At last I had a chance to sit down and listen to the HD800's today, I found a local dealer that had some on demo, initially I was very impressed, amazing detail and transparency, found the mid range and low end a little lean though but apparently they hadn't had much use so probably needed some more hours on them tbh, and I guess it didn't help that the only headphone amp the dealer had was the Project Headbox 2
Then I noticed the dealer was also a Grado dealer, they only had upto the SR325i's though, but I couldn't resist a listen to see if I prefered the sonic signature of the Grado's, well I found them amazing, lovely rich mid tone with powerful bass, I know they are not considered accurate but I found them a really good listen and If I had to choose I would have gone with the Grado's, I can only imagine how great the PS1000's must sound.
I don't want to count out the HD800's just yet as I'd like to hear them with proper amplification, are they known for being a hungry headphone regarding drive or was I hearing pretty much hearing how they perform?
I've been offered to take them home for a home demo, but as I haven't got a headphone amp yet is it worth it?
Can anyone guess how the headphone socket on the Byston BP26 will perform running the HD800's, is it worth a punt or will I be doing the HD800's an injustice?
Thanks,
BTW, I've got somebody bringing their Stax 507's over for me to listen to on Saturday, now that should be fun and give me a real idea of what sound I like