Looks like Drop might be 'dropping' a HD800

[threni]

Mostly the no warranty support is quite risky. In the UK, HD800s have the Orpheus 10 year warranty in comparison. Sennheiser EU support is also really great - my earpads had some deformity, and they sent me brand new replacements for free after I emailed them no questions asked. If I was in the US though and didn't have HD800s already, I'd definitely try to get in on this.

I see people online saying the HD800S has a 10 year warranty but that's not what the Sennheiser site says:

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https://portal.sennheiser.co.uk/rma/repairs/high-end

Sennheiser products are covered by a warranty for two years from the original date of purchase. The warranty terms and conditions can be found here.
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When you go to buy them it says they're offering an extra year. Where did you read about the 10 year warranty?

 

[svenz]

I see people online saying the HD800S has a 10 year warranty but that's not what the Sennheiser site says:

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https://portal.sennheiser.co.uk/rma/repairs/high-end

Sennheiser products are covered by a warranty for two years from the original date of purchase. The warranty terms and conditions can be found here.
---

When you go to buy them it says they're offering an extra year. Where did you read about the 10 year warranty?

It's exclusive to certain UK/Ireland authorized dealers I believe. You register w/ Sennheiser as part of the "club orpheus" program and get a 10 year warranty upgrade. It's sort of hard to find details on. https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/cluborpheus link is broken but it's still offered as far as I can tell.

 

[threni]

It's exclusive to certain UK/Ireland authorized dealers I believe. You register w/ Sennheiser as part of the "club orpheus" program and get a 10 year warranty upgrade. It's sort of hard to find details on. https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/cluborpheus link is broken but it's still offered as far as I can tell.

That's interesting. I'm not surprised Sennheiser is in trouble! I'm sure people would be more interested in expensive headphones if they had a decent warranty behind them. The main page has them at £1399 but if you poke around a bit and attempt to buy them it comes up as £1199. £1199 and a 10 year warranty is more compelling than £1399 and a 2 year warranty! "OK, we can offer a great warranty but it'll cost us. How about we keep it quiet and hide it behind broken links so they have to really work at it?" "Won't that just annoy people who buy them and discover they'd have got a free repair in year 7 if they knew about the extra warranty?" " "Screw them, we've already got their money!"

 

[svenz]

That's interesting. I'm not surprised Sennheiser is in trouble! I'm sure people would be more interested in expensive headphones if they had a decent warranty behind them. The main page has them at £1399 but if you poke around a bit and attempt to buy them it comes up as £1199. £1199 and a 10 year warranty is more compelling than £1399 and a 2 year warranty! "OK, we can offer a great warranty but it'll cost us. How about we keep it quiet and hide it behind broken links so they have to really work at it?" "Won't that just annoy people who buy them and discover they'd have got a free repair in year 7 if they knew about the extra warranty?" " "Screw them, we've already got their money!"

Just typical big company bureaucracy, I'm sure. Seems like they aren't willing to invest in improvements unless something external forces them to. I'm guessing in this case Club Morpheus was negotiated by the dealer network in UK/Ireland to improve sales. And now Massdrop got Sennheiser to make changes to the HD800s to improve some of its flaws. Imagine if they had just done that themselves, offer a worldwide 10 year warranty on a HD800s+ (brought to you by a famous Rapper/Singer/Songwriter) - I'm fairly sure their sales would have improved. Then again I'm not a businessman so I'm sure it's more complicated than that .

 

[edahl]

Got myself a nice used pair of HD 800S for a price I can probably resell them for if the 8XX turns out to be an upgrade. Can't wait for it to arrive!

 

[Roen]

I'm excited about HD800S on sale. Not as excited about HD8XX.

Hoping to find a new HD800S on sale close to the price of an HD8XX.

 

[m_g_s_g]

I'm excited about HD800S on sale. Not as excited about HD8XX.

Hoping to find a new HD800S on sale close to the price of an HD8XX.

Remember that it costs now 1400$ - 10% (=1260$) if you subscribe to Sennheiser's mailing list. You can later sell both included cables to further lower the gap (they retail together for > 550$ !!!). It is absurd but in this case you can benefit from that: publish a nice auction talking about the ethereal musicality of this cables. Just reuse an old (reasonable quality) cable and solder the jack you need and this connectors.

 

[bigjacko]

this connectors.

Those looks good and they are quite cheap compare to other listings. Is this one for a pair of connectors? How is the quality compare to other ones? I am looking for those connectors but just too afraid of bad construction and bad fit. Is it really make in USA or just USA design and made in China?

 

[FrankF]

Remember that it costs now 1400$ - 10% (=1260$) if you subscribe to Sennheiser's mailing list. You can later sell both included cables to further lower the gap (they retail together for > 550$ !!!). It is absurd but in this case you can benefit from that: publish a nice auction talking about the ethereal musicality of this cables. Just reuse an old (reasonable quality) cable and solder the jack you need and this connectors.

It appears the price is back to $1700 on Sennheiser's web site:

https://en-us.sennheiser.com/high-resolution-headphones-3d-audio-hd-800-s

 

[edahl]

Lucked out on a used pair of 800S'es at $1000 (a very good price in Norway!). At this price I might not even cancel the 8XX and wait and see what the impressions tell us. Either cancel as time goes, or sell these and pretty much recoup the expenditure. I tried them in a store and loved them, but am now in the comfort of my own home with EQ. Could throw around all sorts of superlatives, but I'll keep it simple with "wow!"

 

[m_g_s_g]

Is this one for a pair of connectors? How is the quality compare to other ones? Is it really make in USA or just USA design and made in China?

I just bought them because of this post:

Also, for DIY-ers, these connectors work great for re-terminating a spare HD650 cable

As soon as I receive them I will report back.

 

[maverickronin]

Those looks good and they are quite cheap compare to other listings. Is this one for a pair of connectors? How is the quality compare to other ones? I am looking for those connectors but just too afraid of bad construction and bad fit. Is it really make in USA or just USA design and made in China?

They are almost certainly made in China, but the fit is excelent and they are easy to solder to.

 

[m_g_s_g]

As soon as I receive them I will report back.

They were just delivered. Very good quality. It seems to be all metal (I thought the cap was going to be made out of plastic). I cant't rule out they're actually US made (How could I?? ).

 

[Pearljam5000]

 

[edahl]

As I guess could be expected: Zeos loves them, best 800 ever; Joshua is a bit more balanced, giving a slight edge to 800S. Both say they're final? So I guess that means no more tweaks, got further insight into that @solderdude?

 

[solderdude]

When they received the proto's and got the info this is the final model than one should expect for this to be so.
Haven't been in the loop for a while now so maybe Drop settled for this.

 

[Alexium]

I've owned HD800 for a good number of years. Was hanging on to them thinking I'll give them one more try and maybe I'll understand the hype about them, and finally sold them a month ago after realizing I've given them enough chances. Couldn't have been happier when a buyer offered a good price! These are 100% not a $1000 phones, and I'd go as far as to say they're not $500 either. Compared to my Hifiman HE-400 (not 400S) which are worth every penny of their original price of around $400.

Granted, HD800S/HD8XX is an improved model so it should be better.

 

[Jimbob54]

I've owned HD800 for a good number of years. Was hanging on to them thinking I'll give them one more try and maybe I'll understand the hype about them, and finally sold them a month ago after realizing I've given them enough chances. Couldn't have been happier when a buyer offered a good price! These are 100% not a $1000 phones, and I'd go as far as to say they're not $500 either. Compared to my Hifiman HE-400 (not 400S) which are worth every penny of their original price of around $400.

Granted, HD800S/HD8XX is an improved model so it should be better.

Did you eq them?

 

[Alexium]

Did you eq them?

I experimented for a bit, trying to EQ the midrange which sounded not quite right, but couldn't nail it.

 

[edahl]

When they received the proto's and got the info this is the final model than one should expect for this to be so.
Haven't been in the loop for a while now so maybe Drop settled for this.

Apparently this is it. Honestly not sure what I'm looking at, it looks bloated in the mids and scooped in the upper mid/lower treble?