HD800? Another rumor?

[aardvark baguette]

PS3 fanboi

[postjack]

actually my ps3 broke, and I bought a wii this week.

[JBLoudG20]

actually my ps3 broke, and I bought a wii this week.

You are out of the clan

[Tyll Hertsens]

Tyll said over on HF yesterday that Senn has already sold out their entire first year production run of the 800s. That little write-up won't help the supply situation!

I said they have orders equal to what they forcast. I don't have any Idea how many they can produce.

Edit -- Sorry, I posted immediately and didn't see your post, Nate. Thanks.

If they need to ramp it up, I'm sure they'll be able to.

My guess is that the initial pent-up demand bump was WAY higher than they expected. The baseline selling rate is a different story though, and remains to be seen.

I'd love it if these sold like hotcakes, but the question is: after you lugs get yours, do the moderately whelthy audiophiles have a desire for headphones yet.

The magazines have been doing a pretty good job of letting people know about cans...better than ever before anyway.

I'm rooting for it, but I'm thinking 50/50. Now, 50/50 is the best odds I've ever given it, but I don't think average audiophiles are really embracing headphones yet.

Edited January 30, 2009 by Tyll Hertsens

[purk]

so when will be available? The end of this month?

[Eric5676]

so when will be available? The end of this month?

More or less, that's the word.

I still can't believe I pulled the trigger on $1400 headphones. I must be insane or something...

[pompon]

They cancelled my order because I am not a USA resident .... doh! I was like the 30th in the headroom list.

8-(

[Dusty Chalk]

Who did?

[pompon]

headroom did. TTJV have posted the same thing on the forum. I am not the alone in this situation I guess.

A good alternative will be ship to USA resident (let him listen a couple of day for his trouble ... ;-) ) and after he reship me ... but I don't know if this can work if I still the one who pay the bill.

[cetoole]

A good alternative will be ship to USA resident (let him listen a couple of day for his trouble ... ;-) ) and after he reship me ... but I don't know if this can work if I still the one who pay the bill.

Ask. It is amazing what can be done with email on this internets thing today. Besides, Tyll and his peeps havnt bitten anyone lately (or if they did, there were no complaints).

[jinp6301]

I'm a US resident

[lostonetr]

^ best of luck to ya jinp

[Torpedo]

I've read at a Spanish forum that Sennheiser USA has ordered their resellers to not delivering HD800 to customers outside the USA. Maybe they want to avoid distributors wars between EU and USA.

Some website in Spain has got the HD800 listed at 835 euros, but they don't say when they're having them available for delivery.

[Eric5676]

This kind of goes along with something that was being discussed a few pages back but I've seen some signs that the Sennheiser 800s are turning some heads in some clearly NON Head Fi-ish circles.

Just the other day I was having a chat with a friend of mine who is clearly a speakers only person but for some reason he decided he just was in the mood to try out a good pair of headphones so bought some B stock AKG701s.

He saw a thread that I'd made about the Sennheiser 800s and my usual buyer's guilt/fence sitting that I always go through with anything and he wrote me this completely unsolicited:

Me:

Damn it...I wish these didn't cost $1400... I'd love to try them but I really just can't justify it. I keep saying "$1400 headphones" over and over again in my head and it's not sitting well with me.

Friend:

There are different ways to look at it though.

When you think about it from the standpoint of the fact that headphones can sound better than speakers in some ways, and they take room acoustics out of the equation, the idea of "only" having to pay $1400.00 for what may be the best audiophile headphones you can buy, it isn't bad at all.

In other words, compare that $1400.00 to how much you would have to pay to get comparable top of the line audiophile grade speakers! To think that you could have what may be the best audiophile equipment in this category for $1400.00 isn't too bad at all.

They may very well give you the best sound quality that you have ever heard. True audiophile nirvana!

Seriously, it has been so long since I have used headphones, that I wanted to get my feet wet again before dumping a lot of $ on something like these, so I went with the 701's at $269 (I didn't even spring for the new 702's at $450). If I find myself falling in love with listening to music with headphones (and it is certainly possible) I could easily see myself "getting into" this aspect of the hobby and taking the plunge at $1400.00, knowing that I really couldn't do a lot better than that in terms of quality. It would be like having a pair of Wilson speakers!

This is a home theater guy on a home theater forum. You'd be hard pressed to show me a much better "pro hardcore" head fi line of talking points than this.

My point is: I have no idea how much impact the Senns 800s are going to have but I do think there is some sort of interest and buzz outside of just the usual headphone enthusiast circles. That post was one of several posts I fielded on HT forum from people that not into headphones.

I was stunned.

[pompon]

Good news for me finally ... I will have my own HD800 from a Canadian dealers ...

ETA 3 weeks from now.

Considering the money conversion, shipping and duty fees ... I got a better price.

[Shiki]

headroom did. TTJV have posted the same thing on the forum. I am not the alone in this situation I guess.

A good alternative will be ship to USA resident (let him listen a couple of day for his trouble ... ;-) ) and after he reship me ... but I don't know if this can work if I still the one who pay the bill.

I'm in the same boat...

I finally gave in and ordered from TTVJ a few weeks ago, thinking I could replace all my other headphones if I liked it. But due to Sennheiser's policy I now have to cancel my order or find someone in the US to ship it to.

Maybe I'll just wait till they get released here so that I can actually audition it first.

[Dusty Chalk]

That's not necessarily a bad idea.

[Sherwood]

it helps to have reliable people, as we do here. Not me, of course, but Nate. He'd probably receive a pair of headphones for someone and send them along.

[Asr]

it helps to have reliable people, as we do here. Not me, of course, but Nate. He'd probably receive a pair of headphones for someone and send them along.

Wait, are you saying you're not reliable? Do I need to rethink a certain something?

[Sherwood]

3 minutes, Steve. Record time, by all accounts.

[bhd812]

T

Friend:

In other words, compare that $1400.00 to how much you would have to pay to get comparable top of the line audiophile grade speakers! To think that you could have what may be the best audiophile equipment in this category for $1400.00 isn't too bad at all.

.

YES AND NO. yes to the overall point of headphones being somewhat cheaper and easier then speakers but no you don't need expensive speaker rigs to bring amazing sound, in fact money or cost has nothing to do with speakers. instead its getting the System (room,gear,electrical) to all work together as one perfectly that takes a shit load of time and dedication...and for most people that's a impartially impractically impossible.

even with some headphones its falls back on perfect placement just like speakers, which is why i still say the perfect headphone can only be a custom molded IEM.

just taking out the time needed to spend on a good sounding speaker setup is well worth $1400 headphones in my book.

[postjack]

YES AND NO. yes to the overall point of headphones being somewhat cheaper and easier then speakers but no you don't need expensive speaker rigs to bring amazing sound, in fact money or cost has nothing to do with speakers. instead its getting the System (room,gear,electrical) to all work together as one perfectly that takes a shit load of time and dedication...and for most people that's a impartially impractically impossible.

even with some headphones its falls back on perfect placement just like speakers, which is why i still say the perfect headphone can only be a custom molded IEM.

just taking out the time needed to spend on a good sounding speaker setup is well worth $1400 headphones in my book.

Beautifully put Billy. Its taken me years (18 months maybe? so more like year and a half-s) to find an optimal setup for my speakers. With headphones you just plop 'em on. Not having to screw with a room is, to me, the biggest draw of headphones.

But while sources remain the same across speaker and audio rigs, I'd say its easier to find a good cheap headphone amp then a good cheap speaker amp. Maybe I'm wrong here, but an amp like a basic M^3 is competent enough to handle almost any headphone, but some speakers definitely require more specific amplification because you have to screw with sensitivity.

But I guess really you could grab like a budget NAD integrated and be cool for most speakers.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Wait, are you saying you're not reliable? Do I need to rethink a certain something?

By all means, have Justin send it here instead.

[recstar24]

I concur with billy and pj. My speaker setup is very modest, and my acoustics are crappy. Yet damn those little single drivers that cost me $400 can really sing, and with the help of my sub I get some pretty darn good bass and extension. I can only imagine what it would sound like if I had symmetry between the left and right wall placement (as currently my right speaker simply extends out to an open room, whereas the left speaker is a couple of feet from the wall).

I would agree with pj on amplification. Headphone amplification need not be heroic. Some of these darn speakers you guys like to talk about require a good chunk of wattage for sure.

[Augsburger]

And for those of us who are married, wife approved speakers and room treatments are a fail in the making whereas just about any set of cans gets a pass.