Well, in the 2 weeks that my HFI-780 have been gone on their visit to Skylab, I have put another 300 hours on the Woo 6 amp, for over 520 hours total now, and I used the APS cabled Denon D2000 connected to the WA6 during burn-in. For most of that 2 weeks I was unhappy with the sound of the D2000 and Woo, and wishing for my 780's back, to pair with the Dark Voice 336i. I found myself listening to the RS-1 and Edition 9 more and more during that down time, both of which also have the APS v3 cable installed.
However, both the WA6 and the D2000 started to sound noticeably better in the past 24-48 hours, as the huge V-caps and BlackGates are burning-in. Bass has finally filled in, and soundstage is opening up. I am listening to a Jazz CD in XRCD (Jazz at the PawnShop
First Impression Music Inc) and the D2000 are more natural sounding with this particular live music than the HFI-780 at this point in time.
So, at this point, for closed phones and depending on the genre, I am liking the APS V2 cabled D2000 as much or better than the ALO HFI-780's, but not as much as the Edition 9. I love the bass on the 780's - only the Edition 9 can make the kinda bass these 780's can make, strong powerful and controlled. But, the Edition 9 soundstage is noticeably better than the 780's, which are more like my Grado RS-2 (except my HF-1 which have a big soundstage, and even the RS-1 are feeling bigger to me right now). So, the D2000 and Edition 9 both have a bigger deeper soundstage, while the 780 are more limited in that area (I've said that before).
While it is clear the Woo 6 sounds better (with any headphones), that should just make the 780's all that much better over the D2000, but that isn't what I am hearing. I am thinking that this time it IS my ears that have burned-in for 2 weeks; as I have gotten used to several headphones with a bigger soundstage, and now it is hard to go back to one that is a little more constricted. The 780 still sound like an open headphone, not to confuse the term "constricted" with "closed sounding".
The 780's have everything else, impact, punch, bass, mids, treble, but sometimes the snare drum is closer than the piano, etc. So yeah, I am finding that soundstage depth is pretty important for ensembles, jazz bands and classical, etc. That was one reason I sold my HD25-1, but my 780's are better in every way than the HD25-1 to me. The 780 put me on stage (a wide one), and the D2000/Ed9 put me in the 2nd row where I can appreciate the whole forest and not just the leaves (while not sounding distant). I find the 780's are still my favorite (#1) for Rock and Electronic and New Age, but now I am hooked on my RS-1 and Edition 9 and D2000 for Jazz and Classical.
I have no regrets with the 780's, but I am reminded there are some areas where they excel over others, and other areas where I will reach for another headphone first. This break gave me an opportunity to retrain my ears to the D2000 and enjoy them again.
