[jcx]

I believe you can get the SVS Realizer for less since you already have high end cans - you don't need the included Stax, can get it taken off
 
it really is the most reliable way to get "out of your head" imaging with headphones
 
trying for the effect with various colored amps - seeking "synergy" is going to be harder on your wallet and an ultimate failure - amps just don't do the right things - not near "smart" enough - you need the Realizer DSP, personal calibration, headtracking

 

[zigy626]

Quote:

I believe you can get the SVS Realizer for less since you already have high end cans - you don't need the included Stax, can get it taken off
 
it really is the most reliable way to get "out of your head" imaging with headphones
 
trying for the effect with various colored amps - seeking "synergy" is going to be harder on your wallet and an ultimate failure - amps just don't do the right things - not near "smart" enough - you need the Realizer DSP, personal calibration, headtracking

 
 
+1 agreed. Amplifier are  the wrong place to look for that "out of your head" imaging. It would be better to spend the money on the Realizer DSP.

 

[kozmo]

I'm surprised no one here has mentioned this, how about a C421?
 
It's ridiculously affordable and see if you are able to recreate your initial impressions, then move forward from there.
 

 

[s4s4s4]

BHA-1, find a dealer and bring your phones with you. Let your ears decide.

 

[[H]ardwareNick]

Quote:

BHA-1, find a dealer and bring your phones with you. Let your ears decide.

 
+1, literally listening to BDA-2/BHA-1/HD800 atm and finding it simply superb

 

[s4s4s4]

Had a BDA-2 home last weekend, nice, think I need one of those too.
 
Loving my HD800/BHA combo.

 

[jtinto]

Quote:

 
+1, literally listening to BDA-2/BHA-1/HD800 atm and finding it simply superb

 
Quote:

Had a BDA-2 home last weekend, nice, think I need one of those too.
 
Loving my HD800/BHA combo.

 
Now you're really tempting me to try a BDA-2 with my BHA-1/HD-800 combo as well
 

 

[s4s4s4]

Quote:

Had a BDA-2 home last weekend, nice, think I need one of those too.
 
Loving my HD800/BHA combo.

Actually think I need two, one for the spkr rig the other for my HD800's. Very smooth sounding.

 

[mink70]

Quote:

Personally I would never expect a "out of head experience" from a headphone. IMO no headphone would ever be able to provide the amazing 3D soundstage a speaker can put out. You can buy a $5000 amplifier but its not going to do anything for you if you are using it to power headphones. Listening to music through a headphone is not natural. The marketing team at Sennheiser did a good job with all the material about angled/ringed drivers. I have been listening to the HD800 for the last 2 weeks and I really dont expect these or for that matter any headphones to reproduce a "out of head experience" ever.  I think you would be better off selling all your headphone gear and buying a good pair of speakers, real amplifier, and a turntable. 

Thanks for the suggestion, but I've spent many years listening to mostly speakers and vinyl, and continue to. I ended up with tube amplification by Shindo, vintage Tannoy speakers, and a Garrard 301/SME 3012 turntable setup. Having written for a hi-fi magazine, I've had a chance to hear a lot of speaker/amp combinations. Headphones are a relatively new hobby, and I'm certainly not deluded into thinking that they will match speakers in the out-of-head/soundstaging ability. I'm speaking relatively here, like most of us are. Out-of-head for headphones. And the Realiser, as good as it is, is simply out of my price range and frankly not what I'm looking for. I'm asking, simply, which amp will provide the most spacious sound with the HD800s.

 

[Moostrkraaft]

Quote:

Well speaker's aren't the most natural either, and definitely not w/ a turntable.
 
Have you heard binaural recordings?  Those are perhaps the most out of head artificial experience I have ever encountered, almost scary how real they sound.
 
Check out the doorknock at the bottom of this test site
 
http://www.audiocheck.net/soundtests_headphones.php

You want scary binaural? Try a virtual haircut. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA
 
I can't help but think I'm gonna get my ears chopped lol.

 

[s4s4s4]

Quote:

You want scary binaural? Try a virtual haircut. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA
 
I can't help but think I'm gonna get my ears chopped lol.

 
 
Surprised I have never heard that, awesome fun, thanks.

 

[BournePerfect]

Eddie Current amps are famous for their soundstaging. My ZDSE simply trounced every other amp I've heard in that regard, and is still the best amp I've ever heard for the HD 800s (and TH 900s for that matter). And it's not even close either...

-Daniel

 

[mink70]

Quote:

Eddie Current amps are famous for their soundstaging. My ZDSE simply trounced every other amp I've heard in that regard, and is still the best amp I've ever heard for the HD 800s (and TH 900s for that matter). And it's not even close either...

-Daniel

I've no doubt that the Eddy Current stuff is terrific, but it's a ways out of my price range. I could maybe stretch to the Super 7, but my sense is that it's not as quite in the same league as the Zana.

 

[Nick Dangerous]

I wouldn't leap into the Eddie Current lineup below the Zana Deux. At the Austin meet, the S7 wasn't all that different from the Decware CSP+ which is $500 less and a good bit easier on the eyes (not to mention a lot easier to roll tubes).

 

[preproman]

The GS-X mk2 + Master 7 + HD800 has some of the best soundstage I've heard.