Sennheiser HD 800

How would you describe perfection? How to describe something that simply disappears? Neutral? Transparent? Just you and the night and the music? We listened agape ... stunned ... astonished ... enthralled. Simply, put these are the best engineered, and best sounding pair of headphones we've encountered. Every hard-core audiophile and audio professional should have a pair if possible.

Wrap your head in a pair of Sennheiser HD800s and the first thing you'll notice is the extraordinary transient response. The natural snap of the leading edge of pianos and drums is beautifully coherent without being overly sharp; within each xylophone strike one hears both the instantaneously loud bell-like tone and the metallic 'ting' as the mallet strikes the bar. Trumpets cease to blare and become the the vibrant urging of tightly pressed fleshy lips. What was a crash and wash of cymbals are now musical instruments each with a timbre of its own. The previously bland notes from a bass or bongo becomes fingerprints on gut and skin. What can we say, simply the most neutral, coherent, well-extended, articulate headphone we've ever heard.

So, how did they do it? At the heart of the HD800 is a patented ring radiating transducer whose special property is that it can radiate a very large, and a very coherent wavefront. Sennheiser has placed this driver slightly in front of, and pointing slightly rearward at the ear so as to mimic the more planar wavefront the ear hears in normal spatial (speaker) listening. As much or more than any headphone we've heard before, the HD800 produces an exquisitely natural and stable audio image. This ring-radiator is structured to be both very large and very fast, allowing clear highs without cone breakup, and naturally textured lows with it's ability to move lots of air.

The goodness doesn't stop with the driver either: special Leona ultra-high rigidity plastics; stainless steel mesh ear cups; metal sandwich headband construction; and super cushy earpads provide an engineered acoustic system and a display-worthy look & feel. A surprisingly excellent cable also comes with the headphone. It's fully detachable at the ear pieces with custom metal connectors and terminated with a sweet and beefy 1/4" inch headphone plug. All HD800 headphones are precisely hand-assembled at Sennheiser's headquarters facility in Germany. A very sweet piece of gear, indeed!

HD800's with Balanced Termination:

If you're looking for fully balanced/XLR Sennheiser HD800 headphones, HeadRoom has got you covered with our own in-house HD800 balanced recabling job: Balanced Sennheiser HD800 Headphones

Recommended Accessories

Cardas 1/4-1/8" adaptor

If you're using the HD800's with an 1/8" headphone jack, you'll need an adaptor for the 800's 1/4" plug.

Dimarzio Big Red Headphone Extension

If you need more length than the provided 3 meter cable (about 9 feet), the Dimarzio headphone extension is the more transparent we've heard.

HeadRoom Ultra Micro Amp

For optimum performance, you need a headphone amp to drive the 800's, thanks to their 300 ohm impedance. The HeadRoom Ultra Micro Amp gives top notch sound in a small size; consider the companion Ultra Micro DAC as a great addition when using a digital source or computer.

HeadRoom Ultra Desktop Amp

Your perfect Desktop or listening room machine, the Ultra Desktop Amp features an integrated DAC, our top notch 'Max' level electronics, and multiple input switching.  Headphone Amp, Pre-amp, & audio control center, all in a 6" x 6" footprint.

To Customers outside of the USA:
This dealer has restricted international shipments. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to ship this product anywhere outside of the United States. We apologize for the inconvenience; please visit the dealer's website to find a distributor in your area.