Why does it say on the hifiman website that the speaker balanced adapter is not for the HE-500?

harrinj said:

  Why does it say on the hifiman website that the speaker balanced adapter is not for the HE-500?

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i wondered the same thing

harrinj said:

  Why does it say on the hifiman website that the speaker balanced adapter is not for the HE-500?

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Probably because they are trying to make a point of the fact that the HE500 is easier to drive than the 5/5le/he6.

danpluck said:

  Probably because they are trying to make a point of the fact that the HE500 is easier to drive than the 5/5le/he6.

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i disagree about the he-5le.
i tried in balanced mode the he-500 and the he-5le and this last is not hard to drive like the he-6 but needs same power requirements of the he-500

I just picked these up at Hong Kong. I went into an audio equipment store looking for an amp for my Denon D2000 cans and/or Westone 4s, but ended up picking these up with the amp. I honestly didn't even think about putting these on, because quite honestly, I could not recall hearing or reading about the brand of headphones. The guys at the store hooked the HE-400 up to the amp they recommended as I wanted to see what kind of an effect the amp might have (as I head never previously owned a headphone amplifier). Listening to just a bit of Adele's '21' on their Mac, withthe amp in the middle, I was quite stunned by the difference between what I was listening to at home on my PC and what I was presently demoing. They thought they would be on quite par with my Denons in terms of what I might expect to hear at home, but I begged to differ: the Denons are great, but these were incredible.
After a little bit of haggling and demoing the step-down model from the HE-400 (which I found lacking compared to my cans at home) and a cheaper Pro-Ject amp just for the sake of trying them out, we settled at a price somewhere in the 5400 HKD range for the HE-400 headphones and an Audinst HUD-MX2 Amp.
Just before sealing the deal on that package though, I thought I'd ask what the HE-500s would run me. I gave them a brief listen, without an in-depth comparison between the two, and in the spur of a moment, grabbed onto them. Haggling ensued, and I finally ended up paying a mere 6600 HKD or roughly 640€ for both items (Audinst amp & HE-500 headphones). I think I got pretty good deal, considering these weren't used demo pieces either. I went ahead and checked prices for the headphones alone in Finland, and it turns out those would've run me 699€ plus shipping alone - so the amp was practically free.
Speaking of which I did Google and try to make sense if the amp was sufficient enough (even though the guys at the store were knowledgeable, and assured me it'd be powerful enough to drive them). From what I gathered, it should give me the sound expected from the cans, if not the best that they can produce - which for me, at this point, should do very well. Especially at the given price point.

Now I'm 2 weeks from departure and heading back home, and I'm already driven mad staring at this box - I don't have any means to listen to them as I didn't take a laptop with me.

/blog

I just can't wait to get home and retire my Denons!
Also, my first post here - wohoo.

jarrrno said:

I just picked these up at Hong Kong. I went into an audio equipment store looking for an amp for my Denon D2000 cans and/or Westone 4s, but ended up picking these up with the amp. I honestly didn't even think about putting these on, because quite honestly, I could not recall hearing or reading about the brand of headphones. The guys at the store hooked the HE-400 up to the amp they recommended as I wanted to see what kind of an effect the amp might have (as I head never previously owned a headphone amplifier). Listening to just a bit of Adele's '21' on their Mac, withthe amp in the middle, I was quite stunned by the difference between what I was listening to at home on my PC and what I was presently demoing. They thought they would be on quite par with my Denons in terms of what I might expect to hear at home, but I begged to differ: the Denons are great, but these were incredible.
After a little bit of haggling and demoing the step-down model from the HE-400 (which I found lacking compared to my cans at home) and a cheaper Pro-Ject amp just for the sake of trying them out, we settled at a price somewhere in the 5400 HKD range for the HE-400 headphones and an Audinst HUD-MX2 Amp.
Just before sealing the deal on that package though, I thought I'd ask what the HE-500s would run me. I gave them a brief listen, without an in-depth comparison between the two, and in the spur of a moment, grabbed onto them. Haggling ensued, and I finally ended up paying a mere 6600 HKD or roughly 640€ for both items (Audinst amp & HE-500 headphones). I think I got pretty good deal, considering these weren't used demo pieces either. I went ahead and checked prices for the headphones alone in Finland, and it turns out those would've run me 699€ plus shipping alone - so the amp was practically free.
Speaking of which I did Google and try to make sense if the amp was sufficient enough (even though the guys at the store were knowledgeable, and assured me it'd be powerful enough to drive them). From what I gathered, it should give me the sound expected from the cans, if not the best that they can produce - which for me, at this point, should do very well. Especially at the given price point.

Now I'm 2 weeks from departure and heading back home, and I'm already driven mad staring at this box - I don't have any means to listen to them as I didn't take a laptop with me.

/blog

I just can't wait to get home and retire my Denons!
Also, my first post here - wohoo.

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640 euros is about $900 USD, which means the vendor sold you the amp for a bit over $200 (since HE500's price in NA and Asia are about $700, maybe a bit under if you can haggle). Overall yeah you definitely saved big compared to if you bought any of these in Europe, but it's closer to $50 in savings from the perspective of the vendor. There's also the question of whether or not you would want to replace the DAC/Amp down the line to really push HE500's performance (in which case all the savings become null  ) 

Good for the both us then! I'll probably consider upgrading the amp down the line, but as mentioned before, the MX2 will likely do well for an appertizer. This is, after all, my first experience with high-end headgear.

I think I might consider buying my stuff while abroad from now on to be honest. I bought my Westones while I was visiting Miami last year. I bought their demo piece for maybe 230 USD, which is pretty ridiculous. Granted, they didn't have a box and I had go settle for some rather harshs foam tips for the way back, but ~200€ plus a bag of Shure's olive tips for maybe 25 pounds off Amazon was still the best deal I could imagine getting on sais package. Plus, I don't think I ever could've demoed the Shure SE535s and Westones side-by-side in my hometown.

bhazard said:

  $2,000?
 
I'm running my HE-500 off a $20 Lepai 2020a+, and it is leaps and bounds better than any headphone amp I've tried under $1,000. $20 is extremely cheap.
 
It is actually better than the $129 200W Lepai amp I have. I can't get that to work with the HE-500 yet, despite the stronger than Emotiva Mini-X power.

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Hi,
 
I had the Emotiva Mini X and could hear a background hiss at low volumes, and a Hum after 50%.  It had a grounding issue so I had to send it back.  Now I'm contemplating giving the Mini another go but would cost me at least £260.  Have you tried both Amps, if so is there a difference? 

^No, he hasn't tried the emotiva. I am wondering which speaker amp to get when you are in eu too.

The Topping TP60 is also good with the HE500s. I get no hiss unless the volume pot is at near maximum

Haven't tried the Mini-X. but hiss and hum is very dependant on the source, and on what else is currently plugged in using the same circuit to your wall.
 
The Lepai will hiss if the wires aren't correctly seated, or if I use a ****ty source like my PC headphone out. Once fixed, the hiss goes away.
 
Hum can be fixed by trying different outlets on different circuits. If the hiss goes away on another circuit, you'll need something like this:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HumX/
 
I have had an Emotiva XPA-5 in my home theater. While it was a great piece of equipment, I recently replaced it with a Behringer NU4-6000 that was half the price, puts out more power, and sounds the same. You cannot tell the difference in an A/B test. I would like to hear the Mini-X, but I doubt it will be 10x the cost worth of a difference, considering I prefer the 2020a+ over my newer 200W Lepai as of now, because of the adjustable tone knobs.
 
When you deal with solid state amps, as long as THD is low and similar between models at the same power, you will be hard pressed to tell the difference between two of them, no matter what price bracket they are in. Power is power, unlike with tube or hybrid amps.

bhazard said:

... Power is power, unlike with tube or hybrid amps.

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One of the most epic posts I've seen to date.    That statement is so loaded I don't know  whether I should open up the can of worm...

koiloco said:

  One of the most epic posts I've seen to date. 

  That statement is so loaded I don't know  whether I should open up the can of worm...

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Yes, please do so, and then A/B test to come to an actual instead of theoretical conclusion.
 
In a blind, gain structure matched A/B test, not one person in my theater room could tell the difference between my system powered by the $999 XPA-5, or the $450 NU4-6000. Those are the actual results that matter, and "audiophiles" will cry all day long about the transformer size difference, capacitors, topology etc etc. The end result being that if it sounds the same, it does not matter.
 
It is also the reason I no longer use Krell amps. When it comes to actual performance, the sound is so close, at the same power, that money is better spent on equipment that will actually change the sound signature significantly, aka the speakers, room treatment, preamp/DAC, and in this case, the headphones themselves. A different headphone will be the biggest change you could ever introduce into your audio chain, not the amp powering it, and it is the reason why most of us bought the HE-500 in the first place.
 
It is also the reason my home speakers are DIY and were designed by myself and several other well known speaker designers and was simulated prior by the woofer creator himself. These $1,000/pair handbuilt towers absolutely destroyed a pair of $10,000 Legacy Focus SE towers. The measured frequency response was much flatter, and the constant directivity waveguide+CD used provided a much bigger soundstage and sweet spot. Actual detailed measurements can be found at avsforum on it.
 
I also prefer not to chase the rabbit with hundreds of tubes just to introduce the distortion that sounds pleasing to me, which will also give people fits, and I don't care. I've done it before and no longer wish to do so. They serve that purpose in my guitar amps when I want... good distortion. I don't need to spend $1,000+ and hundreds on tubes just to find the sound I want that a $20 Lepai provides for me on this headphone, and that's my choice.
 
I fell for the exquisite cable bs too at first, which is another sham that most people refuse to acknowledge. Don't even get me started on balanced setups at 2x the cost or more vs. unbalanced with less than 2ft cable runs and low power fed to them. Works great when feeding 2500W+ to my subs via Speakon to avoid noise and hum, but again, not worth the extra cost for slight gains when $20 suits me just fine, with a black background, on my HE-500. 
 
I've also stated multiple times that I prefer my Lepai & HifimeDIY Sabre U2 over my upgraded TCOX Audio-GD NFB 11.32 with ESS9018. That's a significant cost difference, and from what I found, the power being fed into this headphone is more important than even the DAC implementation. This ESS9018 implementation should run circles around the cheap chinese Topping amps and a low cost SABRE DAC right? Nope.
 
Now please, tell me again why spending more money automatically equates to better sound?

lol.  I wasn't disagreeing with you.  I just stated that your post was one of the boldest, straight up posts I've seen.  It all comes down to if you are happy with your setup and getting the sound you are satisfied with, it doesn't matter how much you pay.  What a subjective can of worms. 

koiloco said:

  lol.  I wasn't disagreeing with you.  I just stated that your post was one of the boldest, straight up posts I've seen.  It all comes down to if you are happy with your setup and getting the sound you are satisfied with, it doesn't matter how much you pay.  What a subjective can of worms. 

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True. No reason to knock it though.
 
I'm all about bang for the buck.