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RIP Denon AH-D7000...

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Lucabeer View Drop Down
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    Posted: 25 Apr 2023 at 7:38pm
Sigh, after 14 years (and about 4000 hours), my beloved Denon AH-D7000 headphones bit the dust...

The right driver was already sounding flabby with the bass since the beginning of the year. Today, it exhibited nasty crackle whenever a bassy note was played. I opened them up, and the reason was obvious: the rubber suspension of the driver has become brittle with the years, and developed a hairline crack at its perimeter so that the microfiber membrane is now loose and uncontrolled when loud bass is played.

I would have never changed these perfect headphones... but I have to.

Now I am listening to my "backup" Sennheiser HD-595 and the comparison is depressing: good orchestral mids, but no soundstage, boxy vocals, less detail, and no true bass.

I can't live without decent headphones, so I ordered the Denon AH-D7200. Expect a detailed review from this weekend! Hoping, of course, that they stand to the glorious legacy of the 7000...

In the meanwhile, as a memento: sometimes you read very contrasting comparisons on turntable cartridges on the Internet. For some, a cartridge is perfect, for some others it's a mess. Well, since now I am using the Sennheisers, I can say one thing for sure: ANY cartridge sounds OK with them. All the flaws I was hearing on my records (surface noise, mastering errors) can't be heard with the Sennheisers. It makes no difference whether I am using the Ortofon 2M Black or the Grado. It makes me think how much the Denons were revealing!


Edited by Lucabeer - 25 Apr 2023 at 7:42pm
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RichW View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RichW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2023 at 1:00pm
Look forward to your thoughts on the D7200.
I've struggled with Sennheiser headphones over the years finding many of them disappointing.
Two exceptions are the old HD540 Ref  - the ones Ash was selling a while ago, and the superb black HD800S.






Edited by RichW - 26 Apr 2023 at 1:01pm
Majestic/Enigma, Accession MM & MC.
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patientot View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote patientot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2023 at 7:18pm
That's got to be frustrating. I hope the new headphones meet your expectations. They certainly look very nice.

I don't use any high end headphones, but personally find most difficult to listen to without some kind of EQ correction. I only use headphones for digital music at my desk or on the go.

At my desk I currently use the Math Audio plugin for Foobar2000 to EQ correct my headphones. The ones at my desk are just Senn 58X, nothing super fancy. They sound okay normally but are much better with EQ correction IMHO.


Edited by patientot - 26 Apr 2023 at 7:19pm
SL-1200 MK7 (modified) + Reflex M + PSU-1 used with AT150-40ML, AT VM95ML, Stanton 680mkII + Ogura, and Shure M35X cartridges.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lucabeer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2023 at 8:02pm
Originally posted by RichW RichW wrote:

and the superb black HD800S.


Great headphones indeed, I have demoed them for a long time in a Hi-Fi shop near me. Great soundstage, great imaging, great detail. But they don't have the liquid bass of the Denons and sense of pacing, not by a long shot. The Denons may not be "flat", but they are as fun as speakers while retaining reasonable "neutrality".
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Ash View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 2023 at 9:28am
I still have the MySphere 3.1 with the bass pads and that is the best headphone I have heard. It is a total upgrade to all of the other headphones I have used over the years but driver positioning has to be precise for best performance. Also, sorry about the cost, but this is the reference standard for headphones and is robust and modular so should last for decades.

For high fidelity on a budget, I would use a pair of Alpair 10P (paper) on cardboard baffles at nearfield distance instead. Much much better than a headphone. Close proximity means you can achieve bass dB SPL without it spreading to other rooms.
We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RichW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 2023 at 10:04am
Originally posted by Lucabeer Lucabeer wrote:

Originally posted by RichW RichW wrote:

and the superb black HD800S.


Great headphones indeed, I have demoed them for a long time in a Hi-Fi shop near me. Great soundstage, great imaging, great detail. But they don't have the liquid bass of the Denons and sense of pacing, not by a long shot. The Denons may not be "flat", but they are as fun as speakers while retaining reasonable "neutrality".

Just out of interest - this outstanding recording is probably not for all but it demonstrates
the ability of the HD800S to reproduce bass cleanly with no bloat.
The old bloated HD650s would probably make a mess of this recording.Smile

Organ Music Before Bach


Majestic/Enigma, Accession MM & MC.
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Lucabeer View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lucabeer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 2023 at 12:35pm
Originally posted by Ash Ash wrote:

I still have the MySphere 3.1 with the bass pads and that is the best headphone I have heard. It is a total upgrade to all of the other headphones I have used over the years but driver positioning has to be precise for best performance. Also, sorry about the cost, but this is the reference standard for headphones and is robust and modular so should last for decades.

For high fidelity on a budget, I would use a pair of Alpair 10P (paper) on cardboard baffles at nearfield distance instead. Much much better than a headphone. Close proximity means you can achieve bass dB SPL without it spreading to other rooms.

But these are open solutions... I absolutely need closed headphones because the two females in the house complain about the sound leakage from ANY open-back headphone...

And this is to show how much more bass the Denon has compared to the HD800s (and a smoother high frequencies response):




Edited by Lucabeer - 27 Apr 2023 at 12:39pm
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