A Bigger Bang From Your Sennheiser HD800
When we finally came across the Jena Labs cable as a solution for our Denon-based headphones, it was a big relief; we had been through so many other wires that just didn't have "it". The Jena knocked us out, and after more than a year of selling Jena-cabled Denons to dozens of satisfied customers, it's safe to say our choice has been validated many times over.

As much as the Jena impressed us when put on a Denon, that leap in sound quality did not prepare us for what we're hearing from our new Sennheiser HD800 cable, especially in balanced mode.

There is a nice and appreciable (but not world-shattering) difference between single-ended and balanced on the Denons. I run my personal pair of LA7000s balanced on my Rudistor RP010B. In general, I tell customers of our Denon phones not to put the priority on going balanced, but rather on getting the best amplification they can afford, whether balanced or single-ended. Very sound advice for those phones.

The HD800, on the other hand, truly comes to life when run in balanced mode, and combined with the effects of our Jena Labs wire and awesome Xhadow XLRs, it's like giving these phones a shot of adrenaline. (Hmmm... that sounds like a great name for a cable.) Being intimately familiar with the sound of the Jena cable, I knew at the outset that it would help flesh out and add meat to the bones of the basic HD800 sound. It would give it a warmer, richer and fuller tone, add some liquidity, increase definition around individual instruments and darken the background of the soundstage. I was also expecting it would fill out the bass and add some punch to the HD800. After all, that's exactly what it did to the Denons. Like we always said, with the Jena, it's like getting more and cleaner water coming through a bigger pipe.

Can the HD800 Really Rock? Give It Some Adrenaline!
Well, our Adrenaline cable for the HD800 does all that and more. The Adrenaline really speeds up the pace of the HD800. Before, the sound was a bit tame and polite for a rock/pop fan; now it's punchy, nimble and spry, a real head-bobber and foot-tapper. The Adrenaline really increases the HD800's FUN-factor.

You may have read some concerns here and there about the bass of the HD800 being slightly rolled or not quite full enough, or perhaps even a bit lacking in impact and snap. With the Adrenaline in place, the phones dig deeper, throb harder, pump and pop with more verve, adding a bit of muscle to the slight lean-ness of the basic HD800. The different tones from different bass notes are also fleshed out and made more distinct from one another.

A Powerhouse With the Sensitive Soul of a True Musician
But the Adrenaline is not at all just about pure brute force; far from it. If you are a detail/resolution junkie, the Adrenaline will deliver. If you are a person who prefers a “musical” sound to an “analytical” sound, the Adrenaline is for you. You will experience much more air, and better definition around different instruments and sounds; but thanks to it's liquidity, improved tone, and warmer, richer sound, it never sounds anything less than 100% "musical". You will never sacrifice the overall gestalt of the music in order to be able to hear and appreciate each squeak of the chair, intake of breath, or subtle shift in dynamics.

This cable is not thin, clinical, subtractive or uninvolving; nor is it punishing, pummeling, piercing and fatiguing. It's fast, firm, and authoritative, yet always provides a smooooth ride. It simply gets out of the way and lets the music just flow. In short, the Adrenaline is full of life and will tickle and please the deepest recesses of your amygdala, allowing you to forget about the cable and simply experience the music one on one.
 

Construction and Build
Lawton Audio is very lucky to be partnered with one the best cable techs in the biz. His work is immaculate, and he is every bit as attentive to detail as I am. Our Jena Labs cables set the standard for anyone using this wire. Unlike the loose spaghetti strands offered by some that can get caught on sharp corners, we provide the tightest weave possible, which yields an incredibly supple and flexible cable; more flexible than most stock cables. We use no damaging or potentially weak solder joints in our wire; you get pure 22G Jena Labs in continuous form throughout.

Instead of the usual thin wispy wire stuck in a stiff plastic tube and covered in ugly techflex, our cables are a full 22G of the purest cryo-treated copper, wrapped in an (optional) supple but durable and tight-fitting nylon sheath, and accented with the wonderful Qables splitters. Unlike some cable makers (and the HD800 stock cable itself), we provide a full 14" of wire before the initial join; you will never feel "choked" or uncomfortable when wearing a headphone with our wire. Below you can also see just how soft and flexible our Adrenaline cable is.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We go out of our way to provide strain relief for our cables, so you need never worry about wear and tear on the more sensitive parts of the cable. Below we see the carefully marked left and right connectors (red = right), that make it easy to hook up your new Adrenaline cable, plus add that desired additional strain relief on the exit point of the wire from the connector. We also use two Qables splitters on the balanced Adrenaline (only one needed on the single-ended version) to help keep your cable organized, and to keep the strands from twisting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Inside Jena Labs Ultra Wire

The Jena wire itself comes housed in a thick, tough and durable (yet remarkably flexible) jacket that will easily withstand even rough treatment.  It can be stepped on, wound and unwound again and again, tugged at, etc., without risk of damage to the wire inside.

 

Here is what Jena Labs themselves has to say about the technical characteristics of this extraordinary wire:

 

“We start with exceptionally pure copper. Each ULTRA-WIRE strand is ultra high purity, linear crystal, stress-free, super annealed, micro-polished, ultra fine stranded copper. It is jacketed in a modified PE dielectric which offers dissipation and dielectric constant figures similar to TeflonTM, but without its mechanical stiffness and resonance problems. A special extrusion process allows the insulation to exert a high inward radial force on the wire strands, thus reducing audio smearing micro-vibration. 

 

ULTRA-WIRE is Immersion CRYO treated by our own proprietary process in our own 'in house' Cryo lab. The Deep Immersion Cryogenic treatment entails a cold chilling process culminating in immersion of the cables or electronics parts in Liquid Nitrogen. Exposing metallic objects to this extreme cold causes beneficial molecular changes to occur. As metallic objects cool, they shrink. With the extreme cooling and the shrinkage that follows in super chilled LN2 immersion, the crystal boundaries of metallic conductors align more closely with one another and become more conductive and ‘quieter’. Mechanical integrity is also improved. The improved molecular condition stays intact through the slow warming process and is stable at room temperature. When conducting an electric signal, treated wire will produce less micro-diode-effect noise, less impurity inclusion field disturbance and less transverse energy wave noise generation.”

 

XLRs and Jacks by Xhadow and Furutech
The HD800 Adrenaline in single-ended form gets the world's best 1/4" jack from Furutech. Our balanced Adrenaline cables get the marvelous new Xhadow XLRs; truly high-end connectors in gorgeous brushed aluminum that match the looks of the HD800 to a "T".

We are among the first to use the Xhadows, and they are among the finest available, and frankly, not at all inexpensive. You’ve bought an HD800, and now you are looking for a better cable; you neither want nor deserve, a cut-rate, compromised, corner-cutting design for your XLRs.

Below are close-ups of these new Xhadow XLRs, including the extra gromit we add to the rear to enhance strain relief.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We Stand By Our Cables
In short, we've carefully considered each and every aspect of this cable to make sure we are providing the highest quality product for you. We also stand by our work. We warrant our headphone cables for a period of one year against any defects in manufacturing.

Sennheiser Adrenaline Availability and Pricing
The Adrenaline is available NOW. Typical lead-time is 2 weeks after we receive payment.
 

 

Single-Ended Adrenaline Cable with 1/4" Furutech Jack + Black Nylon Sheath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Balanced Adrenaline Cable with Xhadow XLRs + Black Nylon Sheath

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Want to save $40-$80?

Take out the black nylon sheath and go with naked Jena wire.

 

 

NEW! Hard-Wire Your Adrenaline HD800 Cable

As great as the detachable Sennheiser connectors are, direct hard-wiring of your HD800 cable provides the best possible marriage of wire and headphone. Lawton Audio now offers direct hard-wiring of our amazing Adrenaline cable to your pair of HD800s for an additional $59 fee. Of course, you must send us your HD800 for this service. Turn-around time varies, please contact us for details.

 

HD800 Cable Connectors for DIY-ers

Lawton Audio has tracked down and contracted the original manufacturer of the Senn HD800 cable connectors to custom build us a supply of the very same connectors they make for Sennheiser. These connectors are built 100% to Sennheiser specifications, and are of the highest quality. We are the very first to be able to offer these connectors as part of our own HD800 replacement cables and now separately for DIY-ers who want to use their own wire to create their own cable solutions.

 

The price for a pair of a pair of Sennheiser HD800 connectors is a low $39.99 (plus shipping). There is a limit of 4 pairs per customer.