Battle Of The Flagships (50+ Headphones Compared)

[mrtim6]

David did an awesome job with this guide, as he said it's his opinion, I for one would rank the Fostex TH900 much higher up around with the HD800. I tried the HD600 HD650 HD 700 and HD 800 last year - the HD800 in balanced configuration was my favorite Sennheiser. however on some amps & some songs there was a nasty sibilant treble. when I tried the TH900 there was no sibilance at all and music was so much more enjoyable - the HD800 had a larger sound stage (it's an open h/p) than the TH900 (a closed h/p). The HD800 has more of an analytical sound with the TH900 having a more euphonic signature - both phones retreave significant detail. The other bonus is in Australia the TH900 are significantly cheaper than USA ($1500. - 1600 vs $1900 up to $2300). Rarely does that happen as Australia is usually expensive for audio gear. In fact I heard from a head fier one of the Fostex reps for Australia told him the TH900 were selling out quickly. Some on HeadFi have suggested the TH900 is as classy as the Sony MDR-R10 a legend in its own right. If your looking at the HD800 consider auditioning the TH900 you may be quite surprised with the results.

[mrtim6]

fostex th 900 and senn hd 800 with which amp you paired them ???

 

Sorry for the super late reply star

 

i have tried both with the lehmann linear - I personally really didn't like this combination with the HD800.

 

However since I wrote my initial impressions I purchased an HD800 March 2015 and have tried it with my Grace m903 - fantastic pairing- no sibilence at all TH900 is also great with this amp (HD800 is better now IMO with this pairing). I have listened to both headphones on my Japanese Bakoon 5210mk3 - In initial tests I preferred the TH900, however I did not extensively test the HD800 - no sibilence problems here either. I have listened to both headphones on my Leben cs300xs with nos tubes - undecided here. I also listed to the awsome headphone section on my Yamaha A-S3000 integrated - the HD800 was my preference here.

My revised thoughts are:

HD800 is truely an awsome headphone - just pair it very carefully with other equipment. Better than the TH900 in most areas. Just unforgiving just like my Yamaha NS-2000 speakers with poor/average recordings.

TH900 far more forgiving than HD800 especially with poor/average recordings. TH900 generally much easier to pair with most amp/dacs and truely shines with the Bakoon 5210 Mk3. I prefer the TH900 over the HD800 with EDM and most electronic music. HD800 I prefer the HD800 over TH900 with rock, alternative, classical and jazz.

In the end both headphones are worthy of an audition and IMO very complimentary of each other. If I had to choose one - probably would be HD800 as my headphones have not suffered from sibilence at all. The pair I listened to were 3 years older than my pair.

I tested both single ended as none of the amps except the borrowed Lehman linear were balanced.