An honest and detailed review. But the bass reproduction of the HD800 is very much dependent on the amp (and DAC). I doubt anybody would complain about lack of bass impact with the HD800 driven by Moth 2a3. They can slam and punch with "lethal" power.

The Lyr was developed more for low impedance headphones so its not ideal for the HD800S but it didn't seem to be running out of steam.  With the Zdac amp section it was obvious that it was out of volume knob and didn't really have the voltage to drive the HD800S.  The Lyr was never really above 12 o'clock if I recall correctly.  It would be interesting to hear the HD800S on a amp specifically designed for a high impedance headphone though. That Moth is a bit out of my price range.  

I'm totally agree with your review. This what i listen too through HD800S.

What is balanced amp that will slam and punch this headphone?

Excellent review.  I particularly liked your choice of music.  

What Tom says is true about the 800 classic, somewhat less true about 800 S. I find it somewhat less amp dependent. 

your review is good, but these amps dont give hd800 the edge they need to shine.

800's are going to let you hear just what the signal that is fed to them is.
And like any SotA component they will scale really well based upon the rest of the system they are connected to.
And like most other SotA gear they will respond to tweaking.
 
That isn't to say you have to tweak the system to arrive at a satisfactory end result, but if you want to really know what they are capable of, ie. climb that scaleability ladder, then the quality of the signal fed them becomes the limiting factor, not the 800's.
 
And that isn't to say they are perfect (what is?), but that is what the art of tweaking is all about.
 
And they make an Excellent piece to build a system around and push the SQ up that scaleability envelope, if you want to really pursue those lofty heights.
 
JJ