HifiMAN HE-6 Planar Magnetic Headphone - Page 546

 

Yeah - my bad.

How can it be done without bridging capabilites in the amplifier?

For your enjoyment:

 

http://www.head-fi.org/t/650912/he-6-ultimate-review-write-up#post_9156905

How much merit does this post on Reddit have?

 

http://www.reddit.com/r/headphones/comments/17qggo/quick_question_about_he6_and_speaker_amps/c880ijp

 

From reading some impression threads on head-fi about the HE-6 being driven with a weak amp, I'm starting to believe that the HE-6 does not require 8w to be driven properly.

 

 

 

 

20mW for 90dB

 

There are people that like the Soloist and it's not even remotely capable of delivering 2W let alone 8W into the HE-6.

 

That said, because it's so inefficient speaker amps are usable so it opens up that market to you, just don't go for the power, go for the vast options.

There's a lot of overkill spouted around these parts... but people also enjoy overkill for the sake of overkill/bragging right. 

 

About 1W into 50ohms should be sufficient headroom for most people (more if your adapter has pad resistors in series). The higher power ratings are deceptive because each doubling of power only gets you +3dB. 

 

Find something that sounds good/synergy/whatever. The HE-6 can sound quite different moving from amp to amp, and those changes in sound may not be related to the power rating of the amp. 

Edited by Armaegis - 2/13/13 at 2:00pm

 

Just call me 

 

As I have said earlier in this thread, I believed HE-6 needed several Watts and even warned others against going for amps with less than around 5 Watts. After getting Burson Soloist, listening and re-listening to things with an open mind, my conviction is that HE-6 does not need several Watts, a speaker amp. The Soloist might on very low level recordings be short in terms of gain if you want to listen at loud levels, but apart from that, it plays with authority in the bass department. The notion that HE-6 needs a speaker amp is allegedly because Fang, Mr. HiFiMan, originally used 150W mono blocks for demo. To me, and also measurements, the HE-6 has more than neutral in the treble, which may make it sound bright. However, more power or current won't heal that, but people hear it as a little bright, and then assume that it is a lack in the amp. A weak amp with a source having a rolled off treble is a good tool to test my point. My HM-801 portable player demonstrated this.

I agree and have always maintained that the quality of the power is just as important. I've heard a couple vintage speaker amps with loads of power sound worse than even an M^3 amp.

 

It's entirely likely that a lot of the powerful speaker amps being used to drive the HE6 with good effect are just high quality amps. Hearing that, folks may then associate the bump in SQ with solely the power.

The other side thing to keep in mind is a lot of speaker amps aren't biased into class A very far.  I remember Jason stating that the Sumo 200W/400W amps were biased 15mA while the Mjolnir is 200mA.  As always, if it doesn't heat the room... what's the point ;)

 

I disagree with that notion, and people who are in the camp that say the he6 don't require several watts love to use that statement or similar. So many times I've read...."people in the he6 thread just say throw it a ton of power and they will sound great etc". The truth is, I've never read anyone saying that. Most speaker amp lovers here will tell you that power and quality go hand in hand and you can't have one without the other. Infact, in most cases we've actually stressed the quality of power over the quantity. But we get accuse of saying the he6 only needs power or accused of believing the he6 only needs power when I've never actually read a post of anyone saying that.  Crappy amps will make them sound crappy whether it's a half watt, 5 watts or 100 watts.

 

And to add, we have also stressed the importance of using a top notch source as well.

Edited by moodyrn - 2/13/13 at 4:18pm

 

You and I are on the same page wrt to power, quality and source being important. But, I've seen many posts in several threads focusing almost entirely on the power aspect. I don't have the time to search out these posts to prove my point, but they're out there. I've noticed it over a period of months, and it doesn't necessarily involve you. I don't remember who those people were.

Well if you read it, I'll take your word for it. And it's really a shame for those that believe that. 

Yes-the posts regarding power far far far outnumber the 'amp quality' post based on my HE6 reading. I will agree though that it all goes hand in hand however, weakest link etc etc.

-Daniel
Edited by BournePerfect - 2/13/13 at 4:51pm