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The (new) HD800 Impressions Thread
Sep 4, 2014 at 9:02 PM Post #13,546 of 28,989
Purrin measured my HD800s and they were within production tolerances of 4-5 other pairs they measured at the same time.
 
Sep 4, 2014 at 9:36 PM Post #13,548 of 28,989
Yes, but only slightly. The graphs were all very similar. Nick Dangerous and I have used our HD800s interchangeably since I got mine. I've never heard a difference.
 
Sep 4, 2014 at 9:39 PM Post #13,549 of 28,989
Maxvla,
 
Any comment on how the ECP Black Diamond compares against the GS-X Mk.2 with the HD800s?
 
Sep 5, 2014 at 12:05 AM Post #13,553 of 28,989
Well since I haven`t tried that many high end amps you can take it for whats its worth, but it felt it had amazing synergy with HD800 / HE-560 (which are my two favorite cans at the moment). Didn´t find it harsh with the HD800 and it actually delivered some nice low frequencies. Would love to compare it to that M9 though...
 
Sep 5, 2014 at 12:11 AM Post #13,554 of 28,989
M9 not expensive 
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Sep 5, 2014 at 12:37 AM Post #13,556 of 28,989
It is shaping up to be a good year indeed.
 
Sep 5, 2014 at 6:25 AM Post #13,557 of 28,989
purrin said:
By approximate price give or take a few hundred - not in order of sound quality - and only in relation to HD800.

  1. Vali - extremely resolving for price. tube wetness. hint of warmth in bass. smooth, but neutral treble. monotonic timbre, but not gonna bitch for $120. I use it myself.
  2. mStage - warmish solid state if input caps are left in place. lacks resolution and microdynamics compared to tube brethen.
  3. Vahalla 2 - not the Vahalla 1. probably top 1/3 of this list in terms of SQ. yes, that's how good it is. fast, clear, resolving - more than Crack. not as warm though / neutralish. does not work nearly as well with low Z or orthos. best to stick with high Z Senns or Beyers.
  4. Crack - must have speedball upgrade for use with HD800. warm (but again tubes play role). not resolving enough to take full advantage of hd800. this is why most owners say it better with HD6XX than HD800.
  5. Super 7 (available used only) - bassy and thicker. darker sounding than best. balance can vary though quite a bit depending upon tubes. great slam and microdynamics. very good resolution.
  6. Luxman P1u (assuming used price) - basically sounds like a Super 7 lite. slightly more veiled, slightly less fast, but just a euphonic in a no hassle ss package. Sounded dated and is less technically competent than most other amp in list now. But again, how you can get ECZD sound in a SS package?
  7. Bryston BHA-1 - delineated treble attacks, but actually works well with HD800. neutralish. some reports of MOSFETS getting hot resulting in bass mud galore. Recommended if you live in a cool climate. The amp does not like heat. Good staging compliments HD800. If you want solid state, one of few choices.
  8. Sonnett 2 - Has the DNA house sound with inner warmth, initmacy, immediacy. Improvement in clarity and resolution over the Sonnett. 1 Basically sounds like Stratus but without the DHTs - that last bit of microdynamics, separation, staging. HD800s out of the box work with Stratus without mods of any sort.
  9. HDVD600/800 - I had my doubts, but great match with HD800. very refined sound, but probably lacks the slam the better amps have. balanced mode a must for staging, layering, separation, openness. not an exceptional amp, but very solid choice considering price. HD800 is smooth with this amp. I found the amp circuitry to have its own sound which allows the benefit of using a variety of sources without too many differences. This is a good thing at the price level.
  10. DSHA-1 - solid-state but not solid-state amp. not tubey sounding, but treble charactersitics akin to tube. against the big boy tube amps, a just one notch below in terms of explosiveness an resolution. Really great for solid-state, but again properly implement tubes are always clearer and more resolving.
  11. ZDSE - euphonic sounding amp. luxorious ride in mercedes. slightly veiled when compared to the bigger boy toob stuff. good stage. warm and euphonic, treble is the sharpest of all EC amps, but all other EC amps tend to sound "not bright" (didn't want to use dark, because that may imply something else.) I've noticed most ZDSE owners have a thick copper cable with HD800.
  12. Stratus - slightly wet sound. latest version and upgrades is better all around with better bass articulation, staging, blackness, etc. Intimate sounding and actually good with cheap chinese toobs (my personal preference is the EML meshs, but many like the big bottle Shuguangs. works straight out of box with HD800, although with latest upgrades, care must be taken with source. I love this amp and Donald is so fricking smart, but he never comes off that way.
  13. LG - had some of the more laid back 6sn7s and worked well with HD800. Has Cavalli trademark smooth sound with a very refined character which suits the HD800 tendency toward dryness. tubes make a huge huge deal, the point of the amp, so YMMV.
  14. ECBA - neutralish amp, especially with new cinemag transformers. best staging, layering, separation, openness of any of the amps here by far because of high-frequency AC heater stolen from outer space satellite military applications. need to be careful of source. sometimes not a forgiving amp (I had to resort to anax mods), but toobs can make a difference.
  15. EC 4-45 - best production amp for HD800 period. Take the BA and turn things up a notch in realism. Not forgiving of source. i was touched by the hand of god when i first heard this. avoid if you like artificial warmth - it's a 45 tube after all. But goshdarn kicks hard as hell.

Lots of other amps, but I only mentioned the ones which gel well with HD800. Honorable mention is Woo WA5, but the time you are done with cap upgrades, and the necessary x2 mega regulator tubes to avoid HD800s from sounding limp-dick, plus x2 driver tubes, plus x2 300B... you get the point. and honestly, it doesn't compete as well with the other big boy toob amps. but its sound is considerable lusher than any of the others. keyword is lush, so certainly a consideration.

The two Bakoon amps also work well with HD800, but too expensive and poor value unless you pay 50%-75% MSRP via a special.

I avoided mention any amps which gooified the HD800 because I feel HD800 gooification or not taking advantage of at least 65% of what the HD800 can do is just plain wrong. You are better off with an LCD2 instead of gooifying the HD800. Amps like WA2 and Leben belong in this category.
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purrin said:
Yes, the Sonnett is very appropriately placed in terms of pricing - keeping in mind that all those amps you mentioned do sound different and have different capabilities with WA2 being the most gooey. BHA1 being the most solid-state because it is solid-state. WA6 and Super 7 almost sounding like anything depending upon tubes. Sonnett 2 works well with stock HD800. Super 7 and WA6SE with typical tube arrangement, I resort to light EQ or mods. (To give you reference, I think stock HD800 is slightly too bright.) S7 has the most slam. S7 and Sonnett 2 are a little more resolving to the rest. BHA-1 is flattest in terms of microdynamics of the bunch, but has best control and is the least soft.
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Lots of shared wisdom, here, purrin! Thank you!

Somehow, I'm drawn to two options and thus, a question for you, please:

Independent of price (a difficult consideration), with tube rolling allowed, of course, which amp would you prefer for the HD800 - the Valhalla 2 (with or without Anax) -or- the DNA Sonnett 2 (with or without Anax) ?
 
Sep 5, 2014 at 7:52 AM Post #13,560 of 28,989
jokko said:
  Anyone heard both the Audio-GD Master 9 and Auralic Taurus mk2 with the HD800? Auditioned the Taurus today, thought it was pretty amazing.
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I heard the Taurus with the Vega and my HD800 at AXPONA....I could easily live with that pairing.
 
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