Will the Sennheiser HD800s price ever actually fall?
Nov 21, 2020 at 10:36 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 76

cactus_farmer

1000+ Head-Fier
Joined
Feb 12, 2008
Posts
1,107
Likes
102
I've been waiting for years for the price to come down but it's stuck at £1400 and has been forever.

The flagships of its era from Beyerdynamic and AKG have literally halved in price by now. Newer headphones in the price range have come along and since been discounted by £400 (i.e. Focal Clear), yet the HD800s has not been discounted by a single penny since the day it came out.

Do you forsee it ever being discounted?

After all, the HD650 is actually roughly the same price as it was on release 30 years ago. So are we going to have to wait for Drop to produce a blacked-out HD800x to get it at a discounted price?
 
Nov 21, 2020 at 11:22 AM Post #2 of 76
Presumably the price is being held by demand. That and the sophisticated tech.
 
Nov 21, 2020 at 6:52 PM Post #3 of 76
The price is justified when you look around what headphones you get for the same money.
 
Nov 21, 2020 at 7:31 PM Post #4 of 76
This is essentially Sennheiser's flagship since 2009 (disregarding the Orpheus line) and it hasn't really gotten price drops with retailers from my knowledge. Since it doesn't seem like they're replacing it and only making special editions and variations (i.e. HD820), I don't see it coming down in price any time soon.

Better you can save by buying used as these are known to be durable - there are the occasional discontinued HD800 being sold in the market as well and I took the plunge on one. Been pretty happy I pulled the trigger on one tbh.
 
Nov 21, 2020 at 9:41 PM Post #6 of 76
Do you forsee it ever being discounted?
No, Sennheiser has been using MAP (minimum advertised price) agreements to keep the price where it is. I only buy used but I've heard people can bypass MAP by contacting headphone stores and asking for their best price.
 
Dec 8, 2020 at 6:46 PM Post #7 of 76
I found an open box offer for 950 euros, and I might take it.
Is there anything out there that can compete with the HD800s in terms of detail, clarity and dynamics for 950 euros? Not a rhetorical question, just to be clear.
A week ago I went to a store with the intention of trying the LCD-2 Classic, the Aeon Flow Open, and a couple more headphones in that 700 euros range.
They were good, but nothing that made me forget my HD6XX.
The guy left me on my own for a long time, just doing other stuff around the store. And I used that time to try the Focal Elegia (I just wanted to know how open it sounded for a closed back), the HE-560, a HD660S and I don't remember what else.
They all sounded fine, but just when I was about to be done with the session, I reached out and grabbed the HD800S.
giphy.gif
 
Dec 9, 2020 at 1:21 AM Post #8 of 76
Is there anything out there that can compete with the HD800s in terms of detail, clarity and dynamics for 950 euros?
In my experience, a Focal Clear is a close competitor if you're mainly talking about stock tuning. Focal has its ace on dynamics, while HD800 I would give the nod for detail retrieval. If you put EQ in the mix, there may be other options in the lower price bracket for you (reportedly the LCD-2 Fazor being one as per headphones.com review).
 
Dec 9, 2020 at 8:25 AM Post #9 of 76
In my experience, a Focal Clear is a close competitor if you're mainly talking about stock tuning. Focal has its ace on dynamics, while HD800 I would give the nod for detail retrieval. If you put EQ in the mix, there may be other options in the lower price bracket for you (reportedly the LCD-2 Fazor being one as per headphones.com review).
Yes, I'm only interested in stock tunings, I won't be doing any mods.
I pulled the trigger on the 800s. I'm listening to them right now. I have 14 days if I wanted to return them.
Needless to say, they sound phenomenal.
But I had an offer from the Hifiman store for the Ananda for around 550 euros and I admit I was tempted.
The only Audeze I have tried is the 2 Classic and I really liked the slam and bass, but the midrange felt messy.
 
Last edited:
Dec 9, 2020 at 1:00 PM Post #10 of 76
The Hifiman the most reminiscent of the HD800s is not the Ananda but the Arya. The Ananda is decisively warmer in the treble compared to both the 800 and Arya.
If you love the sound of the HD800s then there really is no better option. If you however find it a little ‘bright’ or ‘thin’ during your two week trial, then I would strongly suggest the very same headphone as Descloud mentioned...or perhaps an Elex/Elear with Clear pads. If all you’re lusting for is more bass, I suggest EQ which the 800 will take without breaking a sweat..or indeed swinging for an Arya:)
 
Dec 9, 2020 at 1:30 PM Post #11 of 76
The Hifiman the most reminiscent of the HD800s is not the Ananda but the Arya. The Ananda is decisively warmer in the treble compared to both the 800 and Arya.
If you love the sound of the HD800s then there really is no better option. If you however find it a little ‘bright’ or ‘thin’ during your two week trial, then I would strongly suggest the very same headphone as Descloud mentioned...or perhaps an Elex/Elear with Clear pads. If all you’re lusting for is more bass, I suggest EQ which the 800 will take without breaking a sweat..or indeed swinging for an Arya:)
I don't think it's going to take me two weeks to decide.
After a couple of hours I felt really fatigued. The brightness bothers me more than I expected.
It's a joy to listen to that level of detail, but I can't take more than a little bit of the 800s at a time.
I will try some EQ.
 
Dec 9, 2020 at 2:22 PM Post #12 of 76
I have a somewhat love and hate relationship with the HD800 and the S version. For something like 5% of my music collection, they’re just ‘magical’. No other word for it....but again a rare thing. It’s only when I feed it with say Cocteau Twins’ Victorialand or indeed Dead Can Dance’s more ‘effervescent’ stuff.

If you dislike the brightness I strongly recommend another headphone. I have never heard an 800, with or without the s, eq’ed or modded to lower the treble..that sounded better than a headphone already tuned that way. Maybe that’s just me. The openback Ananda you were talking of earlier fx is certainly a contender..or a Sundara. Personally I prefer, and own, the latter. If you want (something akin to) “Sennheiser mids” you’ll want to look into the aforementioned Focals:)
 
Dec 9, 2020 at 2:30 PM Post #14 of 76
Don’t know how people are pairing 800s but 800s is definitely not thin or bright, it is very lifelike, yes it is a very dynamic headphone with lot of impact, maybe not suited for everyone.
 
Last edited:
Dec 9, 2020 at 2:38 PM Post #15 of 76
Don’t know how people are pairing 800s but 800s is definitely not thin or bright, it is very lifelike, yes it is a very dynamic headphone with lot of impact, maybe not suited for everyone.
Maybe bright wasn't the right term but thin.
Everything sounds perfect, and I don't find them lacking in the low end. But there is certainly more energy from 6K up than in other headphones, and I'm prone to treble fatigue.
I'm pairing it with the new Soloist 3XP, I don't think that's a bright amp at all.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top