[CEE TEE]

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Love the intimacy of the Mono box set, particularly the early albums. The expansion of sound when switching to the Stereo set is glorious though. Listening to Help! from that collection. It's magnificent.

Beatles Mono is so good...and the Love album too!

 

[YoengJyh]

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Finally got around to sliding my speakers off my desk and freeing up space for a bigger chain. Went from a NFB-10SE to a KingRex UC384,  Audio GD SA-1, and Apex Arete/Volcano.
 
I own HD 800 #345 and this rig warms it up quite nicely. Grain is practically eliminated and the previously anemic bass impact has been bumped up a few notches. Soundstage is slightly smaller vs going balanced on the NFB-10SE, but more 3D and enveloping. I'd quantify it as  a 10%-15% improvement for a whole lot of money, but the this level of headphone deserves everything you can throw at it.

 
How you feel the NFB-10SE alone pairing with the HD800 compare to other amp? Do you feel the NFB-10SE is consider good to drive HD800 via Single End and Balance Mode?
 
I am going to purchase WA6SE this coming Dec, but i felt that NFB-10SE is enough to drive HD800. If there is no huge improvement i would like to save my bucks.
 

 

[steve2151]

It's technically very proficient and probably the best $500 dac/amp combo in Head-Fi, but sometimes you just need to try something more colored sounding. The early HD 800s are bass light, so a darker/smooth chain helps even things up a bit.
 
The WA6SE has been reported to be a very good pairing, but you can also look at the WA2 for a more traditional tube sound, 

 

[Anaxilus]

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The early HD 800s are bass light, so a darker/smooth chain helps even things up a bit.

 
That's an urban myth.  Btw, I saw a Chupacabra today.  It was grey, unlike the white ones from the 90's.  

 

[Fegefeuer]

I saw Anaxilus fight monster spiders below Angband to collect webs for his upcoming HD 800 mod.

 

[grokit]

I helped propagate that myth, and although I never actually had them side by side I definitely like my 10xxx model better than the 8xx model I had earlier. Same system but with a couple of tweaks tweaks the second time around. If Sennheiser didn't make any changes to the HD800, I sure got the fully polarized extreme margins of the manufacturing variants.

 

[.Sup]

I helped propagate that myth, and although I never actually had therm side by side I definitely like my 10xxx model better than the 8xx model I had earlier. Same system but with a couple of tweaks tweaks the second time around. If Sennheiser didn't make any changes to the HD800, I sure got the fully polarized extreme margins of the manufacturing variants.

Did you compare them side by side?

 

[John Willett]

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Has someone already noticed a wearing off of the Alcantara pads?
 
On my HD800 (~2 years old now, nearly daily used) there are some dark-grey areas on the normally black pads.
 
They are shining through, so to speak...
 
First, I thought that that was dirt from sweating, but after washing the HD800 pads, this is even more noticeable.
 
The pads are and feel otherwise fine (like new) and the filling is not coming out or so (there are no holes in it).
 
Searching the Internet led my to some HD800 pictures, where you can see such areas on the HD800's pads, too.
 
So I guess it might be normal that the upper coat of the Alcantara wears off after a while.
 
Here a picture of my HD800, to show you what exactly I mean (marked with thin red lines):
 

 
New replacement pads cost ~75 EUR.
 
Maybe I'll buy some to store them, because there may come a day in the (hopefully distant) future, when the pads need to be replaced, so or so.

 
The HD 800 do not have Alcantara pads.
 
Only the early pre-production models had Alcantara - it was changed before production started as Alcantara proved not to be good enough.

 

[Anaxilus]

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I saw Anaxilus fight monster spiders below Angband to collect webs for his upcoming HD 800 mod.

 
Funny you mention that.  I just got done playing w/ some web like material.  Gonna measure it in a few days. 

 

[grokit]

Quote:

Quote:

I helped propagate that myth, and although I never actually had them side by side I definitely like my 10xxx model better than the 8xx model I had earlier. Same system but with a couple of tweaks tweaks the second time around. If Sennheiser didn't make any changes to the HD800, I sure got the fully polarized extreme margins of the manufacturing variants.

Did you compare them side by side?

 

 

[spixder]

Man such a blast listening to movie scores on the 800's, takes u straight to cloud nine. Currently listening to Last Samurai, what a blast it is.
 

 

[Questhate]

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How you feel the NFB-10SE alone pairing with the HD800 compare to other amp? Do you feel the NFB-10SE is consider good to drive HD800 via Single End and Balance Mode?
 
I am going to purchase WA6SE this coming Dec, but i felt that NFB-10SE is enough to drive HD800. If there is no huge improvement i would like to save my bucks.
 

I went from an NFB-10SE to an EC S7 and never looked back. Even when using the DAC section in the 10SE, the amp is MUCH superior in the S7 in rendering resolution, micro-details and soundstage/imaging. The most impressive difference is in soundstage depth, as the S7 throws a bigger image that is littered with subtle positional information. The 10SE sounds "flat" in comparison. 
 
The reason I wanted to upgrade from the 10SE in the first place is there is some etch/glare in the upper end that doesn't play nice with the HD800. The S7 has alleviated that -- sibilant recordings are still sibilant, but doesn't have the extra hardness added. 
 
I thought it was a big upgrade, and I'm not just talking small "crazy audiophile" differences either -- I had friends over with no interest in this hobby and they all remarked how much better the S7 sounded. Every one of them commented on how much "bigger" the sound was out of the S7. But then again, you're talking 3X+ time the price, without even factoring in the DAC. 

 

[dukeskd]

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Man such a blast listening to movie scores on the 800's, takes u straight to cloud nine. Currently listening to Last Samurai, what a blast it is.
 

Listen to the Dark Knight Rises score, amazing

 

[YoengJyh]

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I went from an NFB-10SE to an EC S7 and never looked back. Even when using the DAC section in the 10SE, the amp is MUCH superior in the S7 in rendering resolution, micro-details and soundstage/imaging. The most impressive difference is in soundstage depth, as the S7 throws a bigger image that is littered with subtle positional information. The 10SE sounds "flat" in comparison. 
 
The reason I wanted to upgrade from the 10SE in the first place is there is some etch/glare in the upper end that doesn't play nice with the HD800. The S7 has alleviated that -- sibilant recordings are still sibilant, but doesn't have the extra hardness added. 
 
I thought it was a big upgrade, and I'm not just talking small "crazy audiophile" differences either -- I had friends over with no interest in this hobby and they all remarked how much better the S7 sounded. Every one of them commented on how much "bigger" the sound was out of the S7. But then again, you're talking 3X+ time the price, without even factoring in the DAC. 

 
Are you sure!!? Huge different? 
 
Poor wallet... 

 

[SladeWilson]

Got Burson 160 DS and HD 800 but sound doesnt do much , whats envelope and Soundstage is it 3d ? do you have to have really good ears to tell  ?