[SteveHiFi]

  Anno Domini 1984

 

 
That's very cool - I got both the HD540 and HD222 earlier this year

 

[Aulait]

   
That's very cool - I got both the HD540 and HD222 earlier this year

 
If you want, I'll send you the scans Sennheiser catalog of 1984?

 

[Aulait]

 
Aulait
 
Thanks for the information. I know that I've been very happy with them, for a lot of years.
 
As I write, I'm listening through my Audioengine D1 to a West Hill Radio Archives recording of Verdi's Don Carlo, from 11 Nov 1950, Starring my favorite tenor Jussi Bjorling. Beautiful, clear natural sound. I've never regretted the purchase of anything from Sennheiser, although I'm certain they aren't perfect

  They aren't perfect, but really very good to listening all kind of music

 

[Aulait]

  I stand corrected - I remember looking at some brochures but it did not occur to me. 
 
My HD250Mk1 are early too so the headband may be original as well, although it does only say "Sennheiser" on it so it might be a HD430 one, it confused me.

It's hard to remember everything, it was 30 years ago

 

[SteveHiFi]

   
If you want, I'll send you the scans Sennheiser catalog of 1984?

That would be amazing, I'm a bit of a retro man when it comes to headphones, also I'd like to read about how the HD222 is described as they aren't very good without a mod or two

 
A vintage section on the forum would be a nice idea, a home for all those catalogues and adverts from years ago. Also it would be a handy resource, but for now I'll happily take a Sennheiser catalogue from 1984!

 

[harry015]

A vintage section on the catalogs and adv. sounds like an idea that should already exist. In my collecting fields, catalogs are a very valuable source of what's out there, and can also pinpoint small changes that occurred over a long production period. Really something that many of us would find valuable. I'm sure, given the comparative scarcity of these tools, that members would be willing to share the wealth with those of us that were shortsighted and threw such things away.
 
Sadly, I don't think I have anything of value in the paper line.
 
Harry

 

[daltonlanny]

Bought a pair of HD 800's, but I am gonna return them.
I love most everything they do, especially the soundstaging, but I cannot get past their sort of annoying, hot, grating, tiring, peakiness in the upper mids/lower treble more often than not. They sound sort of cold, clinical, and steely to my ears.
This also causes the bass to suffer as well. They also sound sort of artificial or something? Something just isn't quite right with them to my ears.
I tried various sources, cables, and amps with basically the same results.
I actually prefer both my Sennheiser HD 540 Reference II, and vintage Beyerdynamic DT 990 to them, even though the HD 800 has overall better resolution, scale, and bigger soundstage.
The vintage Sennheisers and Beyers have better timbre, life, and top end extension than the 800, IMHO.
I cannot decide which I like best between the HD 540 II and the vintage DT 990's. They both have their advantages and disadvantages in comparison to one another.
Headphones from back then seemed better frequency calibrated for timbre, life, and top end "air", as opposed to todays offerings, IMHO.
The vintage Beyerdynamic DT 990, and Sennheiser HD 540 are both exceptional headphones, and are both keepers in my book...My overall two favorite headphones of all time!
No joke.

 

[o0CosmoMemory0o]

I was glad to sell my HD800. It beats my HD540II in most areas but has a slightly/subtly withdrawn phasing, to my ears. HD800 has enhanced scale with more natural bass weight, a larger sound source size providing a larger perceived stereo image, slightly more spatial, increased magnification of microdetails (increased resolution), the same exquisite neutrality and a slightly purer upper midrange/lower treble projection. The phasing issue withdraws its musicality though and the physical design is large and heavy in comparison to HD540II. Larger driver also means HD800 sound leakage is higher even at low volume. Hated the heavy fabric cable of the HD800 too and its huge carton and coffin box were a complete waste of space. I'd choose the HD540II anyday and I also feel the K1000 fully amped and fully open completely decimates the HD800 anyway.

 

[daltonlanny]

The annoying brightness is what really done me in on HD 800.
Sounds like the 6 khz peak that everyone talks about.
I cannot listen to them over 30 minutes at a time due to the excessive brightness. It really wears me down.
I disagree about them being neutral. They deviate from neutrality around 6 khz. Its very obvious to me.
Maybe my ears are just sensitive to this area.
I agree about the cord, their size and weight, and the huge box.
They are not worth anywhere near their asking price, IMHO.

 

[o0CosmoMemory0o]

My test HD800, S/N 30466, didn't sound bright from my laptop socket or my Graham Slee amplifiers and I did listen to it on many different occasions, to be confident in my conclusion. But there is enough treble there to be bright or sibilant with bright/sibilant sources and recordings. There is certainly something not quite right with the HD800 though, but I'm convinced that it is phase related instead of frequency related. Whatever it is, I'm just glad it's gone now.

 

[o0CosmoMemory0o]

In order to overcome my materialistic fondness of the HD540II so I can bring myself to sell them all, I'll likely pursue getting a custom HD540II-themed paint job on one of my K1000. Want to get the grey grills and red headband resprayed to a dark metallic blue so it's just blue and black.

The badge lettering on each side was coming off so I just carefully rubbed it all off down to black. Might see if I can get the lettering re-done in shiny silver. I'll have to learn how to dismantle it and find a company able to do it to a professional standard.

 

[Bostonears]

  In order to overcome my materialistic fondness of the HD540II so I can bring myself to sell them all, I'll likely pursue getting a custom HD540II-themed paint job on one of my K1000. Want to get the grey grills and red headband resprayed to a dark metallic blue so it's just blue and black.

The badge lettering on each side was coming off so I just carefully rubbed it all off down to black. Might see if I can get the lettering re-done in shiny silver. I'll have to learn how to dismantle it and find a company able to do it to a professional standard.

The red on the K1000 headband is a Teflon-like plastic coating. Paint will not stick to it. However, it is possible to surgically remove the coating by slitting it with an X-Acto knife using extreme care. Underneath the coating is bare steel, although I'm not sure whether that is regular steel or stainless.

 

[o0CosmoMemory0o]

Maybe the red paint could be rubbed down a bit with slightly coarse sand paper or careful use of a scouring pad that isn't overly abrasive.I would prefer to prime the red layer and paint over it instead of removing the layer completely. The think the final finish would probably look better. I'd only get one chance to not completely screw it up so I won't be rushing into it.

 

[Bostonears]

  Maybe the red paint could be rubbed down a bit with slightly coarse sand paper or careful use of a scouring pad that isn't overly abrasive.I would prefer to prime the red layer and paint over it instead of removing the layer completely. The think the final finish would probably look better. I'd only get one chance to not completely screw it up so I won't be rushing into it.

The red on the K1000 headband is not paint. It is a PTFE (Teflon) plastic coating. No matter how much you roughen its surface, most paint won't stick to it due to its chemical composition. As best as I can determine the only type of paint that might stick to Teflon is 100% acrylic latex, but I can't confirm that.

 

[o0CosmoMemory0o]

Okay, thanks for saving me some time and wasted paint. I just read your assessment of the K1000 from over 10 years ago. It's funny, back then, I would never have considered spending so much on audio.  I might see about getting a shabby or even broken K1000 when it arises so I can have a practice attempt on removing the red layer. Although if I were to screw it up, at worst, I'd have two spare K1000s and a spare set of drivers. After removing the red layer, does the metallic surface underneath have sharp edges?