If you want shouty mids, get an SR-5, more forward mids than the Lambda with the rest of the spectrum a notch down in quality or so.
I strongly disagree with the comment of how a regular Lambda package being ahead of the HD800's sound, I've owned enough and both multiple times to say this is not true. A well powered HD800 is better than the entire Lambda frame earspeakers with a few equal or tradeoffs compared to the LNS which is my reference Lambda for baseline comparisons. Ask spritzer on his impressions of his L2 powered HD800.
Yeah extra $400 worth of extra clamping force onto your noggin'. If there is one thing I like Stax to bring back is the first Lambda frame headband designs, so comfortable with zilch clamping force.
I'm not sure I want 'em "shouty"; that "beater" Lambda of mine probably already qualifies with the midrange hump. What I like about a real, well-cared-for SR-Lambda compared to that set is that it's more even throughout the spectrum, yet this does not detract from the vocals. I'm not sure it's all that easy to explain, but this is something the SR-202 and HE-400 failed at.
Also, I was under the impression that spritzer preferred even Lambda-frame Stax to every dynamic driver headphone ever made, HD800 included. There is the possibility that I may have been looking at old posts and/or putting the wrong name to those old posts. Still, the important part you mentioned is "well powered", which I suppose makes the HD800 like the Omega-series sets in that respect...my question is what kind of amp would be an ideal match for the HD800 in the first place. The Stax situation is much simpler simply because there aren't that many amps to choose from; they're either compatible or they're not.
I don't like the higher clamping force with the Nova/numerical arc much, either; it turned out that my "beater" Lambda was actually much looser than usual, but my "quality" SR-Lambda manages to have just enough clamp to keep it on my head solidly WITHOUT being irritating about it.
Speaking of wub wubs and sparkles, some guy came to audition my SRM-T1 the other day with normal bias Lambdas and said he was missing the slam/impact.
Eh, I think they have plenty of slam and impact already. Not HE-400 level, but it's way more than the AD700.
I'm not a basshead, and I most certainly don't want my headphones giving me a concussion when I'm trying to pinpoint people to shoot in the face in the middle of a firefight and there are explosions going off everywhere.
Besides, if that's what people are looking for, I don't think ANY headphone can deliver that with authority. For that matter, I haven't even found many full-size
subwoofers that can extend down to 20 Hz and reproduce that well. Controlled sub-bass must be difficult, and I don't know what people like Hans Zimmer are thinking if they use parts of the audio spectrum that only a very small minority of audio equipment will ever be able to reach. (Overtones? Wanting people to upgrade to audiophile-quality stuff to make the most out of their soundtracks?)