[SilverEars]

I also just joined the club with my Zana Deux Super... #121. I rolled 5 driver tubes and RCA red base 5691 was easily the best of the bunch for me. I am a little bit curious about Sophia and Mullard ECC35, but what I am hearing with the red base 5691 is so special, I don't really have much motivation to try.

The pairing with HD-800 is simply off the charts good. Synergistic magic!

I know you're into electronic music, and this should be electronic music end game, I'm sure you figured out. Redbase is the right tube for it. Enjoy the bass out of the HD800 (that's right, I said bass out of the HD800).

 

[drgameboy]

I also just joined the club with my Zana Deux Super... #121. I rolled 5 driver tubes and RCA red base 5691 was easily the best of the bunch for me. I am a little bit curious about Sophia and Mullard ECC35, but what I am hearing with the red base 5691 is so special, I don't really have much motivation to try.

The pairing with HD-800 is simply off the charts good. Synergistic magic!

I see you have the th900 stand, do you have the th900? I have both the hd800s and th900 mk2, and the th900 sounds HEAVENLY ON the zds too.

 

[BlakeT]

I know you're into electronic music, and this should be electronic music end game, I'm sure you figured out. Redbase is the right tube for it. Enjoy the bass out of the HD800 (that's right, I said bass out of the HD800).

Yep, I listen to a lot of electronic and yes this combo is amazing with that genre and everything else. The bass is really good as well!

 

[BlakeT]

I see you have the th900 stand, do you have the th900? I have both the hd800s and th900 mk2, and the th900 sounds HEAVENLY ON the zds too.

I used to have the TH900 but I thinned down the herd to the point that I now just have the HD800. I really enjoyed the TH900 though. At one point I had accumulated a bunch of cans at once (IIRC TH900, HD800, W3000ANV, Dharma D1000, T1) and I actually liked them all quite a bit, but it bugged me to have these nice headphones that were not getting enough use and money could be spent on my other hobbies, so I sold them all and left the one that worked best for my preferences.

My HD-800 might be a unicorn because I never had issues with the treble or brightness. My sensitivity to any bright or hard sounding gear is extreme to the point I easily get physical ear pain and it is not from listening volume. It is actually annoying that I have this sensitivity. Just certain tubes, equipment and headphones don't work for me and I can't listen for more than 5 minutes and that is it.

 

[SilverEars]

I used to have the TH900 but I thinned down the herd to the point that I now just have the HD800. I really enjoyed the TH900 though. At one point I had accumulated a bunch of cans at once (IIRC TH900, HD800, W3000ANV, Dharma D1, T1) and I actually liked them all quite a bit, but it bugged me to have these nice headphones that were not getting enough use and money could be spent on my other hobbies, so I sold them all and left the one that worked best for my preferences.

My HD-800 might be a unicorn because I never had issues with the treble or brightness. My sensitivity to any bright or hard sounding gear is extreme to the point I easily get physical ear pain and it is not from listening volume. It is actually annoying that I have this sensitivity. Just certain tubes, equipment and headphones don't work for me and I can't listen for more than 5 minutes and that is it.

I've had trouble with HD-800 with brightness when I first heard them, which was about a decade ago when my ears was young. I've also tried various amps with HD800S over the years, and I realized some solid-states can push treble aggravation, which can quickly fatigue you. When this is the case, it's usually genre dependent. Jazz is pretty easy any source you play out of.

I find that ZDS causes these peaks to be softer without losing details and speed which is interesting. Also the bass, most sources not going to push bass up to the level of ZDS. ZDS is an outlier in what it does to Sennheisers.

 

[BlakeT]

I find that ZDS causes these peaks to be softer without losing details and speed which is interesting.

Well said. The high frequencies sound more natural/organic, and less mechanical or artificial.

 

[BlakeT]

Just adding a data point here....

As a general rule, OTL+planars is a generally disfavored combo. However, both HE1000se and Empyrean are both exceptionally good driven by the Zana Deux. Of course, these are probably two of the easiest to drive planars on the planet so probably not all that surprising.

 

[SilverEars]

Just adding a data point here....

As a general rule, OTL+planars is a generally disfavored combo. However, both HE1000se and Empyrean are both exceptionally good driven by the Zana Deux. Of course, these are probably two of the easiest to drive planars on the planet so probably not all that surprising.

That is quite surprising. What something I do not understand is why ZDS struggles with planars if the output impedance is 3 and 10, low and high impedance respectively?

I would think you'd get those planars driven better out of solid-state.

ZDS is a wonder in terms of what it does to dynamic driver bass. It causes thunderous slam to bass. I only drive dynamics out of it.

 

[BlakeT]

Yeah, I love ZDS with my HD800 and HD800S. ZDS is amazing with dynamics.

Unlike HE1000 or Susvara, the HE1000se was designed to be driven well with just about anything, such that you don't even need a headphone amp. I would actually take my ZDS-HE1000se combo over my ZDS-HD800/S combo.

And this is not a dig at all against the ZDS+HD800/S which has been my favorite combo of all time- bar none.

 

[SilverEars]

Yeah, I love ZDS with my HD800 and HD800S. ZDS is amazing with dynamics.

Unlike HE1000 or Susvara, the HE1000se was designed to be driven well with just about anything, such that you don't even need a headphone amp. I would actually take my ZDS-HE1000se combo over my ZDS-HD800/S combo.

And this is not a dig at all against the ZDS+HD800/S which has been my favorite combo of all time- bar none.

I will tell you this. What you feed this amp will make a difference. I'd recommend Gumby or Yggy. Those two have been fantastic with this amp. Provides the mids weight that the HD800S needs, and the bass, tight and large area impact! I assume Schiit multibit is the right source for this amp. I generally like Schiit multibit due to it's imaging, the fullness to the sound and the well defined tight bass.

I wouldn't listen to 800S out of anything else than Yggya2 > ZDS w/ 5961 redbase

5961 redbase is a necessity. It provides mids weight and tightness to the bass.

I actually wouldn't even have a 800S unless for this setup. I don't think there is any setup that can do this. 800S is usually unenjoyable for me.

 

[Audioraider]

I thought I would keep this thread alive for those of us that are picking up these units used. I have had ZDS #132 in the house for about three weeks. An extraordinary amplifier on every level! I can see why a lot of people consider this an endgame amp. After rolling almost all of the recommended 6sl7s there really is none that even come close to the red base 5691 with the ZMF Vérité closed. I have tried the Mullard ecc5 and the NU and found them to be a rolled off and muddy mess. I assume people liked and recommended them because they found they compliment the harsh hd800.
I have swapped out the fuse to the synergistic orange with great effect. As much as I doubted that there would be a major change, after 150 hrs there was a substantial improvement in all levels of sound quality.

 

[Audioraider]

When I received the unit I found it to have a scratchy volume pot. It didn’t make a lot of sense because it was only a few years old. After taking the unit apart I found the problem. I am a little surprised that this short from hot to ground didn’t actually cause more of an issue.

 

[Audioraider]

Since I had the unit apart why not throw in a Goldpoint stepped attenuator... the sound improvement was noticeable. Not night and day but a distinct improvement in clarity and souondatage. I would assume the better soundstage is a direct result of better channel matching from the Goldpoint.

 

[Audioraider]

And one last sexy shot for those who have not seen the inside of the unit

 

[Audioraider]

Ok one more