Best Amps For the Sennheiser HD800 - 2017 Edition

RE: HD800
While it's true that the HD800 will benefit greatly with TOTL rigs, I think it's often overlooked how great a modded pair can sound from modest amplification. Even the Vali 1 had good synergy with the HD800 and worked well enough to show you a glimpse of what it was capable of.
The key here is the modded part. I wouldn't want to listen to a stock HD800 on any setup, but a well modded HD800 can be more forgiving than the Utopia, without compromising it's strengths. Start with the SBAF and SD mods and go from there. I think in the end everyone will end up with a slightly different configuration, but there are a few key points I found:

• Don't trust the coupler measurements. Listen. Trust your ears. The HD800 driver has an incredibly smooth FR with no resonances in the audioband. Because of the huge earcups the coupler measurements don't work very well with the HD800 and sometimes completely mislead you. If you want the best sound from your HD800 I would suggest you to not waste your time with measurements, ever. Alternatively the in-ear method (or maybe dummy heads) work if you want FR measurements.
• Covering the mesh with something: Essentially what the SBAF absorber does. I prefer the tonality and staging with some material covering the mesh and use the SBAF material. The cutout shape is very important for proper midrange tonality.
• SD resonator: I personally find it to be less effective than the coupler measuerments show, but it works well in lifting the upper mids.
• The metal ring: A baffle that extends slightly beyond the outer circumference of the driver usually helps with the midrange tonality, but I find the metal ring too reflective. Keep in mind that even porous materials may act as a baffle for the midrange, while absorbing treble. I usually don't like putting stuff on top of the metal ring, because it makes the midrange tonality weird. It's like a small baffle step giving you a slight "horn" coloration for lack of a better word. The stuff commonly used on top of the metal ring doesn't work for me. 2mm felt/foam/cork really isn't enough to effectively absorb reflections at those frequencies.
  You need a way to mount the driver, but I'm not a fan of the metal ring. I guess Focal did a better job with the Utopia in this regard.
• Pads: Not too many options out there. Different pads will usually completely transform the HD800, for better or worse. I use the stock pads, but maybe with some slight wizardry.
• Don't forget the cable. I hate SPC wire.

Sennheiser did a fantastic job of designing a driver that is extended, neutral, efficient and uncoloured sounding, with very low distortion, but the earcups needs work. You don't often get to listen to a full-range minimum-phase device. I guess maybe you could count some of the Planars and Stats, since their resonances tend to be benign. With speakers your only choice are full-range estats (without crossovers).

 

Lot's of great advice here. So even it's been given before it probably bears repeating every once in a while. I'll add a few things.

1. Consider a mjolnir 2. You can go tube or solid state. It's will power even the he6 and can be either tube or solid state.

2. Educate yourself on EQ. A little gentle EQ can make a ton of difference and often pay bigger dividends than expensive cables and such. Sonarwork Reference EQ is a plug and play solution if you don't want to dig to deep into manual EQ.

 

Bigly hahaha...

Sonarworks is a cheap upgrade for the original 800 as well.

 

Thanks for the advice I aprrecitate it but I knew (somewhat) what I was getting into with the HD800, actually they were exactly what I was looking for in a headphone. I need to clarify this, I know i said I just got into the Headfi/Hifi thing but that seemed to have came out wrong. A year ago I got into the world of High end audio, but not just audio in general. I got into headphones 7 years ago and have owned numerous amount of headphones, like akg, other sennheiser, vmoda, bose shure, beyerdynamic, and so on and so forth, so no the world of headphones is not new to me just the hifi stuff. I have done a lot of research into the HD800's before hand ( not in pairing with amps or dacs) but in how they reproduce sound. I believe the HD800's are the headphones I always wanted, I mean yes their are other more 'FUN' options, but I really enjoy how they sound ( at least with the Aune). I am more than willing to go on this adventure with the HD800's, I know the 650's with a mid level setup is a better value (when it comes price vs performance) vs underpowering the HD800's but I am committed.

 

I don't know if its just because of the Aune but I don't find the HD800's bright and don't feel like I need to mod them, although that might change once I get a new amp. So for now should I just keep them unmodded?

 

It sounds like you should just do what you want man

 

Thanks to @Illya , there come great advice for hd800 newbies.

But I think this thread is not exactly for his questions. Such questions are more welcome in other threads like:
http://www.superbestaudiofriends.org/index.php?threads/the-hd800-hd800s-thread.206/

Also I want to recommend him to spend time in reading many discussions about hd800. I think hd800 is particularly well studied and discussed here in SBAF.

Questions about amps already listed in the list, comments/opinions about them, or arguments for other gears to add to the list would be much more desirable for this thread.

EDIT:
To @Illya : I didn't mean that asking the same (or equivalent) questions in other thread. As far as I am concerned, the quality of questions are very important here. In other words, almost everybody hates dumb or silly questions (often regarded as noise). Do research as much as possible, try to specify context as much as possible, and think at least twice whether posting a certain question is really needed (to everybody) and not duplicated.
Another tip (many others already said indeed): Avoid meaningless A vs B questions. We're not six year old children (I assume so ).

 

Modding the HD800 has always yielded positive results for me regardless of the amps I've used it with. You think the stock HD800's not bright? Wait till you try the mods and let's see if you still think the same way.

I know modding can be somewhat scary for first-timers especially with relatively expensive stuff--I know, I've been there too--but once you overcome your fears and get past that stage, you're in for a world of fun. Besides, if you know what you're doing, most SBAF-approved mods (e.g. SuperBAF mod, SuperDupont mod) are all reversible. Not that I would want to reverse them anyway.

If you're still not so sure, you can start by contacting @sorrodje for a pair of SuperDupont resonators. They are super easy to install, Tyll at Innerfidelity has even made a friendly step-by-step video on how to do it, and hard to screw up unless you are careless. To exaggerate a bit, that alone could make a world of difference.

 

@Illya just go grab this and be happy
http://www.head-fi.org/t/836016/cavalli-audio-liquid-crimson-w-upgraded-tube

 

/Drool

 

I posted this in the intro/help thread, now I feel more comfortable suggesting this since I have solved the "hiss" issue.

There have been some discussions about having a single setup for both HE-6 and HD800. That is precisely what I had (just sold the HE-6). Mine is HD800S actually, which is probably more forgiving to an SS amp.

I had the HE-6 for the last two years, the first year ran it through my AGD M11. Got the First Watt J2 in the second year, thought this is my "end-game", then one fine afternoon I auditioned the HD800S and bought it instantly, my first impulse purchase in this hobby. Now I was in a dilemma as I did not really want to go through the GAS cycle again and sell the J2, which also doubles as my speaker amp. So I ran the HD800S through the J2 as well. Sound is excellent, especially the bass extension is noticeably better compared to AGD M11, Cambridge 851D, Audeze Deckard, and HDVD800 (first two I owned, the next two auditioned).

But I am extremely sensitive to hiss and there was some hiss present through the Azur 851D -> J2 chain. I narrowed it down to the DAC, cuz when I disconnect the DAC there's no hiss even when the amp is on. Today I got the Benchmark DAC3 HGC delivered, and it is dead quiet (with the -10 dB attenuators at the XLR). Compared to the Benchmark headphone out I still prefer the J2, there's absolutely zero fatigue on this setup.

TL;DR: If you have a First Watt J2 around (other first watts might work well too), try listening to the HD800 through the speaker taps. This can be a great all-rounder if you rotate between the HD800 and a planar. Although I love the HD800S so much I sold the HE-6, but in a year or two I will probably get the upgrade/side-grade itch again (that's like a decade in this hobby, right?)

 

Just missed this by 10 minutes : ( Guess it was fate. I'll wait for Vidar impressions I suppose.

 

Huh, I thought you were the first to PM him. bummer, it does get sold pretty fast.

 

@Marvey So I think I will go with the Liquid Crimson, looks like a good choice but wanted to ask if a Modi Multibit would be a good solution compared to my Aune t1 for a DAC. I would keep the Aune but since everyone says get rid of it ASAP i'm thinking a modi would be good until I can buy a Yggdrasil.

 

Man why do you keep asking us about Aune T1? Didn't everybody told you to ditch it ASAP? Why are you still hesitating?

1. Ditch Aune T1
2. Buy Vali 2 + Modi Multibit + EH 6CG7 Tube
3. Buy the cheapest way to avoid USB (If you can't, Wyrd may help for USB band-aid)
4. Save your money until Vali2 and Modi Multibit warranty expires (2 years?)
5. 2 years later, buy any TOTL tube amps listed here and any R2R dacs of your choice.
6. Call it done and start looking for speakers.

 

Go to a meet, listen to gear. It's too easy to blindly follow recommendations and get underwhelmed since you have no experience moving through different brands of gear and forming your sonic preferences. You might get lucky and find a combo that really does it for you but usually most people spend a little bit, go, hmmmm this sounds pretty good but *random head-fier* says that this combo is better. Okay, I'll save for that. Each time you stretch your budget a little more and soon you'll be spending $1000 on an amp or DAC. Don't get me wrong, the journey is fun but if you can get to a meet and find something that is truly amazing, it's worth saving for it.

Yeah, I thought I was the first as well but someone must have sent a PM and didn't reply to the for sale ad. I sent three pm's and finally said okay, and literally 3 minutes before I sent the PM it said sold. I was just like FUUUUUUUUUUUUUU....

Honestly, it's cool. There are plenty of other options out there that are just as good if not better.

 

Yes meets are better than blind advice on a forum, BUT...meets can sometimes be more deceptive. Unless the meet is quiet (they never are) it can be very difficult to get a true feel for how something sounds. Most especially with open backed headphones. I've made some bad decisions at meets, more than once.

Honestly, I would take advice over someone I trust who is established in the hobby and has actually owned the gear I'm considering.

 

I've got a new HD800 (silver) recently. It's my second pair, the first one I had a couple years back was used with an ODAC/O2 combo and I sold it pretty fast because the trebble was hellish. My rig has evolved though and now I have a Meier Corda Daccord, fed via coax spdif (Hifiberry Digi with all bells and whistles) and a valhalla 2. My main headphone is a HD650.

The HD800 interests me only for classical music, it won't ever replace the HD650 which I like much more. The HD800 sound with the Valhalla 2 is nice, soundstage is impressive, it's also bright and the mids are slightly hollow, what bothers me a bit.
As lots of people here like the Vali 2 for the HD800 I wonder if it might be worth a try or if I have to expect too many sacrifices for the different tonality. The Valhalla 2 should be pretty capable with the HD800 to beginn with.
I guess the real uprades to Valhalla 2 are going to be very expensive.

I've also used Valhalla 2 with Modi Multibit but found the resulting sound to be too warm and the bass on the soft side. The combo has a super sweet midrange and is very holographic but it seems that the lack of macrodynamics and clarity in the Valhalla 2 is more apparent with the Modi Multibit than with the Corda Daccord.

I usually listen at very low volumes.