Amps that can drive the HiFiMan HE-6 planar headphones - Page 59

Do you think that would translate as lower prices for consumer (R&D part I mean)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by nk77 

Do you think that would translate as lower prices for consumer (R&D part I mean)?

No way...

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

It would be nice to see a big company with a hugh RD department come out with a Planar Megnitc headphone.  It seems like they're sticking with Dynamic drivers.

Like Fostex?

A while ago I asked if V-Moda would be interested in it, but Val said they were focusing on their patented dynamic drivers instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

It would be nice to see a big company with a hugh RD department come out with a Planar Megnitc headphone.  It seems like they're sticking with Dynamic drivers.  Oh well.  Fang didn't say much on the future of HiFiman headphones.

You can ask Wisdom Audio, they do R&D on PMDs and make speakers with planar drivers.

http://www.wisdomaudio.com/wisdom_series-why-planar-magnetics.php

"Wisdom Audio’s planar magnetic drivers—the most advanced PMDs in the world
David Graebener, Wisdom’s Executive VP, has been involved in the authoring of several patents, granted or pending, related to planar-magnetic transducer design and is associated with the development of more than 130 electro-acoustic designs. David has been involved with the design and development of transducers and systems for more than 30 years and is an authority on planar-magnetic design.

David joined the team at Wisdom Audio to develop a number of planar magnetic technologies that fully capitalize on the strengths of PMDs. While it is impossible to claim that any speaker is perfect, some do get significantly closer than others… and Wisdom Audio leads the way."

So for the past couple days I've been using a little Nuforce stack to power my HE-6. Using the HDP as dac, feeding into the Icon2 speaker amp, both running off the Nuforce LPS power supply which additionally serves as usb-spdif converter to feed the HDP.  All in all a nice little setup. 

Prior to this, I was actually using the Icon2 just by itself with wallwart and using the built in usb dac and was quite happy with it. The HDP dac is a smidge better, and the power supply cleans things up a bit more, but here we go chasing diminishing returns again.

Then on a lark I tried plugging the HE-6 directly into the HDP headphone output. You know what? Not bad at all. Not as much headroom as a speaker amp obviously, and the dynamics feel a bit compressed because of it, but at medium listening levels it sounds great and there's no distortion. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cante Ista 

The price is exactly why it caught my eye. I assume that still carries the Brystion quality and the lower price is due to relatively low wattage (60 wpc). For HE-6 it should just fine, I think.  

Did you ever get the Bryston 2B LP Pro?  I'm thinking of adding in one myself and want to know your opinion on the match.  They're consistently around $400 - $600 used on ebay, and if you can find one where owner still has the original receipt and it's not 15 years old or more you'll get a nice 5+ year warranty on top. Love that 20 year transferable warranty.

Hello,

I have commanded a HE adapter for my HE6, I will use a Naim XS amp, hope this combo work great.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hun7er 

Hello,

 

I have commanded a HE adapter for my HE6, I will use a Naim XS amp, hope this combo work great.

Hmm...i tried this set-up before. No can do to these ears. Despite the fact that the Naim XS has 60W of high current power, it was still insufficient when used with the adaptor. I suspect the resistor restricted power leaving most of it being converted to heat. If you have the pigtail adaptor, try it i.e. link the HE6 DIRECTLY to the speaker taps without the HE adaptor. Just be careful with the volume control. Should sound better.

Wanted to share a nice discovery for HE-6.  Don't think I've seen this amp mentioned anywhere here:  Audio Zone Amp-1. 45W into 8 ohms, peak power up to 100W:

http://www.audio-zone.ca/amp-1.html

It's a gain clone.  Fully dual mono.  Provides high, steady current.  Dual stepped attenuators are top notch and quite handy for balance control. 

The thing takes care of any and all brightness and really gives the HE-6 a full, deep sound.

Best paired with a tube dac but still killer with my Eximus (which is warm to begin with).

Best I've heard my HE-6s sound.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fejnomit 

Wanted to share a nice discovery for HE-6.  Don't think I've seen this amp mentioned anywhere here:  Audio Zone Amp-1. 45W into 8 ohms, peak power up to 100W:

 

http://www.audio-zone.ca/amp-1.html

 

It's a gain clone.  Fully dual mono.  Provides high, steady current.  Dual stepped attenuators are top notch and quite handy for balance control. 

The thing takes care of any and all brightness and really gives the HE-6 a full, deep sound.

 

Best paired with a tube dac but still killer with my Eximus (which is warm to begin with).

 

Best I've heard my HE-6s sound.

Looking at the website I think I'd like to try the cheaper AMP-D1 Stereo, 100 Watts into 8 Ohms, I'd run this out of my Soloist and use the Soloist as preamp.

Still waiting for someone to review a Bryston 2B- LP Pro or plain vanilla 2B.  They're all over the place used and cheap as hell considering the build quality.

To me 45W into 8 Ohms is the sweet spot for the HE-6.  Plus I prefer having volume control on both my dac and my headphone amp for dialing in the right levels.

I have this amp and I love it - so that is my recommendation.  I have not tried the other.  And by the way I paid less than half price for the Amp-1.  They come up every once in while used.  Cheers.

Just received my new HE-6 - a hugely impressive headphone. RSA Dark Star drives it easily but for a tube amp, the 1Watt output of the EAR HP-4 is surprisingly good with the HE-6 giving a slightly warm but highly organic and musical sound. Highly recommended.