[Shahrose]

Quote:

I have to disagree, if the power supply quality is bad and it fluctuates then the performance of the hardware will be sub par. This is from personal experience in many locations that I lived in, including studios, etc. A 100$ surge preventer/power conditioner will in most cases solve any hum issues and filter out hums. More expensive conditioners will not only filter but try to adjust a stable output to hardware.
 
 

 
Couple things. Read my post again please. I said if your power is bad, then conditioning and especially regeneration are beneficial. Otherwise, it's a waste of money...or atleast very poor value for your money.
 
Secondly, I've always found cheap power conditioners and especially surge protectors to harm SQ compared to directly plugging into a wall-socket. Once again, assuming you have decent power in the area to begin with.

 

[Dr.J]

I concur with Shahrose; what he describes has been my experience, also.

 

[fejnomit]

I concur as well.  Better off with nothing.  Especially not surge protection - in terms of audio at least...
Even if the power is spotty - which it is in my studio - I still use nothing but neutral power strips so I can plug all my equipment in.
Then I wait for the golden hour of 5pm when SQ improves dramatically.  All critical listening is done either before 9am or after 5pm no matter what...
It's rather incredible what a difference this makes...

 

[drez]

Picked up a pair last week, S/N 14614.  Without Anax mod my ears would hurt.  With Anax mod ear pain is mitigated.  Anax Mod is highly recommended for those who don't like ear pain.

 

[dukeskd]

No protection on your power is a move that can end up with all your hardware blowing up. This happened to me a few years ago, my TV, laptop battery all exploded after a sudden surge from my neighborhood area (where I did experience good power). A cheap surge protector may/may not protect but as I've said 100$ is a good surge protector price and could be pretty much proven. If you're investing $500 USD on an amp/dac, why not protect it?
 
@Shahrose is definitely correct with the power conditioning aspect. I got decent power quality, especially at night time when everyone is asleep, but I will always use a surge protector. I did comparisons with/without the surge protector and the HD800 is a perfect candidate to demonstrate any SQ differences; there were none. Now my surge protector is about ~$120, I did try a cheaper one previously and the Mains hum was not only presently audible but amplified at an extreme level. YMMV.

 

[MorbidToaster]

I use a $100 Furman conditioner and have never experienced lowered SQ (or better for that matter) from it...but it has saved my gear a few times. 
 
I am looking into a Running Springs conditioner in the future just to see if it would make a difference, but if it doesn't it'll go back. 

 

[fejnomit]

To each his own.  I have heard a distinct deadening of dynamics and smearing of details with any surge protector/power conditioner I have used on my audio gear - from Monster to Furman to Richard Grey to Silver Cirlce, especially with headphones.  That being said, I did not mean to imply AV/computer components should be left unprotected.  My printers, monitors, and hard-drives are protected because their loss would be devastating.  As the hard-drives are connected to my computer, which is one of my audio sources, I am making a small sonic sacrifice for safety.  I have had surges blow fuses, which is of course what they are for, but never "hurt" any of my amps or dacs. 

 

[mentt]

Hello everybody!, Just got V200 AMP. What gain setting do you use with HD800?

 

[MelvinV]

Quote:

Hello everybody!, Just got V200 AMP. What gain setting do you use with HD800?

What are your impressions of the amp? I'm thinking of getting it within a few months.

 

[Olias of Sunhillow]

Quote:

What are your impressions of the amp? I'm thinking of getting it within a few months.

I had the HD800 and V200 at the same time a while back. While I prefer tubes with the Senns, the V200 was one of my favorite solid-state pairings with the HD800. The amp's slightly warmer than neutral sound was a good match for the Senns' sometimes clinical presentation. I kept it to the lowest gain settings, FWIW.

 

[Frank I]

I am on my second V200 and it is excellent with the HD800. Like Olias I like the HD800 better with my tube amp but I have been listening for the last week with the V200 and have not turned the tube amp on that time span. i use unity gain on the V200 and it sounds great.The  V200 is good with the Hifiman HE500,LCD2 and the low impedance cans like the AT3000 and the Denon D7K i owned before. The HD800 does not miss a beat with the V200.

 

[analog'd]

Quote:

Picked up a pair last week, S/N 14614.  Without Anax mod my ears would hurt.  With Anax mod ear pain is mitigated.  Anax Mod is highly recommended for those who don't like ear pain.

are you using the stock cable? just curious . i have not heard it as i got my used hd800 s/n 13147 with a blue cardas cable, and except on rare recordings i've played that are not sweet, I get no overly bright highs. I actually get one of the best transparent, extended set o highs i've ever heard from cans or speakers. no digitalis, no glare, no smear (and no lack o bass).
 
tube rolling reveals the tubes more than any other headphone i've owned (he-6, t1, ps1,rs1i, hd580, er4s, k1000, w-3000anv, amperior, momentum). and i am finding that tubes i would not have considered all that transparent and extended in highs are very much so, again, with no trace of ugly anything. my ever amazingly extended and transparent Telefunken stil leads the pack and displays more gloryful highs than through any other headphone, as opposed to revealing more brilliance/brightness.
 
these hd800's don't suck with a good source and an amp they are friendly towards. 

 

[fejnomit]

What amp are you talking about with the HD800/Telefunken?

 

[rgs9200m]

Moon Black Dragon headphone cable makes the HD800 just right to me, top highs to low bass, it's all good. Lots of insight in mids, too. No mods needed with these (mine are balanced, Furutech XLRs make it really good, better than Neutrik and well worth it, recommended by Moon).
(Silver Dragon is best on HE500s for me.)
HD800 serial 133xx.

 

[ValentinHogea]

Even though I'm a guy with a lot of various aftermarket cables (Toxic-Cables, Whiplash, ALO, DHC etc...), I find it hard to find a scientific explanation to removing a quite hefty chamber resonance with a cable.
 
But sure. A 100-500 USD cable vs. 2-3 USD of some self-adhesive felt. Easy choice!