One of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems, Sennheiser has announced its new top-of-the-range HD 800 circum-aural dynamic stereo headphones, which features 56 mm sound transducer that encased by a specially produced high-precision gauze made of stainless steel and an innovative ear cup design made of high-quality plastic with particularly good attenuation characteristics, aiming to offer highly discerning audiophiles the ultimate in sound reproduction and unique spatiality.

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“We allowed ourselves a lot of time to perfect the HD 800,” said Maurice Quarré, Product Manager Home Audio at Sennheiser. “Not only to develop the technical intricacies but also to select the finest materials – in other words, we took the time that was necessary to make it perfect in every detail. After all, the sound properties of headphones ultimately depend on the interaction between all the individual components.”

Key Features Of Sennheiser HD 800:

  • Open, circum-aural dynamic stereo headphones
  • Natural hearing experience – realistic and natural sound field with minimal resonance
  • Biggest 56mm sound transducers ever used in headphones up to today – new innovative dynamic transducer design
  • Uncovered earcups for acoustic and stylistic reasons
  • Ear pads made of special high-quality Japanese Alcantara
  • Metal headband with inner damping element
  • Specially tuned symmetrical, impedance matching cable with low capacitance
  • Special high precision headphone connectors

“The more transducer surface area is caused to vibrate, the purer the headphone sound becomes at low frequencies. However, transducers with a large surface area have the disadvantage that, at high frequencies, undesired resonances known as eigenforms occur at the diaphragm. This results in distortions in sound reproduction that even high-quality Duofol laminations are not able to completely eliminate,” said Axel Grell, acoustics developer at Sennheiser. “This is precisely the dilemma that we have resolved in the HD 800. The ring design minimises the distortion of the sound image, even with a transducer as large as 56 mm.”

“We perceive acoustic signals to be natural when we experience them with a spatial extension,” added by Axel Grell. “Today, most music is made to be reproduced by two loudspeakers, which form an equal-sided triangle together with the listener. This results in a sound field close to the ears that is at a slight angle to the head. When the sound field reaches the ears, the sound is reflected into the ear canal and to the ear drum by the structures of the external ear with slight time differences. It is precisely these differences that are a key factor in spatial hearing and in the localisation of the sound event outside the head. With its large, inclined transducers, the HD 800 generates a sound field that corresponds to the listening experience with loudspeakers, but far exceeds loudspeakers in the purity of the sound reproduction.”

The new Sennheiser HD 800 dynamic stereo headphones that offer an outstanding frequency response of 6 to 51,000 Hz is available for about $1,400.