[Naim.F.C]

What the? So it's not made of any out of metal? I swear when I used them they felt very cold to the touch. Must have just been a cold day lol.
 
Quote:

This is an aerospace grade polymer called "Leona".  It's certainly not metal.  Metal is quite horrible for headphones as it resonates and changes the sound.
 
 

 

 

[Lan647]

It's nice that they used materials like these to prevent the disadvantages of metal and still managed to make it look (and feel) very nice

 

[Radio_head]

hrmm... after assuring me that there had been changes made to tweak the FR since release, the Senn rep talked to the head of the division who instructed him to say "no changes have ever been made," - Yesterday I was told he had graphs that showed otherwise.  

 

[John Willett]

Quote:

What the? So it's not made of any out of metal? I swear when I used them they felt very cold to the touch. Must have just been a cold day lol.
 


 

There is metal in the headband - but it's in a patented sandwich that prevents resonance.
 

 

[Saintly]

Quote:

The only models where the posted Sennheiser graphs were considerably different (bass shy) were those below serial number 1500-1600 or so, the very early batches.
 
All graphs of serial numbers over around 1600 have been roughly the same. Go check out the posted graphs on the HD800 certificate thread here: http://www.head-fi.org/t/433059/sennheiser-hd800-certificate-for-frequency-response-arrived
 
I'm not sure where this idea of over 10,000 having more bass came from...
 
Just to add some data points, I owned #3406 and now own #9311 and they sounded identical.

Apparently Jan Meier said that there was a 2-3 dB bump in bass for S/N 10000 and beyond.  I'm not sure what's true but like I said, I find the bass on my pair ample and I wouldn't want to have more.
 


Quote:

hrmm... after assuring me that there had been changes made to tweak the FR since release, the Senn rep talked to the head of the division who instructed him to say "no changes have ever been made," - Yesterday I was told he had graphs that showed otherwise.  

 
That's unfortunate.  Thanks for contacting them though.
 
 

 

[Gwarmi]

 
 Hey just a quick question on whether anyone has any experience with Ray Samuel Audio's 'Raptor' with
 the HD800 - one just landed at my local audio store and there is a chance that I may be able to audition
 it briefly with the HD800 - I've always liked the look and specification of this two piece tube hybrid.
 
 Looks like excellent value for money, RSA's craftsmanship makes everything else look a little shoddy

 
 

 

[Gabrielisc]

Not exactly what you are after but some say the wa22 is better stock standard than the Raptor, although the price difference is $1k though
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/518661/rsa-raptor-vs-woo-wa5-le-with-parts-upgrade-for-hd800
 
 

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

Apparently Jan Meier said that there was a 2-3 dB bump in bass for S/N 10000 and beyond.  I'm not sure what's true but like I said, I find the bass on my pair ample and I wouldn't want to have more.
 
 
That's unfortunate.  Thanks for contacting them though.
 
 

There's a couple graphs of 10k+ serial #s in that thread. See for yourself, they're no different from the sub-10k graphs. There's certainly not a 2-3dB variation anywhere there.
 
Jan is a great guy and I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I'd really like to know his source.

 

[skeptic]

 
Quote:

 RSA's craftsmanship makes everything else look a little shoddy

 

Agree to disagree 

 

[Gwarmi]

Quote:

 

Agree to disagree 

 Yes upon reflection, I still feel that holds true in most cases but on the odd one ~ hmm, maybe, maybe not.
 
 But then again I could say that for another prominent maker of amps ~ not telling 

 

[Radio_head]

Quote:

 Looks like excellent value for money, RSA's craftsmanship casework makes everything else look a little shoddy

 

Fixed for you.  I am a fan of the aesthetics, but better sound can be found at just about every price point of RSA's desktop line.  

 

[ac500]

I wonder why there aren't Wiki pages for every popular headphone out there, outlining its audio characteristics and more importantly, a list of recommended amps at every price point. Because I could really use such a thing rather than sifting through thousands of posts on the forum. I bet you get tired of asking the same questions over and over again too. Why isn't there a head-fi-wiki? (I see a wiki button above but I don't see much specific information except for misc. articles).
 
Speaking of tired rehashed questions, I have an amp question:
 
A) How much money would you say you'd have to pay for a DAC and SOLID STATE Amp to sufficiently drive HD800s to say ~90% their full potential, more or less?
 
B) Same as A but with a tube amp?

 

[purrin]

Quote:

I wonder why there aren't Wiki pages for every popular headphone out there, outlining its audio characteristics and more importantly, a list of recommended amps at every price point. Because I could really use such a thing rather than sifting through thousands of posts on the forum. I bet you get tired of asking the same questions over and over again too. Why isn't there a head-fi-wiki? (I see a wiki button above but I don't see much specific information except for misc. articles).
 
Speaking of tired rehashed questions, I have an amp question:
 
A) How much money would you say you'd have to pay for a DAC and SOLID STATE Amp to sufficiently drive HD800s to say ~90% their full potential, more or less?
 
B) Same as A but with a tube amp?

 
For B: $8,500 = 90%-100% of their potential. That last ten percent is with the usual audiophool tricks (tubes, cables, meteor rocks, foam mods, etc.) Rough guessimate. Haven't explored enough solid-state amps to say. A lot of tube amps tend to have a little bit higher impedance which goes better with the HD800.
 

 
 

 

[skeptic]

My opinion and/or construction of "90% of their full potential" obviously differs a bit from Purrin's....
 
As far as tube amps go (in my opinion), you will blow by the 90% mark with a crack + speedball (for a little over $300 + the right tubes) - assuming you are willing to build it yourself.  I forget what they charge for the fully assembled version.  To hear substantial improvements from this point, to my ears, requires cashing out for a TOTL amp like a Woo 5 or BA.  Note: I assign 0% difference to pricey cables as I have yet to see any data confirming measurable differences.
 
I haven't spent enough time sampling various dacs, or driving mine with solid state, to offer a sound opinion on either front.

 

[ac500]

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
> For B: $8,500 = 90%-100% of their potential. That last ten percent is with the usual audiophool tricks (tubes, cables, meteor rocks, foam mods, etc.) Rough guessimate. Haven't explored enough solid-state amps to say. A lot of tube amps tend to have a little bit higher impedance which goes better with the HD800.
 
I should have said I meant 90% as far as the AMP is capable of achieving. So in other words, assuming we stick to the stock cable, no "audiophool tricks"... then what DAC/Amp price range achieves 90% of what most other DAC/Amps can.
 
P.S. I found some threads and it seems the Violectric V200 is generally considered very very good, at $1000. There's also some talk about it being the amp that Sennheiser used while developing the HD800s?
 
In any case I honestly don't intend to pay more in amps/dacs than the retail price of the HD800. Maybe when I'm old and gray and have more money than I know what to do with, but not yet.