Yes on a HiFi show that this weekend is going on in Vienna. They did some nice things there ... for example they installed a system for comparing HD800 and HD800S by using Senn headphone amp with two balanced outputs where they connected these Senn's so that you can clearly hear the difference and make your decision whether the difference in sound is worth additional money you have to pay for S version.
S has clearly more bass. That changes a bit the whole sound balance, which now has a fuller sound also in a mids. But they succedded to have very clear and crisp highs, which are practicallly the same as for the older model. That gives at the end a bit more substantial sound, more texture in the mid area, with fuller and punchier but well defined bass.
Saying all this, the difference is not huge but rather subtle. The question whether it si worth additional investment ? For me: yes. But that is really a very subjective decision that has some additional influencal parameters, like for example how large is the budget at disposal.
Sennheiser also presented another new cans in the price area of 500-600 euros, which they are marketing as phones for HD sound ... or something like that. They look very nice, they are quite large but I didn't heard them. My understanding is that they are made for the listening with iPads, iPhones and similar. Therefore I guess that they are rather sensitive and easy to drive ...
I always had a feeling that Senn HD800 need a very good amp and I haven't heard a real good one combined with them. Senn's own (larger model) is fairly good but I have feeling that these cans can sound even better than that. So the equation here is not only in buying these new Senn's but also in finding the appropriate amp. Therefore I think that McIntosh made a right decision by providing the whole system (amp + cans) which sounds really fantastic but for a very high price.
.
