[Geek]

It's strange though, the HD800s seem to have a passifying effect on me when I listen to them, as opposed to generating anger... mabye I'm Sauron?

 

[Skylab]

Well, I for one am swearing off of them (I'm sure this will come as exceedingly good news for some). I don't enjoy the HD800 threads. And as of today, I no longer have the HD800's in my possession, so best I refrain from any further comment. I expect this will have the effect of increasing my enjoyment of my head-fi time ;D

 

[Pale Rider]

What Geek said in Post 23, with the caveat that, while I think the low registers are excellent in their accuracy of bass reproduction, I am not sure some so-called "bassheads" will hear them quite that way. Overall, I prefer my JH13s, but I do love my 800s.

 

[Geek]

Pale Rider,

Again, I should've mentioned in that post that my associated equipment is considered slightly on the dark side by most people on these forums, especially my amp... I had one of my buddies in tears listening to D&B on my rig, and it's definitely not just the 800s

 

[IPodPJ]

A few things:

Firstly, I was erroneous in my previous statement about Sennheiser not contacting me for repair. They did in fact leave me a message on my cell phone. I'm not sure why I never received it earlier, but when I went to check today it was there and it was left at least a few weeks ago.

Sennheiser is offering the spring modification free of charge obviously and you must ship your HD800 to them. I didn't really understand the address he left for me because his accent was very heavy, but it is in Connecticut. What I did get from it was stuff he spelled out clearly for me. His name is Uwe Sattler and his phone number is 860-434-4576. If anyone wants their springs fixed and you live in the U.S., this is the man to call.

Sky,
I was shocked at how much bass was revealed to me from the HD800 when using my impedance adapters. My girlfriend actually thinks they now have too much bass. I do not share in that opinion, but it has affected the transparency of the upper mids and treble a bit. But it has really brought out the bass in the 100Hz range which is where the HD800 impedance jumps up to 600 ohms. Even bassheads would be very happy with them. The HD800 most definitely have the ability to produce strong, deep, punchy, impacting bass. They just need to be driven accordingly.

The adapters I am using are XLR and each one has a pair of 50 ohm 5 watt Mills resistors (totalling 100 ohms of resistance). I am going to have another pair made, and I think (with the Phoenix) that if I take it down just slightly to 80 ohms by using a pair of 40 ohm nude Vishay S102 resistors the tonality of my system will be virtually perfect. With the 100 ohm adapters I am using now, the sound I am getting is the furthest from digital I have ever heard but I can tell it has just a tiny tiny too much bass and the transparency is not as clean as plugging in directly to the 3 ohm headphone outs on the amp -- but it is very relaxing and enjoying to listen to.

 

[Fafner]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif Sky, I was shocked at how much bass was revealed to me from the HD800 when using my impedance adapters. My girlfriend actually thinks they now have too much bass. I do not share in that opinion, but it has affected the transparency of the upper mids and treble a bit. But it has really brought out the bass in the 100Hz range which is where the HD800 impedance jumps up to 600 ohms. Even bassheads would be very happy with them. The HD800 most definitely have the ability to produce strong, deep, punchy, impacting bass. They just need to be driven accordingly.

I'm not using any adapter atm, but in my setup the balanced HD800's bass goes even deeper than the balanced HD650, while sounding more focused, perfectly positioned and much more real.

 

[feifan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif I was shocked at how much bass was revealed to me from the HD800 when using my impedance adapters. My girlfriend actually thinks they now have too much bass. I do not share in that opinion, but it has affected the transparency of the upper mids and treble a bit. But it has really brought out the bass in the 100Hz range which is where the HD800 impedance jumps up to 600 ohms. Even bassheads would be very happy with them. The HD800 most definitely have the ability to produce strong, deep, punchy, impacting bass. They just need to be driven accordingly. The adapters I am using are XLR and each one has a pair of 50 ohm 5 watt Mills resistors (totalling 100 ohms of resistance). I am going to have another pair made, and I think (with the Phoenix) that if I take it down just slightly to 80 ohms by using a pair of 40 ohm nude Vishay S102 resistors the tonality of my system will be virtually perfect. With the 100 ohm adapters I am using now, the sound I am getting is the furthest from digital I have ever heard but I can tell it has just a tiny tiny too much bass and the transparency is not as clean as plugging in directly to the 3 ohm headphone outs on the amp -- but it is very relaxing and enjoying to listen to.

IPodPJ, I'm having a hard time "seeing" this mod in my head. They're on your balanced headphone cables? Where on the cables? What do the resistors look like on the cables? I'm assuming it's a permanent alteration to the cables and not a plug-in adaptor of some kind. A photo? Or drawing?

It would be great if there's a way for all HD800 owners to switch in these modded cables to get some thumping bass every once in a while. They'd work with SE, too?

Sorry for all these questions.

 

[IPodPJ]

The cables aren't modded, they are adapters.

You can see them here:

 

[feifan]

OK, thanks. I think I see them. The part with the adapter (just below the V formed by the balanced XLR outs?) is hard to make out in the photo. So you simply plug the single end of the HD800 cable into the adapter?

Would a similar adapter for SE amps get similar (though not as good as balanced) bass results?

How can we get these, too? Or are they DIYers?

[EDIT] Can you ID the different components in your rack?

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif The cables aren't modded, they are adapters. You can see them here:

 

[IPodPJ]

In order from top to bottom:
1) Sennheiser HD800 + APureSound V3 XLR w/ Rhodium Furutech FP601M connectors (and HD800 box)
2) Logitech Transporter
3) Audio-gd Phoenix Power Supply/Control chassis
4) Audio-gd Phoenix Headphone amp/preamp section
5) PS Audio Power Plant Premier
6) Audio-gd Reference One DAC
(and behind the rack are some very good power cords)

For the adapters, contact Head-Fier "Koyaan I. Sqatsi"

 

[feifan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by IPodPJ /img/forum/go_quote.gif For the adapters, contact Head-Fier "Koyaan I. Sqatsi"

Thanks, IPodPJ.

Quote:

In order from top to bottom: 1) Sennheiser HD800 + APureSound V3 XLR w/ Rhodium Furutech FP601M connectors (and HD800 box) 2) Logitech Transporter 3) Audio-gd Phoenix Power Supply/Control chassis 4) Audio-gd Phoenix Headphone amp/preamp section 5) PS Audio Power Plant Premier 6) Audio-gd Reference One DAC (and behind the rack are some very good power cords)

Very nice. Thanks! I thought the Phoenix duo would be bigger. That's a good size.

I was reading up on the Audio-gd Reference One, and the description of the power supply threw me. Would you say this is one of the distinguishing features of this DAC? How would you rate the Reference One?

[Quote from the Audio-gd site:]
Power supply: DAC Reference One uses three different types of power transformers to match different electric circuitry. The power transformers and rectifiers are carefully shielded from the electric field of the power transformers and rectifiers’ frequency transmission. More than 50,000uf audio grade NOVER capacitors are used to ensure ample and smooth power feed. The NOVER capacitors are specially made by U.K. according to Audio GD’s requirement. 20 groups of parallel voltage regulators are combined into two groups of cascade-like parallel voltage regulators to lower the internal resistance and to purify power supply. To achieve Silent operation, the control circuit is powered with separate regulator. Such power supply setup is rare in domestic designs, and more common in Hi-end DACs made by renowned Audiophile Companies, which plays a crucial role in the performance of their DACs.

 

[kool bubba ice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pearljam5000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Why do you people think that there are so many contradicting reviews of the HD800 while this is not the case with O2 and K1000 which ALWAYS get amazing reviews?

Only after they were out of production.. They were pretty much dissed, & some bought them for as low as 400..

 

[Mediahound]

Wow, the box/case for the HD800s looks huge. What am I gonna do with that? (I just ordered the HD800s!)

 

[pearljam5000]

Did anyone try some stoner rock with the HD800?how do they handle electric guitars in general?i'm not sure if this is off topic or not...

 

[Cool_Torpedo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pearljam5000 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Did anyone try some stoner rock with the HD800?how do they handle electric guitars in general?i'm not sure if this is off topic or not...

They aren't Grados, but fare quite better than the HD600. Definitely not hard-rock to go cans, but enjoyable nonetheless for my taste and demands with such genre, which of course may be quite different than others'.