Audeze LCD-2 Rev2, Audeze LCD-3 RMA and Sennheiser HD800 compared... - Page 4

Quote:

Originally Posted by nigeljames 

 

No I haven't.

 

In Skylab's review of the Dark Star he stated that if using different phones than the HE-6 than there are better cheaper amps. This makes me believe that the power output is the reason for its popularity with the HE-6 not it's actually quality. The Master-6 also has the power output & is also superb with the LCD2.2's and T1's even unbalanced so maybe it's the better quality amp. That's just the way I see it. If the DS had a cheaper case but cost the same then I would have more faith that it would perform on an even higher level due to the potentially higher parts cost.

 

This is just the way I rationalize things, I am always looking for quality & value. The DS may give the former but IMO does not give the later. Now if RSA produced a cheaper version with the same internal design & parts but with a cheaper case and sells it for say $2000 then I may consider that as good value.

 

This is not in any way a critism of the DS and I have not heard it but I am always dubious when the essential parts of an amp (the parts that contribute to SQ) only make up half the total cost!

I agree totally.  That's why if  "when I hear it" the B24 speak amp sounds waay better than my B22 and I myself can tell the difference.  I will put my HE-6 up for sell.  I'm not going to be on a costly journey just to power the HE-6.  I have lots of other phones I have to take in consideration.

Quote:

Originally Posted by estreeter 

 

I'd call that running a business, although Ray doesnt have the middlemen most retail operations are saddled with.   

Oh right so I suppose ALL the other hi fi companies are not running a business.

People might be prepared to pay $1750 for an amp and another $1750 for its casing but I am not. The more of the total cost that goes on the parts the better in my opinion because its the design and parts quality thats relevant for SQ not the case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

 

 

I agree totally.  That's why if  "when I hear it" the B24 speak amp sounds waay better than my B22 and I myself can tell the difference.  I will put my HE-6 up for sell.  I'm not going to be on a costly journey just to power the HE-6.  I have lots of other phones I have to take in consideration.

hmm, i couldnt tell you if the B22 would sound worse or better than the B24. But what i can say is that i was very unimpressed with the HE6s running off the Dark Star. But when i plugged them into the B24, they were like a poor mans Sr-009.

Also, im pretty sure the Master 8 would power them better than the Dark Star, just from looking at it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

I agree totally.  That's why if  "when I hear it" the B24 speak amp sounds waay better than my B22 and I myself can tell the difference.  I will put my HE-6 up for sell.  I'm not going to be on a costly journey just to power the HE-6.  I have lots of other phones I have to take in consideration.

Or you can enter that small camp which uses speaker amps to power orthos, and start collecting orthos!  Though, I can't recall running across anyone whose found a speaker amp they like driving the LCD-2/3s with more than a well-designed headamp.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elysian 

 

Or you can enter that small camp which uses speaker amps to power orthos, and start collecting orthos!  Though, I can't recall running across anyone whose found a speaker amp they like driving the LCD-2/3s with more than a well-designed headamp.

Well I already started collecting orthos some what. with the LCD, HE-6 and a few Modded Fostexs.  I just don't like those big ole ugly speaker amps.  I like my small GS-1 and the mid size B22.  I'm also looking forward the the 2nd rev. of the GS-X.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solude 

So I guess the question is... what amps provided proper drive for the HE-6?

there are plenty. an obvious choice would be the hifiman ef6, which should work nicely with a wide variety of dynamic cans. 6 moons also liked it with the hd800:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/hifiman5/1.html

http://www.head-fi.org/t/593646/review-hifiman-he-6-ef-6-an-elite-headphone-system-under-one-roof

a canadian fellow has one for sale:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/613698/fs-ft-hifiman-flagship-trio-many-accessories-msrp-5000-can-sell-separately

then there are numerous reports of very good results using compact, cool running, and relatively affordable (way less than a dark star or ef6) t-amps such as the ones by virtue audio or trends.

there are plenty of speaker amps that might be tried and here you can go from beer budget to the sky-is-the-limit. used units from parasound, rotel, adcom, or nad can be experimented with for low cost. this emotiva looks promising, is compact, functions as an integrated amp with it's input and volume control, is normally affordable and is currently on sale for 20% off:

http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/amplifiers/products/a100

there are some threads that deal with this topic.:

http://www.head-fi.org/t/529873/amps-that-can-drive-the-hifiman-he-6-planar-headphones

http://www.head-fi.org/t/566564/he-6-powered-by-a-need-help

http://www.head-fi.org/t/538737/amazing-and-dynamic-he6/330  (especially later on in the thread)

http://www.head-fi.org/t/548959/please-dont-kill-me-need-amp-for-hifiman-he-6-prototype

http://www.head-fi.org/t/557418/virtue-audio-sensation-m451-review

http://www.head-fi.org/t/614752/maximizing-the-sound-he-6

and then there's the big HE6 thread:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/493214/hifiman-he-6-planar-magnetic-headphone

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoupRKnowva 
But what i can say is that i was very unimpressed with the HE6s running off the Dark Star.

Chase, when and where did you hear it?  this is the first report i've heard of that combo sounding less than stellar. the complaints i've come across were based on theoretical concerns, usually from the Ray-can-do-no-right crowd, none of whom had actually listened to the combo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

Well I already started collecting orthos some what. with the LCD, HE-6 and a few Modded Fostexs.  I just don't like those big ole ugly speaker amps.  I like my small GS-1 and the mid size B22.  I'm also looking forward the the 2nd rev. of the GS-X.

Darryl, there are cute and compact speaker amps that should work nicely, such as i mentioned a couple of lines above (Virtue Audio, Emotiva) and also the Parasound Zamp.  most of these are smaller than your gs-1, let alone a B22! and these can all be obtained for less than the amps you just mentioned.

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveDerek 

 

 

Chase, when and where did you hear it?  this is the first report i've heard of that combo sounding less than stellar. the complaints i've come across were based on theoretical concerns, usually from the Ray-can-do-no-right crowd, none of whom had actually listened to the combo.

 

I heard it at ChiUniFi 6 a couple weeks ago at Rays table running out of his Boulder CD Player.

I emailed them about that mini amp driving the HE-6 - they responded by saying they don't recommend it.  I was like huh??

Hello Darryl the Mini X a100 is not recommended to drive the Hifiman HE-6…awesome headphones by the way, due to their high impedance.  I would highly recommend one of these. http://schiit.com/schiit-faq/about-lyr/ andhttp://schiit.com/schiit-faq/about-lyr/ to learn more on this purpose built Headphone amplifier for your hifiman headphones.

Thank you for your support.

50 ohms is considered high impedance?  Compared to the 250 and the 600 ohm Beyers.

They have no idea what their talking about..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solude 

Compared to 4 ohm speaker... well yeah ;)

Well 4 is closer to 50 than 50 is to 250 - don't you think 

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

Well 4 is closer to 50 than 50 is to 250 - don't you think 

actually, not really as 4->50ohms is a 12.5x difference while 50->250ohms is only a 5 fold difference. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by daveDerek 

 

actually, not really as 4->50ohms is a 12.5x difference while 50->250ohms is only a 5 fold difference. 

Rats!  I thought I had it!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

Rats!  I thought I had it!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by preproman 

I emailed them about that mini amp driving the HE-6 - they responded by saying they don't recommend it.  I was like huh??

Hello Darryl the Mini X a100 is not recommended to drive the Hifiman HE-6…awesome headphones by the way, due to their high impedance.  I would highly recommend one of these. http://schiit.com/schiit-faq/about-lyr/ andhttp://schiit.com/schiit-faq/about-lyr/ to learn more on this purpose built Headphone amplifier for your hifiman headphones.

Thank you for your support.

 

50 ohms is considered high impedance?  Compared to the 250 and the 600 ohm Beyers.

 

They have no idea what their talking about..

well you may have missed that part about the differential wrt impedance, but i think you might be right with the other statement about them spewing nonsense. and if there is an issue i'll cite a work around below.  it's probably worth picking one of those amps up and trying it out. with their 30 day trial period if you don't find it satisfactory you can return it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiFlight here:  http://www.head-fi.org/t/557418/virtue-audio-sensation-m451-review#post_7524902

As headphone aficionados know, phones present a much higher impedance profile than the nominal 4-8 ohms that most speaker amplifiers expect. Sensation is tuned for 6 ohms, yet nothing sounded odd at all with my higher impedance headphones. Regardless, I’m a tinkerer and figured out that if I bridged the + and – speaker terminals with high-quality Riedon non-inductive 8 ohm 12 watt resistors, the amplifier would “see” 4-8 ohms, regardless of which headphones I was driving. Seth told me that I might hear sibilance in speakers presenting loads above 20 ohms, but I did not with phones, perhaps because of the lower current draw when compared to loudspeakers.

PS  i added into my earlier post (#52) more links for amping the he6s.