[Whitigir]

Nice! Well, I am curious, and love cables, and you will see (mine) for sure

 

[JimL11]

Hmm, now I kinda see why there is not much talk about the Hd800s Cables. The bottle neck is the pins connection. These are sized at 23awg max. Well, Sony uses the same lame little 28Awg or so internal wires on their headphones too...

Not really that much of a limitation. 23 gauge wire is specified to take 4.7 amps for chassis wiring, and 729 mA for power transmission. Considering that the HD800 is specified at 102 dB for 1 mW into 300 ohms = 1.8 mA, 15 mA will give 120 dB SPL, which is the threshold of pain.

 

[Whitigir]

Not really that much of a limitation. 23 gauge wire is specified to take 4.7 amps for chassis wiring, and 729 mA for power transmission. Considering that the HD800 is specified at 102 dB for 1 mW into 300 ohms = 1.8 mA, 15 mA will give 120 dB SPL, which is the threshold of pain.

Yes, mathematically, you are correct. Working on these cables is a huge PITA...lol

 

[crayons23]

Really digging the Rogue Rh-5 with the hd 800S. While my search for a more bass heavy
second pair goes on i am really enjoying the combo of the rogue and the hd 800 S with hugo 2 as my dac. If anyone has any suggestions for a second pair that is essentially an hd 800 s with double the bass i am all ears!

 

[Whitigir]

Got the 800s today and tried with Wm1Z, pretty good stock cables that use SPC shielding and SPC conductors, but small like 26 Awg. Internal wires are like 28 Awg, just upgraded to 23 Awg Solid Silver. I do like how it sound from Wm1Z

 

[Whitigir]

Btw, anyone modified their 800/S by hardwired and no longer need stock sockets. I am looking for them. Still want to make adaptors but rather use used authentic one. Thanks

 

[bobbyblack]

Really digging the Rogue Rh-5 with the hd 800S. While my search for a more bass heavy
second pair goes on i am really enjoying the combo of the rogue and the hd 800 S with hugo 2 as my dac. If anyone has any suggestions for a second pair that is essentially an hd 800 s with double the bass i am all ears!

Hard mission to find something similar with HD800S,better go with some planars like HE500 or LCD2 /C like complementary headphone.

 

[MarkF786]

Single ended you could save some money and get a Schiit Bifrost Multibit Gen 5 DAC for $600 and a Lyr 3 (amp only) for $500 and save money. That is what I would do. The Lyr 3 is getting great reviews and Bifrost is upgradeable if Schiit improves it. Next step up is running balanced using Mjolnir 2 amp plus Gungnir Multibit DAC total cost would be over your budget though. Hope this helps. It's your hard earned money, research other forums also and spend wisely. Listening before buying is best if you are near an audio jam.

I’d second that recommendation, or get the Lyr 3 with the built in Multibit DAC card to save more money.

 

[smodtactical]

What about a big schiit stack (Rag+Yggy) for HD 800 S. I have a Burson conductor SL 9018 right now, would this be a substantial upgrade? Running flacs off a pc over usb with foobar2000.

 

[crayons23]

Hard mission to find something similar with HD800S,better go with some planars like HE500 or LCD2 /C like complementary headphone.

i'd like to check out the focal clear and the abyss phi. i did enjoy the ether closed but the bass was not enough of a jump to warrant the price. maybe one of the aforementioned models will do? i was able to try the abyss lite and was very impressed with the sound, less so with the feel of the headphone. till then i will continue which just the 800S because i can't find anything else
that can touch it in it's price range. I just wish it had about 40% more bass because it prevents me from listening to certain genres that the 800S simply cannot handle at all.

 

[vlach]

i'd like to check out the focal clear and the abyss phi. i did enjoy the ether closed but the bass was not enough of a jump to warrant the price. maybe one of the aforementioned models will do? i was able to try the abyss lite and was very impressed with the sound, less so with the feel of the headphone. till then i will continue which just the 800S because i can't find anything else
that can touch it in it's price range. I just wish it had about 40% more bass because it prevents me from listening to certain genres that the 800S simply cannot handle at all.

I'm somewhat in the same boat and the reality (at least for me) is that nothing short of the HEK V2 will satisfy me at this point. If only i could rationalize the price of admission.

 

[bobbyblack]

i'd like to check out the focal clear and the abyss phi. i did enjoy the ether closed but the bass was not enough of a jump to warrant the price. maybe one of the aforementioned models will do? i was able to try the abyss lite and was very impressed with the sound, less so with the feel of the headphone. till then i will continue which just the 800S because i can't find anything else
that can touch it in it's price range. I just wish it had about 40% more bass because it prevents me from listening to certain genres that the 800S simply cannot handle at all.

Never listened Clear or Abyss but i owned in parallel both HE500/HD800S and for some genres of rock,pop,hip-hop,HE500 perform better.I sold the HE500 because i listen mostly jazz,blues,acoustic,female vocalists in which context the HD800S are superior.

 

[111MilesToGo]

Never listened Clear or Abyss but i owned in parallel both HE500/HD800S and for some genres of rock,pop,hip-hop,HE500 perform better.I sold the HE500 because i listen mostly jazz,blues,acoustic,female vocalists in which context the HD800S are superior.

I auditioned the HD 800 S and the Focal Clear (and Beyerdynamic T1 2nd gen, Stax L700) from a Hugo 2. Went away from the store with the 800 S - always happy since then. The 800 S just grabbed me and snapped in as „just right“, „musical“ and truely engaging - and that feeling persists ever since. Only the Stax L700 driven by tubes achieved the same experience and some more. The Clear seemed a tad artificial in comparison. Hard to describe in more words, sorry.

Just my two cents...

Edit: Broad music interests classical to jazz (acoustic and electric) to rock („classic“) to pop, most notable exceptions heavy metal and EDM.

 

[Snowpuppy77]

What about a big schiit stack (Rag+Yggy) for HD 800 S. I have a Burson conductor SL 9018 right now, would this be a substantial upgrade? Running flacs off a pc over usb with foobar2000.

I have read about but have not heard the Burson conductor. I can confirm what others have said about the Ragnarok have some of the positive traits of tube amps. There is a smoothness or almost a creaminess to the sound vs some solid state amps. A good quality tone that is reminiscent of tubes. However that is not to say that detail is being covered up. It is like all of the detail is there without it being thin or rough around the edges. And there is so much power and headroom that the HD800S behave that they are fully satisfied which allows them to really open up and show their potential. I use medium gain.

 

[LarryMagoo]

I've had mine for almost two years as well and still love their sound! Really comfortable and are very well built! Just this last weekend at the So Cal Can Jam, I picked up a pair of Mr Speakers Aeon Flow Closed....Really musical headphone and way comfortable as well. They are a great addition to my 800S, HD650...I'm still breaking them in but after 60 or so hours....they are really starting to shine!!! They do have a different/stronger bottom end than the 800S....nice addition for me for sure!