HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) please post your impressions. . loan pair for UK pg. 28. - Page 210

Quote:

Originally Posted by spark3 

Does anyone know the best place to buy the HE-500 in the UK? as they are around £700 on Amazon which seems pretty pricey compared to US...

http://www.audiophonics.fr/hifiman-he500-casque-audiophile-orthodynamique-89db-p-6542.html

~618 euro with postage to UK.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Katun 

 

The term "reminds" can be indicative of anything, and refers to the retrieval of a memory.

 

 

Is this Head-Fi or Oxford Dictionary? 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anda 

 

http://www.audiophonics.fr/hifiman-he500-casque-audiophile-orthodynamique-89db-p-6542.html

 

~618 euro with postage to UK.

I've ordered from this site before, it's works pretty well so long as they have the product in stock (which they often don't).

They seem to currently have HE-500 in stock (which they haven't had in a while), so if anyone is thinking of ordering a pair of "cheap" HE-500 in the EU zone, I wouldn't wait too long to order from them, as their out of stock process is quite long, random and annoying from what I've read on French forums (like 15-20 business days to ? or basically no information after you pay until they magically deliver one day). Good service apart from that, and cheap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiofanboy 

I've ordered from this site before, it's works pretty well so long as they have the product in stock (which they often don't).

 

They seem to currently have HE-500 in stock (which they haven't had in a while), so if anyone is thinking of ordering a pair of "cheap" HE-500 in the EU zone, I wouldn't wait too long to order from them, as their out of stock process is quite long, random and annoying from what I've read on French forums (like 15-20 business days to ? or basically no information after you pay until they magically deliver one day). Good service apart from that, and cheap.

Yep a friend ordered a NFB-3.1 which was not on stock. It took more than 1 month (almost 2 IIRC) to get it delivered :/

They don't seem to reflect all the taxes on Hifiman products (it should be 700€)?

For the record, I always ordered my Hifimans on Head-direct and never had to pay customs (HE-4, HE-400, HE-500) in France.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clemmaster 

 

Yep a friend ordered a NFB-3.1 which was not on stock. It took more than 1 month (almost 2 IIRC) to get it delivered :/

 

They don't seem to reflect all the taxes on Hifiman products (it should be 700€)?

 

For the record, I always ordered my Hifimans on Head-direct and never had to pay customs (HE-4, HE-400, HE-500) in France.

Guess you got lucky with French customs then! Out of curiosity, how much did it amount to for the HE-500 if you include shipping (in euros)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiofanboy 

Guess you got lucky with French customs then! Out of curiosity, how much did it amount to for the HE-500 if you include shipping (in euros)?

I got lucky thrice then (with several month interval).

I think it was something like 570-580€ including shipping back in march of last year (HE-500).

I paid something like 335€ for the HE-400 and roughly 360€ for the HE-4 (the rate was much more interesting but the shipping cost were higher due to the bigger case they came with)

I just saw they're selling the HE-4 for 329€ when the HE-400 is 379€!

That's a really good deal for the HE-4! People should really consider this + Emotiva mini-x amp to experience the true planar sound!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Audiofanboy 

Guess you got lucky with French customs then! Out of curiosity, how much did it amount to for the HE-500 if you include shipping (in euros)?

I actually think Head-direct ships expensive orders with special notes to mitigate customs taxes (e.g. they might mark down the value of the package contents by a lot), when the products are shipped straight from their Hong Kong facilities.

Clemmaster, you said you were lucky with the customs. In which country are you located? From UK you wouldn't pay tax for an item from France as they are still in EU.

Agree with the experience of Clemmaster respective the customs from Head-Direct products.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acapella11 

Clemmaster, you said you were lucky with the customs. In which country are you located? From UK you wouldn't pay tax for an item from France as they are still in EU.

 

Agree with the experience of Clemmaster respective the customs from Head-Direct products.

Ur in luck then..here in holland ..the dutch bloodsucking customs even check internet to compare prices..i even found out that eventhough the seller had a. Much lower price on the package  i paid the full monty.. 30% over the unit price with postage. 

So Justin of Headamp's demo HE-500 set just got delivered to me a few hours ago and I've been listening since.  The only dynamic amps I have are the ones built in my Anedio D1 and D2 dac's.  My first impression is just WOW listening on my D2.  The clarity, weight, and slightly dark sound is delightful.  A great match for the slightly bright leaning D2.  The D2 also has no trouble powering the HE-500.  I'm listening anywhere between 40-50 on the volume control.  I'd be surprised if there are noticeably better amping options for the HE-500.  They mate brilliantly.

These are a better Senn HD580, coming from a unabashed HD580 fanboy.

Comparing to my main rig of the D2-KGSS-SR-007, my preliminary thought is that I can now understand why some may consider the SR-007 a little too laid back and/or polite.  The HE-500 kind of forcibly pulls you to the music.  I need to re-listen to the SR-007 rig to complete my thoughts.

But for now, I will be listening only to the HE-500 until my evaluation period is over.

I might be acquiring a set as a complement to the Stax rig.

For interested folks, just a small step up from the HE-500s

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

how many revisions of the HE-500 are there? 

if there are more than one how do you tell which revision it is?

i dont believe there were any changes to the he500 except for different stock cables. The silver coated copper stock need IMO to be replaced as it bottlenecks the he500. Expect to buy an aftermarket copper cable to get the best out of the he500. Some people prefer all silver cables.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank I 

i dont believe there were any changes to the he500 except for different stock cables. The silver coated copper stock need IMO to be replaced as it bottlenecks the he500. Expect to buy an aftermarket copper cable to get the best out of the he500. Some people prefer all silver cables.

Try the toxic cables Black Widow 22awg copper cable...i have one of those..love them !