[Chik0240]

  Maybe the Stax  SR-L700 at around $1200.00, which is meant to challenge the 009, will give Sennheiser food for thought.

That's interesting, a new high end stax with "layman friendly" price

 

[NA Blur]

It would be great to see this below the $1k mark as it appears that manufacturers are inclined to increase the cost of hi-fi headphones well above this currently. The needs and wants of the customer and their budgets should be considered otherwise I do not see where this trend ends.
 
I am excited to see new products that build on the HD800, but really want to see the measurements and physical improvements first before judging this product.

 

[magiccabbage]

Another thing I'm happy about is the fact that this will be a headphone that I can easily audition before purchase. My local audio store will have it in for sure. 
 
Ill be booking a day off work and packing the car with - WA5 and YGGY and a bunch of tubes! cant wait!

 

[knowhatimean]

Well,they do look better in all black! The thing that I'm most curious about though is where they"ve placed the "Acoustical Absorber" at .

Yeah, I would have loved to have been able to pull Axel aside for a second to "pick his brain" on the reasoning
behind why they thought it was necessary to add an additional operating principle to the original HD800 given the fact the driver being used was already exceptional !

 

[RCBinTN]

   
Actually, I like the hd800 best on my mjolnir2 fully balanced. But in an evil twist of irony, I'll have to sell the mjo2 to afford the 800s. 

 
I'm hoping the HD800s will pair really well with the original Mjolnir.  Price drop = not.  

 

[Beagle]

  Speculating on price and being optimistic is always nice, but judging from recent trends I'm erring on the side of caution- it's going to be damn expensive. Certainly more so than the "obsolete" HD 800.

 
Can't you follow instructions?

 

[jude]

A couple of photos showing the inside of the earcup of the Sennheiser HD800S have been added to this thread's first post, and also included below (click photos to see larger versions):

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[maxedfx]

A couple of photos showing the inside of the earcup of the Sennheiser HD800S have been added to this thread's first post, and also included below (click photos to see larger versions):

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Thanks Jude! Would love to hear more impressions and details!!

 

[guitarrules]

I have never seen the HD800 cup. Can somebody tell a difference between the two?

 

[.Sup]

I haven't checked Head-fi in months. Now this. Been doing so great saving money...

 

[TMRaven]

I have never seen the HD800 cup. Can somebody tell a difference between the two?

 
Yes.  The anax mod (and other mods) put damping material on that metal ring surrounding the driver, and the trapezoidal part that shields the wires that connect to the driver (hidden by the pads in the picture)  Sennheiser has not done that here.
 
The housing of the inside of the cups looks the exact same, however if you look closely, you can see some damping material in the center circle of the plastic structure protecting the driver.  This might be the resonator that Axel is talking about.

 

[dxanex]

I have never seen the HD800 cup. Can somebody tell a difference between the two?

They look very similar to me. The center circle in the middle of the driver *may* be a little smaller? Hard to tell...
 

 

[guitarrules]

Thank you dexanex and TMRaven! I guess we'll just have to wait for impressions.

 

[kapanak]

There is a tube or cavity of sorts, with a special selection for absorbing material, placed over the centre of the driver. That is the acoustic absortber/resonator that was talked about before. No other change is apparent.

 

[RCBinTN]

  They look very similar to me. The center circle in the middle of the driver *may* be a little smaller? Hard to tell...
 

 
As TMRaven wrote, the HD800s have more material in the center of the circular plastic shield that protects the driver.