New headphone amplifier from Bryston - Page 32

It could be possible, the manual for the BHA-1 Manual states that the 6W @ 32 ohms (or 3.8 into 50) is max power (i.e. peak).  It states "nominal" power into 50 ohms to be 500mW.  Technically, the gain of the BHA-1 should be enough depending on how loud you typically listen.  

 

Then it just depends on if the amp can dish out enough current for the load depending on the gain level while maintaining acceptable distortion levels.  My logic could be flawed though.

 

 

Happy Camper is telling the truth.  He and I did a listen on the BHA-1 with the HE-6's  We took the BHA-1 to the max on the volume knob.  The HE-6's was asking us for more.  We also went to a local audio shop with both our HE-6s.  We tested on about 4 integrated speaker amps.  3 from Sim audio the MOON series - lower / mid / high end.  Plain and simple the HE-6s are better suited for speaker amps.

 

Sorry but the BHA-1 just does not have enough juice.

You were using it with balanced mode and in high gain? The HE-6 isn't THAT much more difficult to drive than the HD800. I've had both and there is a significant difference, but not that extreme.

Oh dear. That makes me excited. Which Simaudio amps? I love those guys...

 

 

Really?  They are much more hard to drive.   Yes in balanced mode and in high gain.  You had both - At the time what amps was you driving the HE-6 with?  

 

Happy Camper and I tried the HE-6 with the BHA-1 and over 10 or 11 other amps over time.   We put this theory to the test with practice.  

 

They are indeed hard to drive.

 

 

 

 

http://www.simaudio.com/moon600i.htm

 

http://www.simaudio.com/moon220i.htm

 

http://www.simaudio.com/moon340i.htm

 

Truly good stuff.  Really drove the HE-6s the way they should be driven.

I have not had both at the same time, but I have used them on the same amp, the Little Dot MKVI. The HD800 was around 9 oclock and the HE-6 was around 2 oclock at similar volumes (my normal listening volume).

Yeah, 

 

That Little Dot has a lot of power so I've heard.  I was also thinking about getting that same amp.  But the BHA-1 does not have the same juice as that LD MKVI.  

.

Edited by Anaxilus - 9/1/12 at 8:34pm

The HD800 has a sensitivity of 102db/1v rms and the HE-6 is 83.5db. That is a huge difference in efficiency considering every 3 db requires double the power so the HE-6 required about 6 times the power to match a given same sound level of the HD800.

The HE6 sounds like quite a headphone.

It's pretty much just ridiculous.

 

I must say, ive tried the he6 with the bha-1, and although i need to crank the amp almost all the way to drive them, they do sound significantly better than lcd2's. That being said, i dont think its a good amp for the he6 at all. The he6 can scale up even higher

Hi Folks,

 

I have a pair of the HE6 and please be aware that with a Balanced Source and a Balanced Output and using the high gain setting on the BHA-1 you have an extra 18dB of Gain.

 

james

The roughly +6db you get from the source is pretty important. That's one reason I want a balanced phono stage.

 

 

And while the unit is upside down, Jimi's backwards guitar overdubs on "Are You Experienced" will be reversed!