[Pedro Oliveira]

Buy em...if you don't like them you can resell them

Do they have resell value?
The guy was asking 250, I said 100 and he said ok right away ....

Tyll and other reviewers made sure this was the most hated Sennheiser in the past decade so I don't know if their resale value is that high given all the hate. Also Sennheiser discontinued them...

It's actually a shame they never tried to launch a HD700 2.0. The V2 of the hd660S came in like 2 or 3 years after the release of the original 660 and Sennheiser didn't even tried to do something with the 700. Too bad press? 700 was eating the HD800 sales?

Dunno...

 

[AndyBrechin]

Just be careful you are not being played. Usually if something is too good to be true it is because it is. I've been there, as will many others on this thread no doubt. Great headphones but Buyer Beware, do your due diligence on the seller before you part with your money. £100 is a steal.

 

[Backsplash7]

Do they have resell value?
The guy was asking 250, I said 100 and he said ok right away ....

Tyll and other reviewers made sure this was the most hated Sennheiser in the past decade so I don't know if their resale value is that high given all the hate. Also Sennheiser discontinued them...

It's actually a shame they never tried to launch a HD700 2.0. The V2 of the hd660S came in like 2 or 3 euros and Sennheiser didn't even tried to do something with the 700. Too bad press? 700 was eating the HD800 sales?

Dunno...

So, at the outset when they were released you had a lot of people bashing them because they weren't quite as good as the hd800, which is an odd thing to expect of a cheaper model, but it was a thing. A lot of people found them to sound sibilant, and honestly the stock silver plated cable probably doesn't help that, but they certain can be for the following reason.
They are unusually transparent to the signal chain, and will reveal every possible weakness and problem with the equipment, including things that don't make intuitive sense, or things that "can't possibly be audible", in a way that many other headphones simply can't resolve. If there's something else in your setup that might be causing any kind of distortion, however small, it'll have a negative impact, and sibilance may be one thing that results from that, which makes these headphones very easy to misunderstand. If thats the one pair of headphones you own that sounds bad, they must be the problem, right?
For me what I was hearing with them was a lack of focus, which was very fatiguing, but it wasn't present with my other pairs. When I got a more transparent amp, and could finally hear the same thing with some of my other headphones too, it finally clicked for me that I needed to try and find what things in my setup were causing or adding to the problems, and I found several things that were holding back the performance, including faulty op amps. Its a good job I didn't listen to the "just use EQ and different earpads" line, as now the 700's sound amazing, and everything sounds much better across the board.

As for the hate, I've seen big youtube reviewers remove older positive review videos of them, and then years later I can see that they're repeating the same commonly encountered negative comments about them, totally at odds with their initial impressions. So there is probably an element of groupthink at play. Unforunately though, if you're a company trying to make money, you have to bow to public opinion, and the public were asking for a 660S instead of a 700.

As for resale value, in my country I've only seen the price go up since I bought mine, but each market will be different

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

Just be careful you are not being played. Usually if something is too good to be true it is because it is. I've been there, as will many others on this thread no doubt. Great headphones but Buyer Beware, do your due diligence on the seller before you part with your money. £100 is a steal.

If I go ahead the deal will be made in person. I also told the person I have to try them first to see if I like them enough to close the deal.

 

[Pedro Oliveira]

So, at the outset when they were released you had a lot of people bashing them because they weren't quite as good as the hd800, which is an odd thing to expect of a cheaper model, but it was a thing. A lot of people found them to sound sibilant, and honestly the stock silver plated cable probably doesn't help that, but they certain can be for the following reason.
They are unusually transparent to the signal chain, and will reveal every possible weakness and problem with the equipment, including things that don't make intuitive sense, or things that "can't possibly be audible", in a way that many other headphones simply can't resolve. If there's something else in your setup that might be causing any kind of distortion, however small, it'll have a negative impact, and sibilance may be one thing that results from that, which makes these headphones very easy to misunderstand. If thats the one pair of headphones you own that sounds bad, they must be the problem, right?
For me what I was hearing with them was a lack of focus, which was very fatiguing, but it wasn't present with my other pairs. When I got a more transparent amp, and could finally hear the same thing with some of my other headphones too, it finally clicked for me that I needed to try and find what things in my setup were causing or adding to the problems, and I found several things that were holding back the performance, including faulty op amps. Its a good job I didn't listen to the "just use EQ and different earpads" line, as now the 700's sound amazing, and everything sounds much better across the board.

As for the hate, I've seen big youtube reviewers remove older positive review videos of them, and then years later I can see that they're repeating the same commonly encountered negative comments about them, totally at odds with their initial impressions. So there is probably an element of groupthink at play. Unforunately though, if you're a company trying to make money, you have to bow to public opinion, and the public were asking for a 660S instead of a 700.

As for resale value, in my country I've only seen the price go up since I bought mine, but each market will be different

True. The Sennheiser HD6** line has been for decades a staple of confidence and reliability and therefore people people will assume any new HD6 headphone will be great no matter what.

But I think I will try them. I doubt I will ever have any chance of getting a headphone of this type for such little money. With kids and life happening, other investments have to be made and the only way I can even get this close to these tiers of headphones is when these type of bargain deals appears (Wich is almost never).

Are there still original replaceable parts for the HD700? Not that I like to tear headphones apart but just in case a need to buy any replacement part...
The replacement of the headband padding seems to be a bit more complex than on the HD6 lines because there are screws and springs involved (from what I saw briefly on YT).

Has the original replacement headband padding changed through the years? I believe the original HD700 had a velour or Alcântara headband but the unit I am to buy seems to have a sinthetic type of leather. But the seller says it's a original HD700 headband pad and that the material for replacement e of the headband changed through the years. Can anyone confirm?

Ty.

 

[sygnus21]

Hi guys,

I already have a HD25 Wich I love and HD600 Wich I also love.

I also have the HD6XX but I don't like those as much as the other 2 above (I also have a Fidelio x2 that I prefer over the 6xx).

Now I have the chance to buy a pair of HD700s (very good condition) for the collection for 100 euros.

So the questions are, do you guys think it's a good deal?

Also given what I mentioned above do you guys think it would be suitable for my taste?

TY.

Do understand the HD700 is a controversial headphone with an either love em or hate em attitude.

When I first got mine, I was ready to send them back, but after sticking with them they grew on me. 7 years later, I spent 480 bucks refurbing them, to include a balanced cable for from Moon Audio (Black Dragon). The new cable has changed the character of the sound by making them sound warmer, and less bright, and now I enjoy them even more. The OEM (original) cable has them sounding too bright at times depending on source material. The new cable tones that down

In the end I find these the be great headphones, and why I spent what I spent refurbing them, so in effect, I put my money where my mouth is when I say get them, but.... they are different from what you have, and not everyone loved them at first, me included.

Also be aware, these are NOT for bass heads. Not that the HD700 don't have bass, I actually like the bass response, but they aren't "bass" headphones. What you have is what you get. No "fake" bass.

All that said, for that asking price you can't go wrong - definitely worth it. Just ask about condition before buying. Also be aware OEM parts a near non-existent now, so for stuff like pads - headband, earpads, and cables, you'll need to go third party. That said, I did find some OEM pads and headbands at HiFi heaven, but I'm betting that's going to dry up as well.

Good luck.

 

[Backsplash7]

True. The Sennheiser HD6** line has been for decades a staple of confidence and reliability and therefore people people will assume any new HD6 headphone will be great no matter what.

But I think I will try them. I doubt I will ever have any chance of getting a headphone of this type for such little money. With kids and life happening, other investments have to be made and the only way I can even get this close to these tiers of headphones is when these type of bargain deals appears (Wich is almost never).

Are there still original replaceable parts for the HD700? Not that I like to tear headphones apart but just in case a need to buy any replacement part...
The replacement of the headband padding seems to be a bit more complex than on the HD6 lines because there are screws and springs involved (from what I saw briefly on YT).

Has the original replacement headband padding changed through the years? I believe the original HD700 had a velour or Alcântara headband but the unit I am to buy seems to have a sinthetic type of leather. But the seller says it's a original HD700 headband pad and that the material for replacement e of the headband changed through the years. Can anyone confirm?

Ty.

Yes there are replacement parts, and no the pads are the same still. If the video you're talking about is the one I've seen, then it makes it look far more awkward than it needs to be. The earpads are a bit tricky to get in though, fair warning. But as sygnus says, don't expect these to sound like your other sennheisers, and the stock cable does hold them back; it's showing you the inherent weakness involved in silver plated copper. You're on a budget, so go for copper instead of pure silver, either do it yourself or buy from a diy-er on ebay etc, but do yourself a favour and get a litz cable, because regular stranded wire is the devil.
You might find though, that given time, you'll get curious as to how much more performance they have left to show you... thats when you start spending a fortune

 

[Backsplash7]

Do understand the HD700 is a controversial headphone with an either love em or hate em attitude.

When I first got mine, I was ready to send them back, but after sticking with them they grew on me. 7 years later, I spent 480 bucks refurbing them, to include a balanced cable for from Moon Audio (Black Dragon). The new cable has changed the character of the sound by making them sound warmer, and less bright, and now I enjoy them even more. The OEM (original) cable has them sounding too bright at times depending on source material. The new cable tones that down

In the end I find these the be great headphones, and why I spent what I spent refurbing them, so in effect, I put my money where my mouth is when I say get them, but.... they are different from what you have, and not everyone loved them at first, me included.

Also be aware, these are NOT for bass heads. Not that the HD700 don't have bass, I actually like the bass response, but they aren't "bass" headphones. What you have is what you get. No "fake" bass.

All that said, for that asking price you can't go wrong - definitely worth it. Just ask about condition before buying. Also be aware OEM parts a near non-existent now, so for stuff like pads - headband, earpads, and cables, you'll need to go third party. That said, I did find some OEM pads and headbands at HiFi heaven, but I'm betting that's going to dry up as well.

Good luck.

After finally getting my hands on the HD800 recently, I think I finally understand this "lack of bass" complaint that gets pushed about. Some people like their bass to have lots of bloom, and the 800's dont have any whatsoever. The 700 has enough of a hint to make them more palatable to that taste, but certainly far less than the 600, just depends what you prefer I guess

 

[Click]

True. The Sennheiser HD6** line has been for decades a staple of confidence and reliability and therefore people people will assume any new HD6 headphone will be great no matter what.

But I think I will try them. I doubt I will ever have any chance of getting a headphone of this type for such little money. With kids and life happening, other investments have to be made and the only way I can even get this close to these tiers of headphones is when these type of bargain deals appears (Wich is almost never).

Are there still original replaceable parts for the HD700? Not that I like to tear headphones apart but just in case a need to buy any replacement part...
The replacement of the headband padding seems to be a bit more complex than on the HD6 lines because there are screws and springs involved (from what I saw briefly on YT).

Has the original replacement headband padding changed through the years? I believe the original HD700 had a velour or Alcântara headband but the unit I am to buy seems to have a sinthetic type of leather. But the seller says it's a original HD700 headband pad and that the material for replacement e of the headband changed through the years. Can anyone confirm?

Ty.

My original HD700 headband cracked, disintegrated, and fell apart. So I ripped the whole thing off, leaving only the plastic. I then put ZMF's Crescent Strap on the headband. It's really comfortable.

I replaced the earpads with Dekoni elite velour because the original alcantara pads started flaking off and left a nasty black residue on my skin.

Replaced the original cable with OIDIO Mongrel litz copper cable. Really nice, lightweight, pliable cables. Tames the upper-mid peak and slightly improves the bass of the HD700 without using tube amps.

I think you can still find OEM HD700 parts in the UK and maybe Europe, but it will be difficult to find elsewhere unless you pay extra to import. Good thing is that there are still some companies selling aftermarket replacement parts like I just listed above.

I still love using the HD700 after all these years (9 years).

 

[sygnus21]

After finally getting my hands on the HD800 recently, I think I finally understand this "lack of bass" complaint that gets pushed about. Some people like their bass to have lots of bloom, and the 800's dont have any whatsoever. The 700 has enough of a hint to make them more palatable to that taste, but certainly far less than the 600, just depends what you prefer I guess

I actually enjoy the bass of the HD700s, and personally think the myth of the HD700s not having bass is a bit overblown. They have bass, and it you play a bass heavy tune you'll fell it, but they aren't tuned to be "bass heavy", and they don't add anything not there.

That said, I suppose it also comes down to genre - if your main genres are EDM or hip-hop, these may not be to your liking. For me, I'm mainly 70's jazz, R&B, and Rock, though my collection is wide and eclectic.

That said and be aware cables CAN make a difference in sound quality, when I want "more bass", I switch out my cables to my Surf Cables I bought when I first got the phones as they lend themselves to better bass, but at the cost of a more veiled sound, which I overall don't like, but for EDM, they're fine. Or I can just listen to my Audio Technica M50X phones.

 

[Backsplash7]

My original HD700 headband cracked, disintegrated, and fell apart. So I ripped the whole thing off, leaving only the plastic. I then put ZMF's Crescent Strap on the headband. It's really comfortable.

I replaced the earpads with Dekoni elite velour because the original alcantara pads started flaking off and left a nasty black residue on my skin.

Replaced the original cable with OIDIO Mongrel litz copper cable. Really nice, lightweight, pliable cables. Tames the upper-mid peak and slightly improves the bass of the HD700 without using tube amps.

I think you can still find OEM HD700 parts in the UK and maybe Europe, but it will be difficult to find elsewhere unless you pay extra to import. Good thing is that there are still some companies selling aftermarket replacement parts like I just listed above.

I still love using the HD700 after all these years (9 years).

I got the dekoni hybrids right away, because they were the ones supposedly most able to reduce sibilance and boost the "missing" bass. I didn't like it, it made them too intense, and they were quite uncomfortable for me. They may have been exaggerating the issues that I had at the time though, I haven't gone back to them since getting the official pads to find out.

You can get new pads from audiosanctuary.co.uk

 

[Backsplash7]

I actually enjoy the bass of the HD700s, and personally think the myth of the HD700s not having bass is a bit overblown. They have bass, and it you play a bass heavy tune you'll fell it, but they aren't tuned to be "bass heavy", and they don't add anything not there.

That said, I suppose it also comes down to genre - if your main genres are EDM or hip-hop, these may not be to your liking. For me, I'm mainly 70's jazz, R&B, and Rock, though my collection is wide and eclectic.

That said and be aware cables CAN make a difference in sound quality, when I want "more bass", I switch out my cables to my Surf Cables I bought when I first got the phones as they lend themselves to better bass, but at the cost of a more veiled sound, which I overall don't like, but for EDM, they're fine. Or I can just listen to my Audio Technica M50X phones.

Agreed, they're very good at reproducing the sound of the recording, rather than putting their own sound onto every track *looking at You, HD600...* but yeah, there's very little I dislike about the HD700. I listen to a lot of heavy rock, prog and nu metal, and I'm not lacking bass at all. But then I also like synth video game soundtracks and contemporary orchestral stuff, all of which sounds great too. But I bought them for the soundstaging, imaging and microdetail, I'm not primarily bass-oriented, we each have our own priorities

 

[sygnus21]

You can get new pads from audiosanctuary.co.uk

In the USA, you can get the OEM headband pad and earpads from HiFi Heaven as I linked earlier. I just bought both back in June of this year.

 

[sygnus21]

Agreed, they're very good at reproducing the sound of the recording, rather than putting their own sound onto every track *looking at You, HD600...* but yeah, there's very little I dislike about the HD700. I listen to a lot of heavy rock, prog and nu metal, and I'm not lacking bass at all. But then I also like synth video game soundtracks and contemporary orchestral stuff, all of which sounds great too. But I bought them for the soundstaging, imaging and microdetail, I'm not primarily bass-oriented, we each have our own priorities

I will say that while the Black Dragon cables toned down the brightness of the HD700s, it does come at the cost of some soundstage loss. In its place though you get a more intimate stage where things are closer, though not so close as to obliterate the soundstage. Imaging and detail are still there though.

And yes, these are copper cables - Black Dragon Cable V2 for Sennheiser HD 700 Headphones. They are expensive though, especially if you get a balanced cable past 5 feet as I did. I do have a review written on them (Andrew M). Scroll down from the link.

 

[Backsplash7]

I will say that while the Black Dragon cables toned down the brightness of the HD700s, it does come at the cost of some soundstage loss. In its place though you get a more intimate stage where things are closer, though not so close as to obliterate the soundstage. Imaging and detail are still there though.

And yes, these are copper cables - Black Dragon Cable V2 for Sennheiser HD 700 Headphones. They are expensive though, especially if you get a balanced cable past 5 feet as I did. I do have a review written on them (Andrew M).

That's interesting that the soundstage becomes smaller. I have a diy pure silver litz balanced modular cable with basic gold plated brass plugs throughout, which is admittedly far from optimal performancewise, but 1 main cable plus a few y-splits is rather convenient and cost effective. But with all my sennheisers, going to this cable the stage is bigger and I get more clarity, detail and extension. In the case of the hd800 the same cable helped to reduce, if not eliminate the sibilance.

Eventually I'm planning to make individual cables using occ silver ribbon wire and at least copper-based plugs, if I cant find silver-based ones, and rhodium plate instead of copper. I also intend to use the same wire to replace the internal wires in the HD700 that connect the plugs to the drivers. With the HD800, I'm aware that the plugs can just be pushed out of the plastic so I can directly solder to the drivers terminals, but I dont know if that's also the case with the HD700.

Unfortunately, this passion can get pricey if you let it