Amps that can drive the HiFiMan HE-6 planar headphones - Page 57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cante Ista 


That is good to hear, since it indicates that my best experience with the he6 is still to come. F3 is coming on Friday next week! Hope my speaker hook ups come then as we'll!
Btw, how did the Black Star improve on the Phonitor?

I've listened to his dark star via the he6 numerous times, but didn't get a chance to hear them myself on the phonitor. But from what he told me, the he6 came off as being bright and not providing much bass with the phonitor. He did say they had a nice wide sound stage, and good imaging with the phonitor. But they just sounded thin, and bright.

To clarify further: I don't hear or say that the HE-6 is lacking bass or lower mids, but having a somewhat bright sound (very balanced, but on the bright side of neutral) because of too much treble.

Regarding the measurments from InnerFidelity and HeadRoom - they are measured at quite low levels, thus making the power issue a non-issue ...

That's great that we compare how they sound with different amps, but sources matter too. 

Of course they matter a great deal. But this thread is titled "Amps that can drive the Hifiman Hifiman HE-6 planar magnetic headphones". So that's why pretty much amps are discussed in this thread, and this is the amp forum as well. There are however, discussions about sources pertaining to the he-6 over in the source forum.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Happy Camper 

A nice hybrid speaker amp would be an option to keep a tube in the circuit. I was looking at the Jolida integrated hybrids and got to thinking about finding a hybrid amp (no inte.). Anybody have experience with a decent wattage hybrid?

I've heard most of Peachtree's offerings but only in speaker setups.  They're all pretty smooth and more than capable of driving the HE-6.  I should also note that it can be somewhat of a pain to get their amps open to roll tubes.

Anyone has tried Marantz PM5004 for HE6? I wonder if Marantz CD5004 and PM5004 setup is good enough for HE6

"Current feedback amplifier circuit, Discrete-component amplifier", sounds like it would be worth a try off the speaker taps.  The headphone socket reportedly isn't that great.

At one time I was entertaining the idea of getting a hybrid Counterpoint speaker amp for my HE-6. Then I read that if one of the original transistor fail, you can't replace them. They're out of production.

Quote:

Originally Posted by grokit 

"Current feedback amplifier circuit, Discrete-component amplifier", sounds like it would be worth a try off the speaker taps.  The headphone socket reportedly isn't that great.

Check out the First Watt F4.  It has no voltage gain at all.  You'll need a preamp in order to get the voltage.

http://www.firstwatt.com/f4.html

The way to go with these is mono blocks (balanced) = 100wpc into 8 ohms..  25wpc into 8 ohms if using one amp and in (single ended mode.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

 

 

Check out the First Watt F4.  It has no voltage gain at all.  You'll need a preamp in order to get the voltage.

 

http://www.firstwatt.com/f4.html

 

The way to go with these is mono blocks (balanced) = 100wpc into 8 ohms..  25wpc into 8 ohms if using one amp and in (single ended mode.)

What do you think about the Bryston sound sig combined with the HE-6. There is one that puts out 60WPC -- the BP 2B LP. Anyone have experiance with that one? Or Bryston in general?

Bryston amps have always been out of my price range.  However, I don't know how much that on is.  What model is that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

Bryston amps have always been out of my price range.  However, I don't know how much that on is.  What model is that?

The BP 2B-LP is from 1983 and should run in the $500 range used (if you can find one).  It was somewhere between $8-900 new IIRC.