I remember Arya being even wider but I didn't own both at the same time and I may be wrong.

Or it could be that I was so wrapped up in chasing the soundstage at the time I had the Arya and by the time I got the HD 800 I had come down to earth a bit and wasn't fooled as easily anymore.

I don't find it fake and forced at all though. It is just about 1 inch wider for me on each side than 6XX or IEMs (which are all the same width as each other and the same as 6XX lol) but seems to respond better to DSP or crossfeed to bring the sound forward in a slightly more speaker-like way.