Sennheiser HD 800's...must've been the source... or the music
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jflail2
Posts: 2,868
So I attended a "private sale" at Crutchfield last night, and ran across a pair of Sennheiser HD800's that were hooked up to the Senn HDVD800 Amp. I thought to myself, "oh my, finally a chance to hear their flagship cans." So I pop them on with glee, crank them up, and am...........thoroughly underwhelmed. The music playing through them was some song I'd never heard of (70's rockish sounding) and was being fed to the amp via a Sonos device.
I assumed I'd put them on, wet myself, and then pull out my credit card and tell the clerk to fire away. Honestly, after about 5 minutes of listening I was done. I suspect the lack of wow factor was driven by the source and the actual song that was playing, but I was curious if others here have been more impressed with those cans. They felt a bit......bright, and I didn't feel like I was getting a full range of sound (I'm terrible at describing what I hear, but these sounded to be primarily for listening to acoustic or classical music.)
Maybe my ears are just too luddite for me to hear the fine nuances some of the others here do, but I just didn't hear enough difference there to warrant a step up from my Beyer Dynamics and cheaper amp (good for my wallet I suppose.)
I assumed I'd put them on, wet myself, and then pull out my credit card and tell the clerk to fire away. Honestly, after about 5 minutes of listening I was done. I suspect the lack of wow factor was driven by the source and the actual song that was playing, but I was curious if others here have been more impressed with those cans. They felt a bit......bright, and I didn't feel like I was getting a full range of sound (I'm terrible at describing what I hear, but these sounded to be primarily for listening to acoustic or classical music.)
Maybe my ears are just too luddite for me to hear the fine nuances some of the others here do, but I just didn't hear enough difference there to warrant a step up from my Beyer Dynamics and cheaper amp (good for my wallet I suppose.)
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Post edited by jflail2 on
Comments
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Never liked them. I was also thoroughly underwhelmed. My LCD-3's smoke them.Good music, a good source, and good power can make SDA's sing. Tubes make them dance.
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The HD800 are a very accurate and revealing headphone...that aren't always much fun to listen to. To begin with, they are VERY picky about gear. Aside from being so revealing that better gear is needed upstream, the headphones themselves are also very picky and need the right amp. And then, if you get the gear right they're still a very revealing headphone with a ton of detail and tend to sound bright.
They're great for work in a studio since they will reveal any weaknesses in a mix, but in terms of sitting down and listening to your favorite album...not much fun IMO.
I recently sold the pair I had here, in the end I just didn't use them enough to justify keeping them. I'm still looking for my perfect headphone, the LCD-3 don't cut it for me either. -
They are very comfortable. But I've listened to them many times, and sound bright.
And the Grado PS500's sound warm. Go figure.
At the moment, a pair of Q701's with the right tube set sounds perfect.
Hype is useless, only listening works. Try again at a head-fi meet.
The right amp and DAC on them makes a huge difference."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
I started with akg 172, then senn 598, then Grado Rsi2, to hifiman HE-400, to finally a SENN HD650.
each one was better & different with the HE would not fit my head and to heavy.
But the HD650 + WOO WA3 and my search is over
picked up some orange label amperex 6dj8's along with aftermarket cable for SENN and I'm totally happy with my setup. 2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge
HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD -
I agree the HE is a bit heavy. I have the 500, and I haven't listened much but the other night just blew me away.
Auralic Vega > Decware Mini-Torii > HE-500
Never heard the Senns. Source does matter.For Sale 2019:
Tortuga Audio LDR passive preamp
Decware EL34 amp
Allnic H-1201 phono
Zu Union Cubes
iFi iDSD DAC, .5m UBS, iFI Gemini cable, Oyaide Tunami XLR 1.3M, Oyaide Tunami Speaker wire 1.5M, Beyerdynamic DT1990 headphones, PS Audio P3 power center -
I have to wear a hat to make the HE-400 fit, think my ears are just to far up my head LOL, cause I know my head ain't small, that and their weight makes them uncomfortable for me but the HE-400 has very excellent sound with the right Headphone amp, as the SENN are more around 300homs compared to grado & HE's so you have to match everything up right and your right about the source being very important. right now I'm using a Marantz 8005 SACD, I'd love to hear a "Auralic Vega" someday!2 ch- Polk CRS+ * Vincent SA-31MK Preamp * Vincent Sp-331 Amp * Marantz SA8005 SACD * Project Xperience Classic TT * Sumiko Blue Point #2 MC cartridge
HT - Polk 703's * NAD T-758 * Adcom 5503 * Oppo 103 * Samsung 60" series 8 LCD -
Interesting, thanks for the feedback so far everyone. I know there are some veteran ears in this thread, so I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that had the same opinion.
Sounds like I should go on being happy with my DT990/ SR71 combo!2007 Club Polk Football Pool Champ
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"It's like a koala bear crapped a rainbow in my brain!" -
synergy is tough. And too many guys at head-fi are putzes.
So the trick is finding the guys who know. I've heard them on some amps
that made them sound good. Warm amps. I hooked up my hd-650's to the same
amp and it sounded like mud. That's a warm amp.I think is was a Liquid Lightning.
I also heard them on decware amo. That was more like it. Still warm, but not over the top."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
sucks2beme wrote: »They are very comfortable. But I've listened to them many times, and sound bright.
And the Grado PS500's sound warm. Go figure.
At the moment, a pair of Q701's with the right tube set sounds perfect.
Hype is useless, only listening works. Try again at a head-fi meet.
The right amp and DAC on them makes a huge difference.
That's interesting now I'm more tempted to get the Q701's. They are only $200 at Amazon.Setup:
2 Channel: Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grand, T+A P 1230R, Primare SPA21, Oppo BDP-105
PC: Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand, Cambridge Azure 650A v2 , Peachtree iDAC, Denon DVD-3800BDCI -
The problem I had with the K701 and Q701 is that they can be a little 'lean' sounding, these really need to be paired with a warmer amp. They sound fairly neutral overall but just don't have alot of weight to the sound. Ultimately those are faults I can live with in a headphone, and I'd rather have a headphone with these particular faults as I feel they're more easily corrected with the right amp.
The HD800 has better detail, but to my ears the Q701 is much more enjoyable. -
The advanced eq in foobar or a tube change on the ASL amp
pretty much gets it done with the q701. Mine have had the bass port mod.
I got it used for $100, so far best bang for the buck ever.
Dan ,Rock are you guys going to be at the DFW head-fi meet?"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
$100 is a steal. Not sure yet about head-fi but going to try to make it since I missed out on LSAF.Setup:
2 Channel: Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grand, T+A P 1230R, Primare SPA21, Oppo BDP-105
PC: Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand, Cambridge Azure 650A v2 , Peachtree iDAC, Denon DVD-3800BDCI -
Yes I'll be there on June 1st, bringing a friend with me. This will be the first head-fi meet I've attended.
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This one tends to have a lot of ins and outs.
There's a turnover depending on time of day.
I don't know if there was going to be any high end stax.
Should be an assortment of everything else."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
man, I really need to have a headphone sale. I'm swimming in them.
I just need to weed it down to two and move on."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
sucks2beme wrote: »man, I really need to have a headphone sale. I'm swimming in them.
I just need to weed it down to two and move on.
That would be awesome (from a potential buyer's perspective. Always looking to try out something I haven't listened to yet. 2007 Club Polk Football Pool Champ
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"It's like a koala bear crapped a rainbow in my brain!" -
The HD800 do sound thin compared to other flagship headphones when used with the same equipment. But with a warm source and amp, they can be amazing."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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So it sounds like one of the key takeaways is that the 800's weren't paired with the appropriate amp. That's surprising, considering the amp driving them was the Senn HDVD800 amp. I figured they'd be best able to pair the appropriate amp with their flagship headphones, but apparently not.2007 Club Polk Football Pool Champ
2010 Club Polk Fantasy Football Champ
2011 Club Polk Football Pool Champ
"It's like a koala bear crapped a rainbow in my brain!" -
Some headphones play nice with anything. Others are very picky.
It seems that price doesn't mean things will work together.
It's why I like my mid-fi ASL mg-head. A quick tube change and I'm in
business. Not the best, but very flexible."The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson -
I also chose a similar headset before , thank you for your advice and sharing!
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Yup I think they aren't that good as far as sound quality is concerned.
