famous in the near future.

Thanks. It looks like you have enough gear to sell for a pair.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Well,

I have been spending more time down in the basement rig just to listen to the HD800/ZDT (4-pin balanced output). I find the large soundstage to still be addictive, and the transparency and immersion in the music is great.

Out of my stats, only the HE60 on the balanced WES comes close to the soundstage, but still doesn't match it. The improvement in the soundstage of HE60 over the O2 Mk1 is similar to the improvement going from HE60 to the HD800 - each move is another step closer to where it needs to be.

Interestingly, the HE60 on the WES also now has a little more bass than the HD800, so I'll be playing with more tubes in the ZDT and need to try my Tung Sol 5751, Telefunken smooth plate 12AX7 and cryo'd re-issue Mullard 12AX7. I also want to see if my new GE black plate 5751 is better than my old GE grey plate 5751.

I think that if all I kept was my JH13Pro, ES3X, HD800, HE-5, HE60, O2 Mk1 and Jade that I would not need any other headphones - just the 2 IEM, 2 dynamics, and 3 stats. I might include the UE11Pro and ESW10 (or LA7000) just to even it out to 3 of each.

 

[tosehee]

That's a nice set of headphones, HDA. I've never listened to the stats, so some day, I am planning to go that route also.

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

Lovely read! Great of you to do all the leg work and test them with also mid end amplifiers.

Well written as always Larry, keep it up!

 

[myk7000]

The soundstage on the HD800s is one of the most amazing attributes for it in my opinion. Other than the K1000s, like you said, I've never had such an expansive soundstage in headphones. Thankfully, soundstage is a very important attribute to me.

I wanted to ask, with the change in amps from lets say your EF2 to your ZDT, and all those amps in between, how much is the soundstage compromised as you go lower in the chain?

Also, in terms of bass impact, have you noticed a very substantial difference as you move through amps, cables, sources? With certain amps, can the hd800s provide as much oomph as lets say a pair of d7000s? (Well close enough anyways... here's hoping)

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrederikS|TPU /img/forum/go_quote.gif Lovely read! Great of you to do all the leg work and test them with also mid end amplifiers. Well written as always Larry, keep it up!

Thanks, I am honored.

Quote:

Originally Posted by myk7000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif The soundstage on the HD800s is one of the most amazing attributes for it in my opinion. Other than the K1000s, like you said, I've never had such an expansive soundstage in headphones. Thankfully, soundstage is a very important attribute to me. I wanted to ask, with the change in amps from lets say your EF2 to your ZDT, and all those amps in between, how much is the soundstage compromised as you go lower in the chain? Also, in terms of bass impact, have you noticed a very substantial difference as you move through amps, cables, sources? With certain amps, can the hd800s provide as much oomph as lets say a pair of d7000s? (Well close enough anyways... here's hoping)

The soundstage doesn't get very compromised as you move down the chain to lesser amps, while the decrease in soundstage is more noticeable with the HD600 because they need every little bit of help they can get.

The bass will never match that of the stock D7000, but it does match that of my modded LA7000. The more power available the better the bass seems to be on the HD800 - the ZDT, WA22 with Sylvania 7236 tubes and wiatrob's EHHA are best, and a small step above the WA6 or Apogee mini-DAC headphone out, which are better than EF2 for example.

The EF2 was still acceptable, but I would not accept less bass than that. I have a loaner Solo SRG II down in the basement, and with the updated design the bass with HD800 is probably closer to the WA6 now (can't compare directly though, since in different rooms), where before it was closer to the EF2 in direct comparisons.

The bass is strong with the EF5 and SAC KH1000 amps and they are quite powerful, but HD800 can be a little bright at times with those amps. I could tune the EF5 with tube changes (have some Mullards I can try), but it's a perfect match for the HE-5 headphone and I have been reluctant to mess with it since I use them in different rigs. The SAC amp is tuned for the K1000 which are more rolled off in the bass and treble, so it helps the HD800 bass but boosts the treble on the HD800 at the same time. I can tame that by going back to the stock HD800 cable, but sacrificing some micro-detail in the process.

I would like to try them in a B-52 again someday, but if I recall the bass was similar to my top three amps that I have had in my home at some point or another (the WA22 was here on loan for 2 weeks in July, and the EHHA for 2-3 weeks in October, both compared to ZDT side by side).