The HD 800 are highly regarded cans. I have listened to mine for hours and hours and never fatigue. They give me everything my speakers do. BUT, they are 300 imp, so be SURE to have a decent source. If you don't you will miss the bass and life of the headphones. Funny thing, my older receivers which have more powerful headphone sections go a great job powering them. Otherwise, do yourself a favour and buy the Bryston BHA and see what they will really do. Only thing, I wish they fit a bit better on a small head and cost about $300 less, although they never sell for the list price.

Expected very much from these headphones. Fantastic reviews all over the place. Well, when I first received them I noticed that the "magnesium"-hi-tech finish was just cheap grey/silver painted plastic! And not to any higher degree of quality either. The nets surrounding the outside of the earcup was easily bent by the touch. It didn't start well. I put them on my head and noticed how comfortable they were. Not being able to see their rather cheap appearance I concentrated on the sound. Some classical music to begin with. The sound was supposed to be very 3 dimensional according to some reviews. Almost like listening to loudspeakers. Unfortunately there was no such thing. The sound image was dead-center in my head. That didn´t change with recordings. A bit disappointing but I never believed those statements anyway. What about the sound itself? The good things first. It appears as having a very high resolution. It is fast but...and here comes the less good things..there is a very strange frequency balance with an over emphasised lower treble and a deep base essentially completely lacking. The treble adds to the appearing resolution but really, there is not more information in the sound. The base lacks dynamics and sounds faint and detached. The perhaps most important part, the midrange is surprisingly dead and voices don't have a body, neither does string instruments. If you are listening to a lot of live music, You will understand what I mean. These headphones are overrated and half the list price would be a better indication of their sound quality. I cannot recommend them if you are a serious audiophile. They will probably work well as monitoring headphones though since thay are quite comfortable. I would take a look at Audeze lcd-2, Denon AHD 7000 or perhaps HIFIMAN headphones. (Stax if you can afford). After a six month "burn-in"-period, all the drawbacks remained and I sold them instantly. Not my cup of tea, at all, I am afraid.