SENNHEISER HD 800 OVER-EAR HEADPHONE

Sennheiser has been around for more almost 70 years producing high-quality audio equipment. After years of success and highly regarded products they have deserved some credit that still keeps us interested when we see the price tag of $1,499 on Amazon for a pair of headphones named the HD 800. Is there a possibility that they are NOT blatantly overpriced?

Yes, there is. They are just great. Their previous flagship product came out in 2003 and it is still one of the most revered pieces of audio equipment available. Well, several years of preparation brought us the HD 800.  First the design.  The cups are very noticeable mostly due to their size and shiny finish combined with black elements. The size is such for practical reasons. Large cups make room for the drivers to be placed a bit farther from ears and even moved to the front. This kind of a setup provides amazing sound, but we’ll address the sound quality a bit later.

The cups are made of high quality plastic and metal materials and they look, feel and are very durable.  Add to this the microfiber ear cushions and these headphones are as luxurious as they get – save the ridiculous gold-plated bling products. With the weight of 330 grams, we can’t say they are unnoticeably light, but their weight actually keeps them firmly in place. With perfect pad pressure in the picture, there is no doubt that everyone will find the HD 800 comfy.

Distortion is further reduced using the solution that places the vibrating part of the diaphragm at the outer ring, rather than at the interior.

The drivers we mentioned are placed at a particular angle to imitate the way that the sound is received from speakers. Even the plastic material for the support was chosen with its stunning acoustic properties in mind.

The cable is covered with cloth and toughened using Kevlar and it features silver plated copper wiring. However, here lurks one of the downsides. The plug is 6.3mm and you will need an adapter in order to be able to use the 3.5mm one.

The sound, on the other hand, bears absolutely no downsides. Perfect balance of all aspects provides flawless reproduction that has never been experienced with headphones. These sound like state of the art speakers, partly due to the front-directed placement of the drivers we discussed.  Simple idea, yet a great one. The open feature makes the sound seem to come from everywhere around – you are literally in the middle of what is going on. The frequency response is also great ranging from 14 to 44100 Hz.

If you are ready to splash that kind of money on headphones, with their durable build, great design and perfect sound the HD 800 might easily be your best choice.

Get it from Amazon here