[DarKen23]

Okay here is a follow up on my post a couple of pages back.  Amazon Japan delivered my new HD800 with the `damaged` box, which they had photographed and sent to me to confirm my order, and which i included in my previous post.  These pictures I just took a few minutes ago after the delivery guy left.  When I opened the Amazon packing container I realized I had been mislead, as you can see : 
















The box is not the one in the photos from Amazon, it is pristine and my new HD800 is on my head blowing my mind (the syncopated cowbell in Trombone Shorty`s `Buckjump` sounds like it`s 2 meters behind my chair).  So why the reverse scam - offering a fake 30% scratch-and-dent discount ?  Probably it has to do with `volume discounts` from distributors to retailers, whereby big sellers reach a point in their inventory where the profit margin they earn for each unit sold becomes less than the discount they can receive from the distributor/manufacturer for ordering more units.  It sounds wonky but if you think about it the math could make sense.  A couple of years ago I bought an iMac here that was labeled `used` and hugely discounted, however it was clearly unused (everything still factory sealed, no software installed).  My friend who works for Apple Japan told me it must have been the result of this kind of discount system. The retailer can easily move the unit out the door by discounting it so much, more than their sales contract allows, and therefor push their inventory statistics into a range which qualify for future discounts/rebates/priority shipping from the distributor/manufacturer.  (This could also indicate something new is coming from Senn, and dealers are trying to move the current stock.  . .   Not that I`m rumor-mongering. ) 

More importantly, holy crap these headphones are freakin` amazing !

Your box looks very different from mine..Not trying to scare you or anything.

 

[LugBug1]

The serial number is the very latest batch - 24***. They must have changed the box design... Mine is dfferent too. Mine are 21*** 
 
How dare they!!

 

[DarKen23]

The serial number is the very latest batch - 24***. They must have changed the box design... Mine is dfferent too. Mine are 21*** 

How dare they!!

Mine are 23xxx, and my box looks different as well, probably same a yours though Lug

 

[Dubstep Girl]

old box looked alot better.

 

[Pudu]

Yep, the vintage boxes sounded the best.

The new ones? Well ...

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Yep, the vintage boxes sounded the best.

The new ones? Well ...

 

 

[Dopaminer]

Interesting.  I received four manual-books, in many languages...   Did your inner, luxo boxes look like mine, or different?  And did the inside, holding the precious HD800, look like the inside of a coffin, same as mine ?  

 

 

[philo50]

^too funny....

 

[Dubstep Girl]

yes, yes it did

 

[longbowbbs]

Yep, the vintage boxes sounded the best.

The new ones? Well ...

 
Nice!

 

[vmullot]

Hello to all,
 
One question, is it possible to use speaker amp (Audiomat Opera ref 2 x 30 watt tube) to drive the HD800 with the Hifiman HE-Adaptater?
 
Thanks!
 
Vincent.

 

[brunk]

  Hello to all,
 
One question, is it possible to use speaker amp (Audiomat Opera ref 2 x 30 watt tube) to drive the HD800 with the Hifiman HE-Adaptater?
 
Thanks!
 
Vincent.

 
Yes it's possible. Whether it sounds good or not is a different matter.

 

[LugBug1]

Mine sounded a bit 'boxy' when I first got them...

 

[Stoids]

The serial number is the very latest batch - 24***. They must have changed the box design... Mine is dfferent too. Mine are 21*** 

How dare they!!

Just received my 800s this week from Amazon (SN #24***) and my outer box looks different than those pictures as well. Does the box have the Sennheiser authenticity security label on the bottom to verify?

 

[Dopaminer]

Stoids, congratulations on your acquisition and thanks so much for that tip - I used my phone to scan the bar code and it linked to the Sennheiser website, which sent me the code for the hologram on the box and it is in fact authentic !  

At least, the box is authentic.  But I`ve heard it doesn`t sound as good as the earlier boxes. . .   
 
I just watched the blu-ray of Oblivion: truly epic soundstage, separation and thundering, growling bass.  The HD800s have 6 hours on them now.  And they`re going to start sounding BETTER ?  
 
I`m using the TEAC UD-H01, which I bought last night so it has the same runtime as the phones.  If burn-in is real, I have an embarrassment of good sounds . . .