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The Sennheiser HD 800: The First Listen, The First Review
Jul 7, 2009 at 12:15 PM Post #5,551 of 5,928
I bought the GS1000 from Moon Audio with the Black Dragon cable attached and although I've loved these phones and didn't think the HD800 could improve on them I was pleasantly surprised. Sennheiser has created something truly wonderful if you have other great equipment to feed them on that high level.
 
Jul 7, 2009 at 12:26 PM Post #5,552 of 5,928
Quote:

Originally Posted by BobMajor /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I bought the GS1000 from Moon Audio with the Black Dragon cable attached and although I've loved these phones and didn't think the HD800 could improve on them I was pleasantly surprised. Sennheiser has created something truly wonderful if you have other great equipment to feed them on that high level.


OK now I am offically excited to hear my pair
biggrin.gif
I will be driving them with the Woo WA6 SE maxxed and the source is a Cyrus CD6 SE which is quite powerful too.

Fingers crossed that I have some synergy there
bigsmile_face.gif


Simon
 
Jul 7, 2009 at 12:46 PM Post #5,554 of 5,928
Quote:

Originally Posted by BobMajor /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I'm driving my HD800s with an Eddie Currant Zana Deux and the source is an Empirical Audio Offramp Turbo 2 (USB to S/PDIF convertor) to a Channel Islands Audio VDA-2 DAC.


Nice. I nearly bought a ZD to comapre with my WA6 with the idea of selling the lesser amp, but there are threads out there on the interweb that suggest the gap is small between the two amps.

If at all possible I want to avoid re-building my system around the HD800s. The cost proposition versus perceived benefits then might make me stick with the GS1000s.

Simon
 
Jul 7, 2009 at 6:27 PM Post #5,555 of 5,928
Quote:

Originally Posted by sclamb /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Nice. I nearly bought a ZD to comapre with my WA6 with the idea of selling the lesser amp, but there are threads out there on the interweb that suggest the gap is small between the two amps.

If at all possible I want to avoid re-building my system around the HD800s. The cost proposition versus perceived benefits then might make me stick with the GS1000s.

Simon


IF the WA6 is maxed, has the pseudo dual power supply mod, and the Sophia Princess 274b rectifier then yes, the difference are very small small, regardless of whether using Grado HP-1000/RS-1 or HD600. The Zana Deux only clearly beat the WA6 in bass control with Grado PS-1. The HD650 were also not quite as lively with the WA6 as with the ZD, but the HD600 work equally well on both.
 
Jul 7, 2009 at 6:38 PM Post #5,556 of 5,928
Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif
IF the WA6 is maxed, has the pseudo dual power supply mod, and the Sophia Princess 274b rectifier then yes, the difference are very small small, regardless of whether using Grado HP-1000/RS-1 or HD600. The Zana Deux only clearly beat the WA6 in bass control with Grado PS-1. The HD650 were also not quite as lively with the WA6 as with the ZD, but the HD600 work equally well on both.


Yes, my WA6 SE has all those things
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Can't wait to try the HD800. Got a deal so I can return them if they do not whoop the GS1000s.

Simon
 
Jul 9, 2009 at 12:23 AM Post #5,559 of 5,928
The GS-1000 is under $1K, so I'd imagine the 40% higher priced HD800 would give you something more. I feel the HP-1000s and K-1000s are much more accurate and refined than the GSs.

The GS-1000s have a wonderful musical quality that can make you not want to listen to any other headphone at times. And other times sound bad with certain recordings and set ups.

The HD800 has been said to be an analytical phone, so I think you might want to consider keeping the GS-1000s as a compliment.

Owning the HP-1000 and K-1000 makes the GS-1000 something nice to change up to. It's not about one beating the other. They are different unless you get all granular about the technical stuff (which would favor the other phones) but is not why we listen.... at least not why I listen. I look for what connects me to the music, not listening for a fingernail bending back which many of the top teir cans and some mid fi cans provide.
 
Jul 9, 2009 at 12:56 AM Post #5,560 of 5,928
Quote:

Originally Posted by Sceptre /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Now that is a combination worth a listen.

Not many Phonitors out there though.

Sceptre


Yes it is. They are a great pairing. I had the Phonitor at my home for a few days and I really enjoyed it. Up until I received the Audio-gd Phoenix I thought the Phonitor was the best (SE out/Balanced In) SS amp to pair with the HD800. From my perspective, the Phoenix is in a league all by itself though (and performs best in bal in/bal out configuration). And when you consider it's about half the price of the Phonitor, I can't see why you would choose the Phonitor unless you really want the speaker angle customizations, which are a very nice feature by the way. But I see you already have the Phonitor, Quaddy, and you can rest assured knowing the HD800 pair very well with it. You'd be very pleased. I do recommend a cable upgrade to the HD800 though.

Hopefully you guys will get to hear both at a meet eventually.

Here is the spec sheet for the Phoenix which may give you a better idea of why it has such control over the HD800, and frankly any other headphone:
http://www.audio-gd.com/enweb/Phoenix/Phoenix-2.htm
 
Jul 9, 2009 at 5:32 AM Post #5,561 of 5,928
The Eddie Current ZDT arrives Friday, so I'll be able to report on that with the HD800 soon. I'll be able to compare that combo directly to the Woo WA22 prototype with HD800 next week. The final production version of the WA22 will use 6SN7 instead of 12AX7 tubes, which I like a lot based on my experience with 6SN7 in the 336i. I even saved a pair of Sylvania VT-231 tubes for later if I ever need them. Hmmm...
 
Jul 9, 2009 at 5:11 PM Post #5,565 of 5,928
Quote:

Originally Posted by SleepyOne /img/forum/go_quote.gif
HeadphoneAddict - looking forward to your review using ZDT & Woo22 with HD800! Should be very interesting.


Yeah - I'll have the WA22 until the Colorado high-fi meet (mile high baby!) on the 25th, because then the next reviewer takes it home from there.
 
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