[Brooko]

Nice set-up
 
 
Yes - I'm in Invercargill.

 

[Badas]

Nice set-up


Yes - I'm in Invercargill.

Brrrrrrrr. It will be cold down there. Rug up and listen to ya cans.

I'm an Aucklander. :rolleyes:

 

[Barra]

Just got an HD700 on a whim due to a great deal from a local retailer - after the sound completely wowed me of course. Was really planning on getting an HD800, but decided to get it as a stepping stone and possibly keep it as a more portable (around house and office) solution. However, I have a few questions I was hoping the community could help answer:

• Scaling: How well does the HD700 scale compared to the 800? What does it pair well with to get the most out of it and at what point is it maxed out? Or does it scale indefinitely like the HD800?
• Balanced: Has anyone tried balanced?
• Mjolnir: I know that the HD800 is supposed to be a bad pairing with my Mjolnir, but with the HD700's warmer and more forward signature it seems like it might make a better match. Has anyone tried the Mjolnir with the HD700s? Is it worth buying a balanced cable for the improvement?
• Cable Pricing: If balanced makes sense with the HD700, how do you get around the stupid pricing that I have been seeing for them starting at over $300 for the cheapie from Sennheiser? What is so special about that lower end connector?

 

[pdrm360]

  Just got an HD700 on a whim due to a great deal from a local retailer - after the sound completely wowed me of course. Was really planning on getting an HD800, but decided to get it as a stepping stone and possibly keep it as a more portable (around house and office) solution. However, I have a few questions I was hoping the community could help answer:

• Scaling: How well does the HD700 scale compared to the 800? What does it pair well with to get the most out of it and at what point is it maxed out? Or does it scale indefinitely like the HD800?
• Balanced: Has anyone tried balanced?
• Mjolnir: I know that the HD800 is supposed to be a bad pairing with my Mjolnir, but with the HD700's warmer and more forward signature it seems like it might make a better match. Has anyone tried the Mjolnir with the HD700s? Is it worth buying a balanced cable for the improvement?
• Cable Pricing: If balanced makes sense with the HD700, how do you get around the stupid pricing that I have been seeing for them starting at over $300 for the cheapie from Sennheiser? What is so special about that lower end connector?

 
Scaling: They do scale but not as much as the HD800 and the HD650, IMO. I really liked them with BH Crack and also with Schiit Lyr. 

 

[Barra]

 

  Just got an HD700 on a whim due to a great deal from a local retailer - after the sound completely wowed me of course. Was really planning on getting an HD800, but decided to get it as a stepping stone and possibly keep it as a more portable (around house and office) solution. However, I have a few questions I was hoping the community could help answer:

• Scaling: How well does the HD700 scale compared to the 800? What does it pair well with to get the most out of it and at what point is it maxed out? Or does it scale indefinitely like the HD800?
• Balanced: Has anyone tried balanced?
• Mjolnir: I know that the HD800 is supposed to be a bad pairing with my Mjolnir, but with the HD700's warmer and more forward signature it seems like it might make a better match. Has anyone tried the Mjolnir with the HD700s? Is it worth buying a balanced cable for the improvement?
• Cable Pricing: If balanced makes sense with the HD700, how do you get around the stupid pricing that I have been seeing for them starting at over $300 for the cheapie from Sennheiser? What is so special about that lower end connector?

 
Scaling: They do scale but not as much as the HD800 and the HD650, IMO. I really liked them with BH Crack and also with Schiit Lyr. 

Interesting, I hear the crack is very good with the HD800 as well. I have been meaning to try that out. Conveniently, bottlehead is local to me and always shows to our meets and we have one coming up this weekend.
 
What improvements do you feel it provides? I am mainly using my X5 and DX90 which sound great, but also using a Beresford Caiman desktop that sounds nice with it as well. With my desktop, I notice the sound stage getting a little larger and tone a little smoother/richer. Is the crack a large jump in quality?

 

[Mark-sf]

  Just got an HD700 on a whim due to a great deal from a local retailer - after the sound completely wowed me of course. Was really planning on getting an HD800, but decided to get it as a stepping stone and possibly keep it as a more portable (around house and office) solution. However, I have a few questions I was hoping the community could help answer:

• Scaling: How well does the HD700 scale compared to the 800? What does it pair well with to get the most out of it and at what point is it maxed out? Or does it scale indefinitely like the HD800?
• Balanced: Has anyone tried balanced?
• Mjolnir: I know that the HD800 is supposed to be a bad pairing with my Mjolnir, but with the HD700's warmer and more forward signature it seems like it might make a better match. Has anyone tried the Mjolnir with the HD700s? Is it worth buying a balanced cable for the improvement?
• Cable Pricing: If balanced makes sense with the HD700, how do you get around the stupid pricing that I have been seeing for them starting at over $300 for the cheapie from Sennheiser? What is so special about that lower end connector?

I find that the HD700's scale better than the HD800's as they are an easier load to drive and therefore can work over a wider range of amps. I especially like the paring with the Lyr2 as the new unity gain with a set of quality tubes such as Lorenz 6922 or VR 6N23P really bring out the best in them. Having said that I have not tried them balanced and have not heard anyone else running them that way. 
 
After hearing a broad selection of the "high end" this last weekend at the SF event, which not only included the HD800's in balanced mode, LCD-2/X, Alpha Dogs, PM-1, Stax, etc, I can say that the HD700/Lyr2 combination is one of the best sonic values out there and competes quite well in the <$2K system range. Could I hear differences? Of course, but those did not leave be in any way dissatisfied with this combination.

 

[pdrm360]

  Interesting, I hear the crack is very good with the HD800 as well. I have been meaning to try that out. Conveniently, bottlehead is local to me and always shows to our meets and we have one coming up this weekend.
 
What improvements do you feel it provides? I am mainly using my X5 and DX90 which sound great, but also using a Beresford Caiman desktop that sounds nice with it as well. With my desktop, I notice the sound stage getting a little larger and tone a little smoother/richer. Is the crack a large jump in quality?

 
Sorry, I've never heard them on the X5/DX90 to compare, but in overall the HD700s are more pleasant on the tube amps. 

 

[Henry Gukas]

Hi! 
I have a few of questions about the pairing of the HD700 with the Lyr 2 that I am hoping you could really help me out on!
 
1) Do you think this amp would be a signifiant upgrade over the  FiiOE12 paired with the HD700?
 
2) Is there another amp, from your own experience, that you would reccomend within the same price range (+/- $100) that might be a bit more suitable with the HD700?
 
3) Which tubes would you recommend for the HD700?
 
I'm somewhat of a newbie to this hobby and would much appreciate your help!
 
- Henry 

 

[Mark-sf]

  Hi! 
I have a few of questions about the pairing of the HD700 with the Lyr 2 that I am hoping you could really help me out on!
 
1) Do you think this amp would be a signifiant upgrade over the  FiiOE12 paired with the HD700?
 
2) Is there another amp, from your own experience, that you would reccomend within the same price range (+/- $100) that might be a bit more suitable with the HD700?
 
3) Which tubes would you recommend for the HD700?
 
I'm somewhat of a newbie to this hobby and would much appreciate your help!
 
- Henry 

See my response to you in the Lyr 2 thread here.

 

[Sonido]

  I'm somewhat of a newbie to this hobby and would much appreciate your help!

I swear the HD700 is marketed towards head-fi newbies and ends up as that "gotcha" lesson. It was my first expensive headphone and I bought it at the time for the full price of $1000. I'm sure a lot newbies, myself included at the time, was looking for a higher end headphone, read about the pickiness of the HD800 and was turned off by it. Then the HD700 was touted as forgiving and easy to drive, so we were sold on it. But in reality, the HD800 is just far superior is pretty much every way. Yes, you ought to eventually get a good amp and DAC for it, but $220 spend on Schiit Modi and Vali already brings it beyond what the HD700 has to offer. As for the price difference, yes it is bigger now with HD700 at $850, but you can still get the HD800 at $1200 or even less. It was sold at $999 just the other day as mentioned in the deals thread, and I got it new at $889. I paid more for the HD700 than HD800! The HD800 is a headphone you'll unlikely feel the urge to upgrade from and that in the long run saves you much more than you would know.
 
This is not to pick on you Henry, or anyone else. I'm just making a statement on based on personal experience and the kind of comments I see from newbies time and time again on this thread.

 

[Saoshyant]

I have no regret in picking up the HD700 personally.  It's the closest to my perfect sound sig that I've heard so far, having no desire to upgrade to the LCD 2.2F after getting to compare them side by side for a week.  I haven't heard any summit-fi yet, which I know I'll find something in that range I'll love, but even considering the similar price between a used LCD 2 and a new HD700, I wouldn't be surprised if I chose the HD700 again.  It also doesn't hurt that it's not difficult to power due to the fact that I'm limited in my options by me being portable listener, pretty much never using my desktop for music.  Plus, I absolutely love the comfort and look.

 

[Levanter]

I swear the HD700 is marketed towards head-fi newbies and ends up as that "gotcha" lesson. It was my first expensive headphone and I bought it at the time for the full price of $1000. I'm sure a lot newbies, myself included at the time, was looking for a higher end headphone, read about the pickiness of the HD800 and was turned off by it. Then the HD700 was touted as forgiving and easy to drive, so we were sold on it. But in reality, the HD800 is just far superior is pretty much every way. Yes, you ought to eventually get a good amp and DAC for it, but $220 spend on Schiit Modi and Vali already brings it beyond what the HD700 has to offer. As for the price difference, yes it is bigger now with HD700 at $850, but you can still get the HD800 at $1200 or even less. It was sold at $999 just the other day as mentioned in the deals thread, and I got it new at $889. I paid more for the HD700 than HD800! The HD800 is a headphone you'll unlikely feel the urge to upgrade from and that in the long run saves you much more than you would know.

This is not to pick on you Henry, or anyone else. I'm just making a statement on based on personal experience and the kind of comments I see from newbies time and time again on this thread.

I doubt HD700 is marketed towards newbies. Newbie range would be more towards the HD4XX or HD5XX..
HD800 excels in classicals/orchestra but is not as versatile as HD700 which has more aggression in certain genre.
Sure HD800 is technically superior, but in certain genres HD700 sounds better imo.
All comes down to preference

 

[Saoshyant]

I think he was more referring to newbies with upgrade-itis

 

[Henry Gukas]

Although a newbie to this sport, I have to admit that I absolutely love the sound signature of the HD700 and it's versatility. I should've mentioned that I used to own the HD600 and also HD650, and to me, the HD700 is a remarkable step up. I should also mention that I purchased mine for under $550 new after shipping and taxes. For the price, I could not imagine a better sounding and more comfortable headphone, even with just a FiiO E12 as an amp. But I'm not sure if I would've paid the original retail value of $1,000 (most would be around $650-$700). 

 

[Badas]

  I swear the HD700 is marketed towards head-fi newbies and ends up as that "gotcha" lesson. It was my first expensive headphone and I bought it at the time for the full price of $1000. I'm sure a lot newbies, myself included at the time, was looking for a higher end headphone, read about the pickiness of the HD800 and was turned off by it. Then the HD700 was touted as forgiving and easy to drive, so we were sold on it. But in reality, the HD800 is just far superior is pretty much every way. Yes, you ought to eventually get a good amp and DAC for it, but $220 spend on Schiit Modi and Vali already brings it beyond what the HD700 has to offer. As for the price difference, yes it is bigger now with HD700 at $850, but you can still get the HD800 at $1200 or even less. It was sold at $999 just the other day as mentioned in the deals thread, and I got it new at $889. I paid more for the HD700 than HD800! The HD800 is a headphone you'll unlikely feel the urge to upgrade from and that in the long run saves you much more than you would know.
 
This is not to pick on you Henry, or anyone else. I'm just making a statement on based on personal experience and the kind of comments I see from newbies time and time again on this thread.

You got it.
 
I would agree with that. I am a newbie and thought I need a good HP. Sennheiser was the only brand I could think of. I looked at the HD800 and thought are you kidding and eventually started with the HD700.
 
Hey I like. Not bad as a first HP. I just think it is a bit bright. I have EQ my rig to my taste and I'm really enjoying. However I now have the what if it wasn't bright bug. So I'm in the process of getting a Audeeze LCD3. I will keep both.