Sennheiser HD 800 Redux

[ironbut]

Makes me glad I didn't mention that I sleep with them sometimes.

[swt61]

Hey, what you and Ari do in the privacy of your own homes is no body's business. As long as the headphones are consenting, that is.  

[mypasswordis]

Do you fight over who gets which side of the bed? That definitely rubs them the wrong way.

[swt61]

Who has to sleep in the wet spot?

[EdipisReks1]

2 minutes ago, swt61 said:

Who has to sleep in the wet spot?

Space lizards?

[Wmcmanus]

I just stumbled across the HD800 pricing on Amazon, quite by accident, and was surprised that they're now a $1,000 pair of headphones:

https://smile.amazon.com/Sennheiser-800-Reference-Dynamic-Headphone/dp/B001OTZ8DA/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_cp_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001OTZ8DA&pd_rd_r=MA8B1CMNN9HTH2J6F13X&pd_rd_w=0JfnY&pd_rd_wg=9fxIy&psc=1&refRID=MA8B1CMNN9HTH2J6F13X

Guess I've paid very little attention to the entire HD800 S thing and had no sense that the tweaked model had devalued the original so dramatically. Or I guess, maybe that's just where the HD800 lines up now on a competitive basis with all of the new entries to the flied since 2009.
 

[EdipisReks1]

1 hour ago, Wmcmanus said:

I just stumbled across the HD800 pricing on Amazon, quite by accident, and was surprised that they're now a $1,000 pair of headphones:

https://smile.amazon.com/Sennheiser-800-Reference-Dynamic-Headphone/dp/B001OTZ8DA/ref=pd_rhf_dp_s_cp_4?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B001OTZ8DA&pd_rd_r=MA8B1CMNN9HTH2J6F13X&pd_rd_w=0JfnY&pd_rd_wg=9fxIy&psc=1&refRID=MA8B1CMNN9HTH2J6F13X

Guess I've paid very little attention to the entire HD800 S thing and had no sense that the tweaked model had devalued the original so dramatically. Or I guess, maybe that's just where the HD800 lines up now on a competitive basis with all of the new entries to the flied since 2009.
 

I've seen $1000 from other sellers, but not from Amazon.  My guess is that it's a combination of the two factors you mention.  

[mypasswordis]

They started out at $1k, then Sennheiser realized they could get more money for them since nothing else in production was as good at the time so they increased it. Then everybody started bitching about the treble spike so they made the HD800S and dropped the HD800 price back down to $1k. The only difference between them acoustically is the added Helmholtz resonator to decrease the spike, and more bass distortion to make it sound warmer

[EdipisReks1]

I just looked at several early 2009 reviews, and they all mention $1400 as the price point.  It's certainly what I remember them debuting at.

[The Monkey]

Remember that the HD 800 came out right around the time that the Leegin case was decided by SCOTUS, which eased many of the restrictions on resale price maintenance.  Senn was being super aggressive with its retailers ($1399 or else), threatening to cut them off if they undercut their competitors, which Leegin permitted after decades of limitation.

[kevin gilmore]

 I bought one from headroom the first day they went on sale and it was $1399

 

[mypasswordis]

Ah, that's probably what I'm (mis)remembering then, the time right before Sennheiser clamped down on resale price. Well, the good news is you can get an HD800 for cheap now and mod it to your liking (t-shirt mods and plankton notwithstanding)

[EdipisReks1]

2 minutes ago, mypasswordis said:

Ah, that's probably what I'm (mis)remembering then, the time right before Sennheiser clamped down on resale price. Well, the good news is you can get an HD800 for cheap now and mod it to your liking (t-shirt mods and plankton notwithstanding)

No, I don't think that's what you are mis-remembering.

[mypasswordis]

8 minutes ago, EdipisReks1 said:

No, I don't think that's what you are mis-remembering.

Since you want to go to Dusty level pedantry, I did some googling

http://www.head-fi.org/t/534027/hd800-price-hike

So there was a price hike and decrease at some point, but not the one I was thinking of

[EdipisReks1]

Just now, mypasswordis said:

Since you want to go to Dusty level pedantry, I did some googling

He is my sensei, so I can only hope to do him proud.

[gepardcv]

Anyone have any views on recent HD800 mods? I heard a few modded versions at a meet a couple of years ago and hated them. The mods reduced treble, yes, but they also muddied the mids and neutered the bass. Curious about the more recent iterations, especially since the 800S seems to just incorporate a mod (and throw in a balanced cable).

[EdipisReks1]

2 minutes ago, gepardcv said:

Anyone have any views on recent HD800 mods? I heard a few modded versions at a meet a couple of years ago and hated them. The mods reduced treble, yes, but they also muddied the mids and neutered the bass. Curious about the more recent iterations, especially since the 800S seems to just incorporate a mod (and throw in a balanced cable).

I am using the laziest version of the "French mod" (cut a Shure foamie to fit and stick it in the middle) and it's great.  I have heard no difference in sound beyond less tizz.  Completely reversible.  Hard to go wrong with it.  Along with an amp that really grips them, I love the HD-800 now.  My beloved vintage RS-1 gets almost no head time, now.

[mypasswordis]

I heard replacing the plankton with some krill will make things more copacetic. 

[EdipisReks1]

2 minutes ago, mypasswordis said:

I heard replacing the plankton with some krill will make things more copacetic. 

I'm not 100% sure that is cromulent.

[jpelg]

Newegg had them new for $899 briefly a few months ago. Any price south of $1k for a new pair has to be the best value in headphonedom, imo. Used deals like tkam's recent offer is even better.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

[EdipisReks1]

1 minute ago, jpelg said:

Newegg had them new for $899 briefly a few months ago. Any price south of $1k for a new pair has to be the best value in headphonedom, imo. Used deals like tkam's recent offer is even better.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
 

Wow, $899 is cheap.  I guess I quit checking Newegg, a long time ago (I used to spend a lot of money there).  I'm on my third HD-800, and I'm enjoying the fact that the paint isn't chipping.  Did they finally fix the formula?  is the HD-800S painted black, or is it bare plastic?

[wink]

5 hours ago, EdipisReks1 said:

I'm not 100% sure that is cromulent.

Some of the mods make the sound rather gibbous, but I find the super dupont mod makes them sonically commensurate, homogenous and coterminous.

[K3cT]

16 hours ago, gepardcv said:

Anyone have any views on recent HD800 mods? I heard a few modded versions at a meet a couple of years ago and hated them. The mods reduced treble, yes, but they also muddied the mids and neutered the bass. Curious about the more recent iterations, especially since the 800S seems to just incorporate a mod (and throw in a balanced cable).

The original helmhotz resonator that tries to mimic the HD800S' as outlined in the Inner Fidelity article is definitely the most effective mod to kill the treble spike but without altering too much of the HD800's original sound. If I were to do it all over again I would just stick with the plain old HD800 and install this mod since to my ears they sound 97% the same as the HD800S. 

[Sorrodje]

Thks for the positive comments guys.. much appreciated  

[Pars]

What positive comments?