Warren Audio HD800 Cable Review

The real eye-opener of the day was the HD800 with the V2 Double Helix (balanced) fed by the ZDT. The synergy was simply amazing. I haven’t compared them side by side to my mod’d HP1000/HP1 SAA combo but I think I could easily say the HD800/WA cable outperforms the HP1/SAA with the ZDT. Further, I preferred the HD800/WA/ZDT combo to anything Larry plugged into the WES. Not by a far margin but I felt the HD800 were just so immersive and engaging relative to the incredible reproduction of the O2MK1, or the HE60. 

What makes this sort of amazing is that the stock HD800 were really a disappointment for me; I thought they sounded thin, weak and artificial. Sure they were fast and the soundstage was large but they just didn’t sound true to may ears. I heard them at CanJam on a couple of different very nice amps, with Larry’s ZDT and a few other amps – but really couldn’t understand the hype surrounding the phones or the price tag. When Larry installed the upgraded V1 Double Helix cable, I felt they improved to the point where I could see owning a pair; they were more transparent, the soundstage opened up and they retained their speed. But frankly, I had been listening to a pair of custom backloaded FE206e horns out of my ZDT and had been totally ignoring my phones – that and the price tag of the HD800 AND the V1 cable made it fairly easy to dismiss the possibility of ownership. 

The V2 cable and the HD800 combo changed that, first off the price came down significantly, but more importantly the little issues I still had with the re-cabled HD800 are resolved: the HD800 grew some bass – with nice, tight impact unlike the stock version’s hint at the lower registers. The soundstage always was huge but now it also sounds natural unlike the stock version – maybe the best sound staging / imaging I’ve heard besides an HE90 and it retains all the great qualities in a more tonally balanced and accurate (to my ears) presentation. 

Seems to me that separation is even better than before, which was what impressed me the most with stock HD800. It sounds a little warmer and fuller too; and not so cold. Maybe the stock cables weren’t so great? As far as the cables themselves, I like how it is marked left and right on the cables; very nice touch, since I always feel like red should be on the left side; reading left to right, I guess. Why is that the standard scheme, anyway? I think the Cardas connectors on HD650 had the same color marking scheme. Anyway, thanks again for the cables, really. I can already tell it’s a big step up from the stock cables, probably a bigger jump than when I put the APS cable into the HD650 about 2 years ago. If I had money lying around, I would most definitely invest in your RCA cables; I have a feeling those would make a difference.

Overall, I have listed impressions with different recordings but it all seem to revolve around the same point: there’s a feeling of smearing of highs with the stock cable which at first gives the impression of detailed sound but soon turns into lack of spacialization and increased sibilance / graininess of high pitch sounds. The Warren Audio cable makes a very noticeable improvement to the presentation with a smoother sound, better layering and placement of instruments, no sign of sibilances / graininess. The Blue Dragon also does a very good job at reducing the treble emphasis of the stock cable but sacrifices some resolution in the process. The Warren Audio cable is very detailed while significantly improving transient response / decay.

It took me 15 minutes to gently unravel your protective wrapping thinking there must be a handful of diamonds inside. My first impression was how solid and professional the cables were put together. The detail work was impressive. For some reason I had expected a thicker cable thinking that double helix means many strands in a helix shape wrapped around each other. This cable was sleek with a nice black wrap.

The thing is though, apart from nasty recordings, the stock HD800 sounds really good. It’s just when one starts to compare against other cable. I really have a hard time believing how the cable can have such noticeable impact on the response. But I can hear it with each and every one of my CDs, so it just can’t be all placebo. 

Right out of the gate i noticed a clarity  with a smooth natural sound. The clarity and detail took be by surprise. The bass was tighter and clear. I am not used to that. The mids smooth, yet dynamic. . The highs were clean, detailed yet with absolutely no irritation. The flute did not have a trace of harshness  as I had heard before. I said how can this sound  be clean and natural and how can i hear instruments or tones that I never heard before.

I am used to a more boomy base so at first I thought the bass was not strong enough. I have to get used to the Warren Cable Bass so to speak. It might be the real bass I have never heard before.

So if looking for the ultimate improvement for your HD800 headphones, or any headphones for that matter, be sure to check out Warren Audio for all of your Headphone Cable needs.