HifiMAN HE-6 Planar Magnetic Headphone - Page 132

Nice impressions Rob! I wonder if a speaker amp is needed to get the most out of the HE-6s?

I think it may be the case after all.

Then I guess these intriguing cans are out for me....unless I pick up your Leben on sale.

My HE-6s are 'out for delivery' right now!!!! FWIW, I placed my order last Saturday from Head-Direct, so only it's only taken one week! Also, my speaker pigtails JUST now arrived (thanks HiFlight!) so I will be able to hook it to my HK 3390 stereo amp when it arrives. My only concern is that I wonder if I will have any play on the HK dial-it's rated at 80 WPC, which tends to be like 175 WPC from competing manufacturers lol. This will be my first 'hi-end setup (source is AGD Reference 9 with Decware silver interconnects and Decware DHC1 power cable). My previous best was my AKG702s/DT800/600/D2000/M-Stage combos. Any thoughts on what kind of jump to expect? Can't wait!

 

My Reference 9 has about 200 hours burnin so far as well.

 

-Daniel

I will again throw in my two cents worth;  ...While driving the HE6 from speaker terminals does seem to deliver the full potential of which these phones are capable, megabucks boutique amps are not necessary!   There are countless vintage receivers and amps as well as many current production amps that will work just fine and can be had for very reasonable prices. 
 

Totally agree, Ron. they sound killer from my vintage Fisher tube integrated

Wow, I spent an hour on the phone with Ron, to find out everything he just posted in 3 1/2 minutes .

 

Rob

 

Have you compared the headphone out of the Mini Tori to the speaker terminals?
 

Compared with the HP out, do you hear any congestion from the speaker taps of your amp?
 

Just to add to whats being said. Just because there is np with the volume levels from your amp that is no indication that you are hearing what the HE6 can do.

 

I have been using my WA6SE with the X-10 cable and the Oppo BD-83SE/NE 2ch dedicated rca out to the 6SE. Yes the X-10 does seem to improve on the efficiency of the HE6 with the WA6SE and anything over a volume setting of 9:00 is down right painful (too loud).

What is missing is the 3D, micro details, smoothness, depth, bass quickness and the mids are somewhat over whelmed by the highs using my WA6SE. Its gets even more pronounced when I view a Blu Ray movie using 7.1/5.1 from my Realiser.

 

In comparison to my WA5LE all of these deficiencies are gone, however if I use a pair of 300B's other than my WE300B's the mids are ok but still not to the level of what they are with the WA300B's.

Edited by sillysally - 12/17/10 at 7:43pm

No, but in the case of the Mini Torii, there should be no difference whatsoever between them. The headphone Jack in the Mini Torii isn't derived differently from the speaker taps, as it is in almost every other amp. Even in the Leben, the headphone out is derived from a secondary 32 ohm winding of the transformer. In the MT, it's just a switch between the HP Jack and the speaker binding posts.

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None whatsoever using the Leben's speaker outs.

With my HD800 on the ZDT I found the stock re-issue Mullard was a little grainy sounding when I first got it, and I tried a GE black plate 5751 that was much smoother and better balanced, but that was too dark with my K1000.  The GE also seemed to reduce the soundstage size a little.  So, I got a Sylvania Gold Pin 5751 that was smoother than the stock tube, and brighter than the GE tube, and used that for a long time with everything because of the bigger soundstage.  it was brighter with the K1000 but not too bright with the HD800, so I kept it in the ZDT even after I sold the K1000.  

 

That Sylvania worked okay with the HE-6 as well, but it still seemed slightly bright.  I switched to a Tung Sol 5751 tube and that is perfect for the HE-6, HD800, HE-5/HE-5 LE, HF-2, and LA7000, but it's too dark sounding for my LCD-2.  I'm leaving in the Tung Sol tube in the ZDT and will just use the LCD-2 on another amp in another room.

 

 

You mean I'm not the only one you talk to on the phone for hours?

Skylab I guess your impressions validates impressions from people(including myself) using the speaker taps to drive them. The sound is so good from my fisher that I have no desire to try them on any other amps. As good as they sound with my fisher, I bet they are just heavenly out of the speaker taps of the leben.

@skylab Just as I had suspected from the start that the HE6 requires a speaker amp too get the most out of them. I even suspect my b22 wouldn't drive them to their FULL potential.

Is the Sylvania gold pin a grey or black plate?