Sennheiser HD800 Premier Headphone

The Sennheiser HD-800 is the headphone that has been specifically engineered in replicating the basic acoustic conditions of natural hearing.The HD-800 is the ultimate headphone to deliver nature.
The impression of spatial listening is created by a minute time lapse with which one and the same sound wave arrives at the inner ear. Ideally, the sound waves produced by a hi-fi sound system reach the listener at an angle of 60 degrees. The sound waves do not reach the ear straight on, but through a slightly angled sound front. This causes some of the sound impulses to reach the nerve ends of the inner ear earlier than others. The resulting time lapse is a matter of split seconds, but it is exactly this phenomenon that gives the impression of spatial listening.

Technical Details
* Natural hearing experience - realistic and natural sound field with minimal resonance.
* Biggest transducers ever used in headphones up to today - new innovative dynamic transducer design.
* Uncovered ear cups for acoustic and stylistic reasons.
* Metal headband with inner damping element.
* Specially tuned symmetrical, impedance matching cable with low capacitance.

Technical Specifications
# Frequency Response: 6–51,000 Hz (-10 dB); 14–44,100 Hz (-3 dB)
# Nominal impedance: 300 Ohms
# Sound pressure level at 1 kHz: 102 dB (1 Vrms)
# Max. nominal long-term input power: 500 mW in acc. with EN 60-268-7
# Harmonic distortion: <_ 0.02% (1 kHz, 1 Vrms)
# Contact pressure: approx. 3.4 N ± 0.3 N
# Weight (without cable): approx. 330 g
# Jack plug: ¼" (6.3 mm) stereo
# Connecting cable: silver-plated, oxygen-free (OFC) copper cable, symmetrical, Kevlar reinforced, 3 m
# Operating temperature: –10 °C to +55 °C



The transducer is designed in the shape of a ring. Basically, the larger the surface of the transducer the purer the sound—particularly when it comes to the low notes. A large surface area, however, also generates disruptive spurious oscillation at higher frequencies, so-called eigenmodes. This is primarily due to the fact that conventional-sized transducers do not have a satisfactory way of controlling high-frequency oscillations. The ringed shape of the new transducer effectively solves this dilemma: Its broad area oscillates in an extremely controlled way due to the large coil and the two supporting surfaces. This results in a previously unheard-of degree of freedom from distortion and thus the greatest purity and brilliance of sound.
The ring-shaped transducer utilized in the HD 800 greatly enhances the control of the oscillating surface. This results in a more voluminous sound wave and thus far greater clarity. In a conventional transducer, unwanted spurious oscillation can occur due to eigenmodes. Even improvements such as increasingly sophisticated Duofol laminations are unable to completely negate these physical limitations.
The symmetrical cords are designed with twin-core, high-performance, Teflon-insulated connections on each side. They are additionally covered with high-quality material for better shielding from oscillations caused by ambient noise. The jacks are exclusively produced for the HD 800 in Switzerland and feature gold-plated bunches. Gold has the highly positive property of having a very low transfer resistance, thus guaranteeing excellent contact without interference.
The headband consists of a sandwich design in which a metal layer is covered with several layers of plastic. The high-tech plastic possesses incredible attenuation characteristics and ensures that oscillations are not transmitted to the headphone mountings.The headphones of the HD 800 are only mounted on one side, to make sure they fit optimally over the ear. The relocation of their point of balance towards the back of the head also enhances comfort for the wearer.