[johnjen]

I've read conflicting reports on this. For some don't hear it or don't mind it, others have said they find it distracting.

I been doing my research.

Top tier soundstage: Sennheiser  HD800
Top tier full bass body: LCD 2 Rev.1
Top tier bass impact/rumble: Fostex TH900
Top tier imaging accuracy: Beyerdynamic T1
Top tier clarity/resolution: Hifiman HE1000
Top tier mids - Probably one of the flagship Grado

Any combination of  those aspects in one headphone would be in the $3,000-$5,000 range headphones.

I'm on page 1,120,  almost caught up.

If I do spend $1,000, I want the soundstage & imaging to be noticeably improved & any brittleness, harshness or overly brightness to the the highs be smoothedout.
I know it is impossible for any amp/dac to give the HD800 the bass of the LCD2, so I am abandoning that dream.

One approach to jumping on the "top tier' bandwagon is to decide your choice of headphone will be the center piece of your system, and then build the rest of the system to 'properly' feed them.

This is an exercise in scaleability, as in, how well does your choice really scale when fed a better signal.

And if your goal is to achieve a benchmark system there are a few systems that can be obtained at a variety of price points.
I heard one at a local meet where the entire system cost ≈ $1000 and it was kick ass.
Of course it could be improved here and there for a few hundred more.

My point is, what is the goal of your desire for a system?

JJ
ps 800's when fed a highly scaled signal, will keep pace better, along with the very best of the TotL headphones available today. And yes it does take tweaking and fussing to find out just how far they will go into scalebility. So if tweaking isn't something you want to deal with, then keep this in mind.

 

[devilboy]

Pull the trigger on something already.

You're just going to sell it sooner or later anyway because the price levell you're at for amps won't do the 800s justice and you're always going to think, "what if........"

 

[johnjen]

snip
I know it is impossible for any amp/dac to give the HD800 the bass of the LCD2, so I am abandoning that dream.

This simply does not match my experience, at all.

In fact the bass out of my 800's goes lower, with way more definition and detail and power than the LCD-X's I auditioned.

JJ

 

[devilboy]

This simply does not match my experience, at all.

In fact the bass out of my 800's goes lower, with way more definition and detail and power than the LCD-X's I auditioned.

JJ

Sorry to say this newguy but it appears that your research isn't giving you all the facts.

 

[johnjen]

I'd be interested in hearing what your experiences are.

Care to elaborate futher?

JJ

 

[jsgraha]

This simply does not match my experience, at all.

In fact the bass out of my 800's goes lower, with way more definition and detail and power than the LCD-X's I auditioned.

JJ

I live with both of 800 & X in more than a year (till I upgrade the X to he1000), and I concur this. HD800 bass when properly amped from a good source to my ears were better than lcd bass (I live with lcd-2 rev 2 for a year and audition lcd-2 rev1). HD800 bass had more texture, resolution, deeper and better impact (though lcd bass felt more richer). Upgrading the source from audio-gd ref7 + sonicweld diverter to schiit yggy gain a better bass on my setup (among other things). But this gain was heard more on hd800 than to lcd-x, so I decided to sell the X.
 
Still like the LCD-X though, it's one of a great phone on my book. Easy to match with amp as well.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

I lived with the HEK for a week, have the HD800, HE560, and tried everything else on your list. I am new to the HD800, still tweaking. In my system the HEK is the best I have ever heard, but it isn't $1,500 better than the HD800 IMO.

I love my Taurus, but would like to add tubes to the mix. Was going to trade my Uber Bifrost towards a Kenzie Headamp but the seller backed out.

So Jazzz, JJ, and other 800 Old Hands, get a Valhalla 2or wait wait for a DNA to show up on the F/S Thread?

 

[pearljam50000]

In what ways the HE1000 is better than HD800?

I lived with the HEK for a week, have the HD800, HE560, and tried everything else on your list. I am new to the HD800, still tweaking. In my system the HEK is the best I have ever heard, but it isn't $1,500 better than the HD800 IMO.

I love my Taurus, but would like to add tubes to the mix. Was going to trade my Uber Bifrost towards a Kenzie Headamp but the seller backed out.

So Jazzz, JJ, and other 800 Old Hands, get a Valhalla 2or wait wait for a DNA to show up on the F/S Thread?

 

[Wildcatsare1]

I felt the overal cohesiveness of its presentation and I prefer the bass on planars.
pearljam50000

 

[Arnotts]

This simply does not match my experience, at all.

In fact the bass out of my 800's goes lower, with way more definition and detail and power than the LCD-X's I auditioned.

JJ

 
HD800's do have excellent, tight, detailed, punchy bass. But LCD-X's do it better, imo.

 

[devilboy]

Auditioned the X for two weeks against the 800. Kept the 800. Its bass was much more accurate, detailed and more "right".
Everything had excess bass through the X. Very annoying. Cymbals had bass.

 

[mikoss]

Auditioned the X for two weeks against the 800. Kept the 800. Its bass was much more accurate, detailed and more "right".
Everything had excess bass through the X. Very annoying. Cymbals had bass.

Which amp were you using to drive both? Just wondering.

 

[JaZZ]

So Jazzz, JJ, and other 800 Old Hands, get a Valhalla 2or wait wait for a DNA to show up on the F/S Thread?

 
Don't ask me that! You should have noticed that I'm a self-confessed amp opponent.

 
More seriously: That's an attitude I can justify as a Hugo owner. But I'm the wrong person to ask this anyway, as I have no experience with the current Head-Fi favorites. Maybe a MicroZOTL 2 or a HeadAmp GS-X mk2 if you ask jamato8 or Icebear.

 

[icebear]

   
Don't ask me that! You should have noticed that I'm a self-confessed amp opponent.

 
More seriously: That's an attitude I can justify as a Hugo owner. But I'm the wrong person to ask this anyway, as I have no experience with the current Head-Fi favorites. Maybe a MicroZOTL 2 or a HeadAmp GS-X mk2 if you ask jamato8 or Icebear.

I'd recommend to get a good (musical sounding with preferred style) source in the first place.
An amp should not be a patch for some upstream issue.

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Actually I love the Taurus Mk.2, I just miss having tubes in the house. Not "patching" but supplementing.

Was thinking of the Valhalla 2, Crack/Speedball, or Icon Audio...