HIFIMAN EF6 Headphone Amplifier Pre-Order - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by NaturalMusic 

For the EF-6 audition I used the following Headphones: Hifiman 5LE, Hifiman HE 500, Hifiman HE-6 and the Audeze LCD-3.

Cool, so what was you're impression of it? 

I also auditioned an Ultrasone Ed 8 with the EF- 6 amplifier.

My initail reference point was my Hifiman EF-5 hybrid solid state/ tube amp which drives the Hifiman 5 LE headphones quite nicely (and is very similar to the sound that the TTVJ  Apex Peak and Volcano produce with the HE-5LE phones)

Hands down the EF-6 was a significant step up over the EF-5 with all Hifiman, Ultrasone and Audeze headphones.

The EF 6 bass was significantly deeper and the highs were more prominent ,yet there still was a natural euphonics typically present with tubes even though this amp is all solid state.

I thought that the HE-500 Headphone and the EF-6 ampfifier were a particularly great match up. I recall forgeting that I was evaluating equipment and just started enjoying the music.

Similarly the Audeze LCD -3 headphone sounded simply wonderful with the EF-6 amp.

In addition to the Hifiman EF-6 amp, I  also auditioned the Hifiman He 500 and the Audeze LCD-3  headphones with 1) The Red Wine Audio Audeze edition amplflier and 2) the Woo Audio WA6 SE ampflier.

For source material, I used Apple lossless files on a Macbook pro with a solid state disk drive

.For a DAC,  I  used an Ayre Acoustics QB-9.

My music was primarily well engineered pop rock with a wide range of instrumentation and vocals.

On all three ampfifiers, I  thought the HE-500 phone's sound signature was in the same family as the Audeze LCD-3. The Audeze had slighty more prominent and convincing bass.

I clearly preferred the EF-6 amplfier over the Red Wine Audio ampfier with  both the HE500 and the Audeze LCD-3 headphones. The solid state EF-6 had more punchy bass and more sparkly treble without a loss of natural and coherent mid-range.

Thanks for the info. Did you enjoy the HE-500 more than the HE-6 with the EF-6?

The Woo Audion WA 6SE amplifier was a closer match to the EF-6 with the Audeze LCD-3 headphone.

I focused on the sweet mid range that the Woo tube amp produced with the Audeze but in the end, concluded that the EF-6  excellent mid range was more appropriately balanced by a more realistic bass and more extended treble.

So in the end I prefered the EF-6 amplifier over the Woo Audio 6SE, Red Wine Audio Audeze edition as well as the EF-5 hybrid ampflier.

I was hoping that the HE-6 would sound better than the HE-500 on the EF-6 but that was not my experience.

On the material that I listened to, I felt that the HE-500 was wonderful. But the HE-6 still lacked the more coherent mid-range that the HE-500 produced

I previously did a comparison  between an HE-500 and an HE-6 with a far more powerful  traditional  speaker amp and felt that the HE-6 did a far better job on high end strings etc.

While not nearly as significant a factor as its sonic characteristics,  I also liked the EF-6 amplifier build and form factor.

 It had a moderately small footprint, a large volume control and both clamped XLR and single ended inputs easily accessed up front. Also since it was solid state, I was less concerned about tube fragility or heat.

It would be interesting to compare how the HE-6 headphone sounds with the very powerful Ray Samuel Dark Star amplifier to the EF-6 amplifier.

I have not yet heard the Dark Star amplifier, but those who did were gave very positve comments on it's synergy with the HE-6 headphone.

you may as well order the dark Star too so you can do the comparison

I will be comparing the solid state Hifiman EF-6 amp with the more than twice as expensive and well reviewed hybrid Cavelli Liguid Fire amplifier.

I will be using an Audeze LCD-3 headphone with these two ampfliers and expect to make this comparison in a couple of weeks (approx. mid-Feb) when I have access to both amplfiers.

At that time, I willl report on my evaluation. In the mean time, if someone has already used an Audeze LCD -3 in a comparison between these two amps, I would appreciate hearing your observation and preference.

Dude you said the Dark Star WE want you to buy a Dark Star too. I am bettiung your post count will be more the next month than two years

The reason I will be evaluating the Cavelli amp is that a Liguid Fire owner in the Tri State area is kind enough to make it available for evaluation

 Perhaps Ray Samuels can make a DarkStar availlable at the Spring New York Meet.

When I contacted Ray for a demo unit for last Fall's meet, he was not able to make one available.. 

Looking forward to your impressions and detailed review of the EF6 in comparision with other top tier amplifiers such as RWA and the LF.