It was with great excitement in mid-2015 that we heard Sennheiser were going to bring out an upgraded version of the hugely popular Sennheiser HD800 headphones. The announcement came at a similar time as Sennheiser announced their new flagship Orpheus system – their first since the £10,000 system released in the early 1990s. However, with early reports suggesting that new Orpheus system will sell for around 50,000 Euros, one thing became pretty clear – the new version of the HD800 would be Sennheiser’s only flagship headphone above the HD800 and below the new Orpheus, so you’d know if you weren’t in the market for an Orpheus, that by choosing the newly upgraded HD800 model, you’d have the finest Sennheiser headphones available.
Only recently did we learn that the new model will run concurrently alongside the HD800 (which will continue) and that it has been dubbed, the Sennheiser HD800S. This new model looks similar to the HD800 but features a very stylish black design. We’ve always loved the look of HD800 but its surprising how much the change from silver to black can affect the look of a design and the new HD800s looks very smart indeed.
Most importantly for us though is the question – how have they improved in sound?
Well, the HD800 is now regarded as one of the finest high end headphones you can buy and has almost set a benchmark now for what’s possible from a headphone around the £1000 mark. Indeed, this is usually the “go to” model for comparison by reviews and visitors to our showroom when they come to audition another pair of headphones, whether that be the Grado GS1000e or Grado PS1000e models, HiFi Man HE1000 (or the brand new at time of writing HiFi Man Edition X, which is closer in price to the HD800), or the Oppo PM1 headphones. In most cases though, you want to hear what these headphones all sound like against the HD800. This was a similar situation back in the day with the now modern classic HD650 model, but not until the HD800 came along did we have what many now consider a universally accepted benchmark.
All of this of course makes our expectations for the HD800S unusually high. As superb as the HD800 are across the frequency spectrum and especially in their clarity though, few reviewers have
noted that they could be stronger on bass. Indeed, some of you visiting our showroom have commented that other models are stronger on bass and can “rock and roll” a little better. At this point we must stress that the HD800 are one of our greatest staff picks and as an all-rounder, they are absolutely superb, but it is important to mention (as critical as one needs to be t
o) that there are a few areas where improvement is *possible* otherwise where would they have to go with their replacement?
Sennheiser’s Axel Grell has taken a good look at HD800 to find every area of possible improvement and the areas addressed are everything that we could have wished for. Sennheiser have upgraded the design by adding an acoustical absorber, similar to the one featured in the IE800 earphones which gives the headphone an extended frequency response, resulting in stronger bass at the lower end of the spectrum as well as a smoother sound throughout with a flatter response overall. Please note though that this extra bass in no way makes the HD800S sound “bassy” as this integrates into their existing sound signature very well. They just sound better all round and even more cohesive.
Only having had a brief opportunity with HD800S, we can’t wait to hear what they sound like alongside the existing HD800 and other flagship headphone models, but after the huge amount of admiration we’ve all had for HD800, we can imagine the new HD800S will sound even better with a wide range of music and ancillary electronics (although we especially can’t wait to hear how they sound through the matching Sennheiser HDVD800 headphone amplifier).
…if all of that wasn’t enough, this new model is going to cost only £100 more than the HD800 (!) with a price set at £1199 (compared to HD800 £1099).
For those of you sold on this new model already, we’re accepting pre-orders on HD800S now so you can be one of the first UK customers to receive your delivery when stock arrives from Sennheiser, which should be early February.