Nice argumentation
What about trying Jerg's mod, Mal? We need some mor educated opinions on that thread..

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davidsh said:

Nice argumentation

What about trying Jerg's mod, Mal? We need some mor educated opinions on that thread..

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Link me that and I'll see what I can figure.
 
Very best,

Yeah, I'm always trying to decide what benefits more power gives to the HE500's. The only thing that comes across as better on my Audio gd amp (about 2 watts into 32) is the soundstage. Bass control and separation are no better than my little Beresford from the headphone out. Things like speed and attack (or authority) don't seem to be affected by more power... I'm coming to the conclusion that just because they are orthos doesn't mean that much difference in terms of impedance when amp hunting. I'm no expert in this area at all and I'm only using my ears rather than any math. I've always stringently looked up the specs of amps to make sure they had enough power, now I'm confident in buying any quality headphone amp without any bias on power output for my orthos. I now only look to reviews for sound quality rather than specs. This is for HE500 and LCD2. The only amp I've ever heard the HE500's sound lacking was the Creek21se. It still sounded nice but it had no backbone, it was way too polite. This could have been the design as it is a very refined sound. I've even tried them with a little Neco portable cmoy and they sounded great. But they are great little amps.
I dunno... Quality over quantity. I'll go with that

davidsh said:

So... Basically you are saying that weaker amps in general can't deliver current fast enough to ensure good transient response and precise and immediate  signals.

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This statement is my experience. When Souprknowva had the F-1 connected to the HE-6, it was the best bass I've heard from a headphone. The F-1 only puts out 10watts but it's a high current amp. It does excellent compared to 100-200 w amps. It is all about current reserves and dampening control. IMO It's one thing to have adequate power and another to have plenty of it. The 500s are different from the 6s in that they don't benefit from massive (relative to headphones) amounts of power the 6s seem to prefer.

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davidsh said:

So... Basically you are saying that weaker amps in general can't deliver current fast enough to ensure good transient response and precise and immediate  signals.

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In general, yes. But as for everything, you can also find relative weak amps (according to the stated power output) with good current reservoir that can provide enough current over a short period, when called for.
 
The Lavardin IT is a (relative) weak integrated speaker amp with only 30Wpc (class A, if that matters), but current it sure can deliver and overall, the sound is more dynamic than most  ~75Wpc british integrated (which are no slouch either, by reputation) even at high volume.
 
When I switched from the M-Stage (400mWpc, IIRC) to the Audio-GD SA-31 (10Wpc) with the HE-500, the change in technicalities (bass slam, soundstage's size, overall definition) was night and day. Both amps are warm so the change in sound signature is not the reason for such a perception.
 
The HE-500 sound so much bigger with the SA-31...
 
Counterexample: the USB-powered Fostex HP-A3 produced overall a similar sound than the M-Stage even though it is 2x or 3x less powerfull, so...

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malveaux said:

 
Link me that and I'll see what I can figure.
 
Very best,

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http://www.head-fi.org/forum/newestpost/646812

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happy camper said:

This statement is my experience. When Souprknowva had the F-1 connected to the HE-6, it was the best bass I've heard from a headphone. The F-1 only puts out 10watts but it's a high current amp. It does excellent compared to 100-200 w amps. It is all about current reserves and dampening control. IMO It's one thing to have adequate power and another to have plenty of it. The 500s are different from the 6s in that they don't benefit from massive (relative to headphones) amounts of power the 6s seem to prefer.

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So you are saying that a headphone like the HE-6 will benefit from something say the First Watt F5 because of the high dampening control and high current?

so higher powered amp doesn't mean higher volume?? i just got the audiogd 11.32 which supposedly puts out more than 2W in he500 on high gain but it doesn't sound as loud as the fiio e9 i was using with the he500 for a day, even though the former is twice as powerful as the latter.

This is a very interesting discussion on amps, and very relevant to my situation.  I got my HE-500s a couple weeks ago and am very happy with them.  I've mostly been driving them from my little Leckerton UHA-6S.MKII amp (with 627 opamp), with great results.  I've also been experimenting with my Grant Fidelity rig, but so far the Leckerton sounds better.  My plan was always to get a higher-end rig, though.  I especially have my heart set on the Violectric V200 and V800.  But I have this niggling doubt that spending all that money won't produce a noticeable improvement over my tiny Leckerton amp.  I guess there's only one way to find out...

kendoji said:

This is a very interesting discussion on amps, and very relevant to my situation.  I got my HE-500s a couple weeks ago and am very happy with them.  I've mostly been driving them from my little Leckerton UHA-6S.MKII amp (with 627 opamp), with great results.  I've also been experimenting with my Grant Fidelity rig, but so far the Leckerton sounds better.  My plan was always to get a higher-end rig, though.  I especially have my heart set on the Violectric V200 and V800.  But I have this niggling doubt that spending all that money won't produce a noticeable improvement over my tiny Leckerton amp.  I guess there's only one way to find out...

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Try a shiit mjolnir or a yulong a18 sabre or if u wanna try tubes: my amp..the darkvoice 337..or the lafigaro 339 all pair excellent with the he500
But yeah..only way to know for sure which one's best for u is to use ur ears

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h4mm3r 0f th0r said:

so higher powered amp doesn't mean higher volume?? i just got the audiogd 11.32 which supposedly puts out more than 2W in he500 on high gain but it doesn't sound as loud as the fiio e9 i was using with the he500 for a day, even though the former is twice as powerful as the latter.

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You also need to pay attention to the gain the amp has. As far as I know, the E9 has higer gain than the NFB11.32.
It shouldnt be an issue with HE-400/HE-500 though.
Speaker amps/receivers have generally both higher watts per channel and higher gain. The Emotiva Mini, for instance has a gain of 30db, compared to the Fiio 20 (or 25db) and the 11.32s 10db I think on high gain?
I am not sure about the numbers entirely but gain is important as well.

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kendoji said:

This is a very interesting discussion on amps, and very relevant to my situation.  I got my HE-500s a couple weeks ago and am very happy with them.  I've mostly been driving them from my little Leckerton UHA-6S.MKII amp (with 627 opamp), with great results.  I've also been experimenting with my Grant Fidelity rig, but so far the Leckerton sounds better.  My plan was always to get a higher-end rig, though.  I especially have my heart set on the Violectric V200 and V800.  But I have this niggling doubt that spending all that money won't produce a noticeable improvement over my tiny Leckerton amp.  I guess there's only one way to find out...

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It's about finding the right pieces.  The HE-500 is a phone capable of exceptional detail reveal if the source and amplifier can provide it.  I've heard nice things about the v200/v800 setup, but I still feel that my taboo / havana setup still edges it out. The taboo is really a wonderful piece of work.  I haven't heard all that many impressoins of the new schiit stuff with the he-500.  It seems like a good value but there's so many schiit fans with little experience with other products it's hard to determine the value of the gear vs similar price range.  Anyone want to chime in?

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happy camper said:

This statement is my experience. When Souprknowva had the F-1 connected to the HE-6, it was the best bass I've heard from a headphone. The F-1 only puts out 10watts but it's a high current amp. It does excellent compared to 100-200 w amps. It is all about current reserves and dampening control. IMO It's one thing to have adequate power and another to have plenty of it. The 500s are different from the 6s in that they don't benefit from massive (relative to headphones) amounts of power the 6s seem to prefer.

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I wish I could get one, but they are too hard to get and even if you find one, they are too bloody expensive :/

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hifimanrookie said:

Try a shiit mjolnir or a yulong a18 sabre or if u wanna try tubes: my amp..the darkvoice 337..or the lafigaro 339 all pair excellent with the he500

But yeah..only way to know for sure which one's best for u is to use ur ears

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Thanks, those sound like good tips but I think I want solid-state, and I don't really want to go balanced-only as I'd like something that's flexible and works well with other headphones.  The Yulong stuff does sound nice, but for some reason I keep coming back to Violectric..

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conquerator2 said:

 
You also need to pay attention to the gain the amp has. As far as I know, the E9 has higer gain than the NFB11.32.
It shouldnt be an issue with HE-400/HE-500 though.
Speaker amps/receivers have generally both higher watts per channel and higher gain. The Emotiva Mini, for instance has a gain of 30db, compared to the Fiio 20 (or 25db) and the 11.32s 10db I think on high gain?
I am not sure about the numbers entirely but gain is important as well.

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maybe you are right... although i always thought gain= more power... 11.32 is +12db i think... louder volume ain't everything then...