[Sinter]

I have no idea if they would fix your cable but Forza Audioworks is based in Poland and makes excellent, reasonably priced cables. I have both a Claire HPC Mk2 and a Copper Series HPC Mk2 extended base model that I would recommend highly.

 

[HPLobster]

  Howdy!
 
Is there any known EU-based address that fixes HD800 cables?
 
 
..because my stock HD800 cable is finished.
I can guarantee that I have practically treated these headphones like a lil' baby. Carefully, calmly, and no silly stuff.
Couldn't tell you why or how it happened, but the cable* started splitting a while back, and it just got a little bit worse every day. (*Rubber part, left side.)
Eventually, the sound started to cut out periodically, and now it's barely working anymore. And so.. it's finished.
 
Unfortunately I don't have the skill or gear to fix this cable myself, so I am looking for alternatives.
And I can't see myself change headphones, so I have no choice but to get this fixed, or get a new cable.
 
 
Would appreciate suggestions,
cheers!

 
 

  I have no idea if they would fix your cable but Forza Audioworks is based in Poland and makes excellent, reasonably priced cables. I have both a Claire HPC Mk2 and a Copper Series HPC Mk2 extended base model that I would recommend highly.

 
1) http://de-de.sennheiser.com/service-support-kontakt - you can choose country selection on the front page (scroll down)
2) I own a Forza Audioworks cable (not for the HD800) and can also recommend them wholeheartedly
3) Massdrop does this drop once in a while https://www.massdrop.com/buy/sennheiser-hd-800-zy-cable      good quality/price-ratio

 

[ColtMrFire]

Perhaps that's the price to pay for otherwise almost unbelievable performance

Bingo. While I have no problem 99% of the time with brightness or sibilance (I have the right amp), I have tried various mods, EQ and even Sonaworks. This is just my own experience but for me the HD800 has not responded well to tweaks. It is such a sensitive beast that even the slightest tweak seems to throw everything off balance like removing one card from a house of cards causing a collapse, and the HP would sound weird to me and something else would be compromised such as soundstage, frequency reponse, etc, and I would end up hating the change. For me mods and EQ take away what is special about the HP in the first place. I have always gone back to stock finding it the perfect balance and can hear the years of work Sennheiser put into constructing it. It is a very finnicky sensitive device that is what it is, and I'd rather just buy another HP that suits those particular needs.

 

[blacknile]

Amp-related question - Those of you who live in Europe and cannot/do not wish to purchase American/Chinese products - what are the recommended amps for the HD800? Is Sennheiser's own HDVD 800 a recommended option? I have heard good things in terms of pairing with the following European amps:
 
-Violectric V200
-Meier Audio Classic
-Pathos Aurium
-Feliks Audio Elise
 
Anything else? Once again: I am not interested in products that would be difficult to source or get repaired/replaced in Europe, so no Schiit, no Cavalli, no Audio-GD, no esoteric artisan American valve amps please.
 
Any other suggestions?

 

[treebug]

Sennheiser HDVA 600. Same amp as the HDVD 800 but without the digital inputs. Used in balanced mode with Sennheiser CH800S cable, it's fabulous! Had this set up for a few years now and very happy with it. Had the Pathos Aurium, very nice amp too but I prefer the Senn amp. No tubes to worry about either.

 

[chimney189]

Can anyone here recommend a hybrid tube amplifier?  I'm looking to use my Alpha Primes with the setup as well as my HD800. 
 
What comes immediately to mind is the Monoprice Stereo Tube amplifier, yet I'm wondering if there are more out there that I can consider?
I'm looking to spend $500 or less.
 
 
Thanks.

 

[bigfatpaulie]

Out of curiosity, why a hybrid amp specifically?

 

[ColtMrFire]

  Can anyone here recommend a hybrid tube amplifier?  I'm looking to use my Alpha Primes with the setup as well as my HD800. 
 
What comes immediately to mind is the Monoprice Stereo Tube amplifier, yet I'm wondering if there are more out there that I can consider?
I'm looking to spend $500 or less.
 
 
Thanks.

 
Schiit Lyr is very good with the right (not necessarily expensive) tubes.  Unfortunately I had to sell my Lyr 1 because I kept getting bad tubes and got sick of dealing with tubes, and the LISST solid state tubes have too high of a noise floor.  This is not really a problem on Lyr 2 with its gain switch.  But the amp with great tubes was excellent.  So I ordered a Magni 2 Uber until I save up for a Burson Soloist and eventually a Bryson BHA-1 (which is supposed to be one of the best SS pairings for the HD800).

 

[chimney189]

Thanks for the reply.  How are the stock tubes?

 

[Fearless1]

The best tube Hybrid amp I own that is phenomenal with the HD800 is the Fosgate Signature, it is over your budget but can sometimes be found on the used market for around 600 bucks. Not much recognition here on Head-fi, but one of the best pairings I have yet to hear with the HD800.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Thanks for the reply.  How are the stock tubes?

Honestly not very good. Getting better tubes is a must IMO. I quite liked the Bugle Boys.

 

[Svatopluk]

  Amp-related question - Those of you who live in Europe and cannot/do not wish to purchase American/Chinese products - what are the recommended amps for the HD800? Is Sennheiser's own HDVD 800 a recommended option? I have heard good things in terms of pairing with the following European amps:
 
-Violectric V200
-Meier Audio Classic
-Pathos Aurium
-Feliks Audio Elise
 
Anything else? Once again: I am not interested in products that would be difficult to source or get repaired/replaced in Europe, so no Schiit, no Cavalli, no Audio-GD, no esoteric artisan American valve amps please.
 
Any other suggestions?

After well over two years of use, I'm still very pleased with the HD800/HDVA600 pairing. If used only with high impedance headphones, the Sennheiser amps are great but unfortunately they lack an optional gain setting so they may not be the best match for lower impedance headphones.
The Violectric V200 has optional gain settings so it would be more versatile and has been said to pair well with the HD800. I'm not familiar with the other three, although I do know there is a Feliks Audio Elise forum somewhere around here.

 

[DavidA]

  Can anyone here recommend a hybrid tube amplifier?  I'm looking to use my Alpha Primes with the setup as well as my HD800. 
 
What comes immediately to mind is the Monoprice Stereo Tube amplifier, yet I'm wondering if there are more out there that I can consider?
I'm looking to spend $500 or less.
 
 
Thanks.

A project Ember is within your budget but its not a great pairing with the HD800 but its good with the Alpha Primes.
 
The Lyr2 is good but with the additional cost of tubes it will be over your budget and to me not a great pairing also, for me the BH Crack is a better match but with some updated caps and tubes it is also a little above your budget.

  Amp-related question - Those of you who live in Europe and cannot/do not wish to purchase American/Chinese products - what are the recommended amps for the HD800? Is Sennheiser's own HDVD 800 a recommended option? I have heard good things in terms of pairing with the following European amps:
 
-Violectric V200
-Meier Audio Classic
-Pathos Aurium
-Feliks Audio Elise
 
Anything else? Once again: I am not interested in products that would be difficult to source or get repaired/replaced in Europe, so no Schiit, no Cavalli, no Audio-GD, no esoteric artisan American valve amps please.
 
Any other suggestions?

The Elise is great with the HD800, even with the stock tubes
the other amp that was good is a Icon HP8 Mk2

 

[ColtMrFire]

Good tubes are not expensive. Volkshods are much better than stock tubes and can be gotten fairly cheap (just be sure they are matched and tested for noise). As far as SQ the Lyr is great. The HD800 isn't as amp picky as people have been led to believe. It will sound like the HD800 no matter what its plugged into... with varying levels of quality depending on the amp, but it even sounds good ouy of the HP jack of my laptop (using JRiver and Process Lasso to clean up CPU processing noise). I find the 800 is more fussy about stuff like AC power, dirty cables, noise floor issues, noisy computers etc., which can compromise the sound. It is fairly easy to drive these phones to potential. Of course there are amps out there that squeeze every last drop of performance out, but those tend to be over $1K. Most well made amps under $500 are going to be fine as long as they are not too bright. Alot of this is just going to come down to preference.

 

[ColtMrFire]

Wow, I must say "Straight Cold Player" off Lenny Kravitz's album "5" is reminding me just how insanely good the bass on the HD800 is. It is localized in a point in space, rather than blaring out of the headphones, and hits with a clean and punchy force I've never heard out of a HP before. So clean, tight but powerful and with textural resolution. No bloat whatsoever.