[Sorrodje]

Indeed, I too was aware of that, but don't you think I would regain some of it back by moving from a Valhalla 2 to a more resolving/transparent amp? I feel that I am adding double warmth to the sound now, both via tubes and HD800S...

 
 
Never heard the Val2  but from what I've read here or there the val2 is not warm at all so I don't think an amp will bring the change you want except some very Hi end ones like Eddie current top offers.  if I were you and If I couldn't stand the slight loss of instrument separtion i'd go back to HD800 and EQ or mod it to your tastes  

 

[batracom]

Haven't heard the Reflektors but how about swapping tubes to remove some of the warmth?

Thanks, that's a possibility - what do you suggest?

 

[MIKELAP]

 

  Made the jump to the ¨S¨model really like that extra bass compare to the HD800 and a little less treble .Happy camper .

Never had the 800, but yes the 800S is pretty darn sweet. Not sure if you like to do so, but the 800S seems to take a gentle bass boost really well.

To me so far they sound very good  especially out of the Burson Conductor might even prefer it to the WA22 will listen more and time will tell.Also if i want more bass i can always use my Lawton modded Denon D5000 plenty of bass there 

 

[Sonic Defender]

Thanks, that's a possibility - what do you suggest?

Do you by chance have a nice speaker amplifier in your home? If you do, I would have some speaker tap cables made and simply use the speaker terminal output to drive the 800S. I do this with my NAD M3 which is a 180 watt amp that had no headphone input. I have driven quite a few headphones directly from my M3 using the speaker tap cable such as: ZMF Vibro X. MDR Z7, TH 900, TH 600, HD 800S, HD 600, HE 560, HE 400i, ONKYO A800, LCD 2F and a few others.
 
My point in providing the list of headphones was to demonstrate that there is no headphone that can't work with a speaker tap cable. I sold my LCD2F a few weeks and the buyer couldn't believe how amazing the LCD2F was from the speaker taps. This man owns pretty amazing gear Accuphase and Harbeth so he knows his audio as he has spent years getting his sytems right. We were discussing the possible headphone amp he might get when I asked him do you really think any headphone amp out there could possibly hold a candle to his Accuphase amp? Of course not, not even the Blue Hawaii. Speaker amps have plenty of power due to big beefy power supplies.
 
I'll add to this suggestion. So one day I'm in a coffee shop and I overhear two men talking, they are obviously both audio engineers. One was telling the other about his time in China. I introduce myself and sit down with them. The one returning from China had set-up and run a production facility for Bose, so safe to assume he knows a thing or two about audio engineering. The other man was a designer of power supplies and he had designed many headphone amps including some for brands commonly discussed here. When we got talking about the heart of any really good amplifier the biggest factor they agreed is the quality of the power supply. So again, if you have a nice sounding solid state speaker amp why spend a $1000 on another box, simply get speaker tap cables made and take advantage of what you already have (assuming you do have one). Now I'm not talking about the nasty cheap stuff, but any decently designed amp should do. As long as you like the sound signature of the amp, that is what you can expect from the headphone if you can predict how they will sound together.
 
I asked @StanD about whether or not my speaker amp actually is working too hard given the headphones are much higher resistive loads than my speakers and he explained to me that this actually is easier on the amp not harder. So as long as you have a volume dial your golden. I'm shocked more people don't use speaker tap cables. I had mine made by Trevor at Norne Audio and he did a fantastic job. I had him make it in two sections. One section is short and stays connected to the amp all the time with a 4 pin XLR termination. Easy to tuck out of sight when not needed. The longer section of course that goes with the headphones (detachable and I have a few adapters for most style of headphones) simply has the matching XLR connector.
 
I would love to buy a headphone amp, but there isn't one made that I could afford that would have any chance of being more capable than the NAD M3 so sadly I just don't need one. I did add an OTL amp for a different flavor mind you, but I don't need a SS head amp anymore. Just some thoughts to consider.

 

[Mambosenior]

Do you by chance have a nice speaker amplifier in your home? If you do, I would have some speaker tap cables made and simply use the speaker terminal output to drive the 800S. I do this with my NAD M3 which is a 180 watt amp that had no headphone input. I have driven quite a few headphones directly from my M3 using the speaker tap cable such as: ZMF Vibro X. MDR Z7, TH 900, TH 600, HD 800S, HD 600, HE 560, HE 400i, ONKYO A800, LCD 2F and a few others.

My point in providing the list of headphones was to demonstrate that there is no headphone that can't work with a speaker tap cable. I sold my LCD2F a few weeks and the buyer couldn't believe how amazing the LCD2F was from the speaker taps. This man owns pretty amazing gear Accuphase and Harbeth so he knows his audio as he has spent years getting his sytems right. We were discussing the possible headphone amp he might get when I asked him do you really think any headphone amp out there could possibly hold a candle to his Accuphase amp? Of course not, not even the Blue Hawaii. Speaker amps have plenty of power due to big beefy power supplies.

I'll add to this suggestion. So one day I'm in a coffee shop and I overhear two men talking, they are obviously both audio engineers. One was telling the other about his time in China. I introduce myself and sit down with them. The one returning from China had set-up and run a production facility for Bose, so safe to assume he knows a thing or two about audio engineering. The other man was a designer of power supplies and he had designed many headphone amps including some for brands commonly discussed here. When we got talking about the heart of any really good amplifier the biggest factor they agreed is the quality of the power supply. So again, if you have a nice sounding solid state speaker amp why spend a $1000 on another box, simply get speaker tap cables made and take advantage of what you already have (assuming you do have one). Now I'm not talking about the nasty cheap stuff, but any decently designed amp should do. As long as you like the sound signature of the amp, that is what you can expect from the headphone if you can predict how they will sound together.

I asked @StanD
 about whether or not my speaker amp actually is working too hard given the headphones are much higher resistive loads than my speakers and he explained to me that this actually is easier on the amp not harder. So as long as you have a volume dial your golden. I'm shocked more people don't use speaker tap cables. I had mine made by Trevor at Norne Audio and he did a fantastic job. I had him make it in two sections. One section is short and stays connected to the amp all the time with a 4 pin XLR termination. Easy to tuck out of sight when not needed. The longer section of course that goes with the headphones (detachable and I have a few adapters for most style of headphones) simply has the matching XLR connector.

I would love to buy a headphone amp, but there isn't one made that I could afford that would have any chance of being more capable than the NAD M3 so sadly I just don't need one. I did add an OTL amp for a different flavor mind you, but I don't need a SS head amp anymore. Just some thoughts to consider.

I've been doing and suggesting the same for 5 years. So have a few others. The 800S as well as the 800 thrive with even a half-way decent speaker amp.

(The "blow up and burn your eardrums" crowd will, undoubtedly, make its entrance here soon enough.)

 

[Sonic Defender]

I've been doing and suggesting the same for 5 years. So have a few others. The 800S as well as the 800 thrive with even a half-way decent speaker amp.

(The "blow up and burn your eardrums" crowd will, undoubtedly, make its entrance here soon enough.)

Yes, I do remember reading posts of yours in the main speaker tap thread. Glad to see you're still in the game! The 800S is just amazing via the M3 which while I'm not suggesting it is elite territory at all, it is nonetheless a pretty solid amp with great power rails so that is critical.

 

[Randy Myers]

I just got a Benchmark DAC2 HGC to replace the NuPrime DAC-10H.  Although the Benchmark does not have balanced outputs for the headphones (they specifically say that they will not because they believe it is not an improvement and in some ways may actually hurt the headphone amplifier) the HD800S do sound fantastic on it.  I am constantly amazed how good these headphones are and now using the standard plug they seem to sound just as good.,

 

[Christer]

  I just got a Benchmark DAC2 HGC to replace the NuPrime DAC-10H.  Although the Benchmark does not have balanced outputs for the headphones (they specifically say that they will not because they believe it is not an improvement and in some ways may actually hurt the headphone amplifier) the HD800S do sound fantastic on it.  I am constantly amazed how good these headphones are and now using the standard plug they seem to sound just as good.,

Nice to hear that you like it. I alternate between the DAC2 HGC and my Hugo. They  sound different but both have their strengths imho.
I am still using the HD 800  I found the HD800S a little bit exaggerated in the bass compared to how I have heard some stuff both live and recorded at sessions.
With the Benchmark  I would expect the bass of HD800S to be even "fatter" than via Hugo.

 

[Zoom25]

Now that the HD 800 S package has been out for some time, I figured I'd ask here how the Sennheiser's own balanced cable compares against other competitors at various prices?
 
I have the HD 800 and use it with its stock 1/4" cable. I will be getting a balanced cable and was wondering if Sennheiser's own cable is worth going for or something else?

 

[erik701]

  Now that the HD 800 S package has been out for some time, I figured I'd ask here how the Sennheiser's own balanced cable compares against other competitors at various prices?
 
I have the HD 800 and use it with its stock 1/4" cable. I will be getting a balanced cable and was wondering if Sennheiser's own cable is worth going for or something else?

I used Sennheiser CH800 S balanced cable with my HD800 and now I'm using balanced cabled which I received with my HD800S. It's the same cable, that's the main reason why HD800S are more expensive, not like some people think that because of "new" headphones, price is higher because they came with this balanced cable. 
 
I never used any other balanced cable with my HD800 or HD800S, but I can tell you that when I switched from classic 6,3mm terminated cable to CH800 S, I immediately noticed the difference. Bass were richer and deeper, whole sound signature was faster. Then I immediately sold original stock cable from HD800.
 
Currently I'm selling CH800 S cable, as the same cable only with black connector came with my HD800S, so if you are interested please PM me.
 
ERIK

 

[Zoom25]

I used Sennheiser CH800 S balanced cable with my HD800 and now I'm using balanced cabled which I received with my HD800S. It's the same cable, that's the main reason why HD800S are more expensive, not like some people think that because of "new" headphones, price is higher because they came with this balanced cable. 

I never used any other balanced cable with my HD800 or HD800S, but I can tell you that when I switched from classic 6,3mm terminated cable to CH800 S, I immediately noticed the difference. Bass were richer and deeper, whole sound signature was faster. Then I immediately sold original stock cable from HD800.

Currently I'm selling CH800 S cable, as the same cable only with black connector came with my HD800S, so if you are interested please PM me.

ERIK

Yes, I'm well aware of the difference between balanced and unbalanced amp topologies. I was specifically asking about how the cable ranks against other balanced cables.

 

[Randy Myers]

I have not personally compared, however I have had a few friends on other forums tell me that the Sennheiser balanced cable is quite good.  I used it with the HD800S when I first got them but then I switched to the Benchmark Pre-Amplifier/DAC/Headphone Amplifier which specifically does not support balanced headphone output.  The 800S sound fantastic with this amplifier.
 
Therefore I believe balanced or not depends on the particular design of the amplifier.  With the NuPrime DAC-10H the balanced was better, but with the Benchmark DAC2 HGC the 1/4" plug works great (they specifically and purposely do not design a balanced headphone amplifier).
 
I do have a new Black Sennheiser Balanced Cable that I might be convinced to let go ....

 

[BarDash]

I notice a significant difference using a balanced cable with the HD800s's. Enough so that I sprung for a Wywires Platinum balanced (with a 30% discount)

 

[Zoom25]

  I have not personally compared, however I have had a few friends on other forums tell me that the Sennheiser balanced cable is quite good.  I used it with the HD800S when I first got them but then I switched to the Benchmark Pre-Amplifier/DAC/Headphone Amplifier which specifically does not support balanced headphone output.  The 800S sound fantastic with this amplifier.
 
Therefore I believe balanced or not depends on the particular design of the amplifier.  With the NuPrime DAC-10H the balanced was better, but with the Benchmark DAC2 HGC the 1/4" plug works great (they specifically and purposely do not design a balanced headphone amplifier).
 
I do have a new Black Sennheiser Balanced Cable that I might be convinced to let go ....

 
Did they reference it against other balanced cables?

 

[Zoom25]

Okay, I think I may have not been clear regarding what I was asking based on the responses I'm getting. I've dealt with balanced amps and cables before, and so know the inherent benefits of going balanced. I was looking for something along the line of:
 
Consistent:
1) Same balanced DAC
2) Same balanced headphone amp
3) Same pair of headphone (HD 800)
 
Varying:
1) The different brands of the balanced cables for HD 800 (e.g. Norse Balanced vs. CH 800 S vs. WyWorld Balanced vs. Cardas Clear Balanced).
 
 
(I figured I would ask for balanced as people are more likely to spend on an aftermaket cable when its a balanced cable as opposed to a single ended one. The comparison could also be done on a single ended amp with various cables, and I would be open to those comparisons as well.  As long as we're comparing apples with apples.)