OK well where do I start?
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Equipment, - Rega Apollo CD player, Linn LP12/Ittok/Troika turntable setup.
Preamps (3): - Quad 99 Preamp. SJS electroacoustics Arcadia valve preamp, Yaqin MS12 valve preamp.
Power amps (3): Quad 606 II power amp. NAD 208 power amp, Art Audio Quintet valve power amp and border patrol power supply.
Integrated amp: Creek 4040 S3
OK I am not sure I want to post my opinions. I don’t want to upset anyone or cause any trouble. I already got some grief with my opinions of the LCD2!
On the positive, - Build quality seems nice to me. It’s a comfortable headphone too, - more comfortable than the LCD2 for example.
On the negative?!, - I am not at all keen on the sound of this headphone. It is very undynamic and light sounding for me, - those are it main problems. But there are more, - the soundstage (for me with my ears) is very small and just not good, - its like listening to a very cheap pair of headphones in that regard for me, and even something like the HD600 range is better in that regard for me. A further problem is an upper midrange/lower treble peak I can hear that is quite bothersome. I think its well possible though this could mainly be down to bad ear interaction. I have pretty big ears so that could be the cause, - other people might not get this problem.
I can hear low distortion levels good transparency and there is fine detail there too and nothing unpleasant. There is more extension at the top end than the LCD2s for sure. But the midrange is lacking in weight and richness for me and the bass is nowhere near as good as the LCD2 or other headphone I have tried. Just really undyanmic with no hint of slam/punch.
I know some people have compared this headphone to Magnepan speakers but IMO its really nothing like my experience of Maggies. I have a pair of big MG3.3Rs with ribbon tweeter and was used to the original MGIII for many years (my Dad had a pair) . There is far more involvement to the sound and far better extension with Maggies, - particularly at the top (the ribbon tweeter is responsible for that.)
Midrange presence is far better with the Maggies and bass and dynamics much more solid. I mean perhaps if I had a pair of small Magnepan MMGs I might find the HE6s comparable, but the full range full scale dynamic sound of a big planar speaker have is not present in these headphone at all in my opinion.
If anyone is wondering if the headphones are not being driven properly, - well I am currently using the Quad 606 II speaker power amp I have which is 140Watts a channel into 8 ohms. I am following the instructions and using the resistor box (which is a set of 10 ohm parallel resistors over the +/- speaker terminalsand using the 25 ohm resistors in series too for a power amp of over 75 watts. So I don’t think the headphones are short of any drive, power/ current etc. I have tried with the NAD 208THX power amp I have too also with the resistor box. That amp is 250Watts per channel. I have yet to try the Art Audio Quintet valve power amp, - that’s 30 or 15 watts a channel (depending on UL or Triode mode). I will remove the series resistor from the resistor box for use with this amp, just using the 10ohm parallel resistors instead. If the drive is no good (which is might not be as the transformer coupled output is designed for an 8 ohm load) . I might try either 15 or 22 parallel resistor instead. It should even be possible to drive the headphone from this reasonably low powered amp directly but I do not want to risk that just in case I damage them!
For me the LCD2 was not right either. It had a muted treble for me and a slightly clinical sound, but it still vastly better than this headphone for me. It had a far fuller midrange and lovely vocals and was very much more dynamic sounding and hard hitting. Bass was vastly better, - better impact and better extension. If they introduced and LCD3 with a more extended treble response but everything else quite similar I would be very interested.
I tried EQing in a low bass peak (20Hz, Q of 1 or below) using a Behringer DEQ digital EQ unit on the HE6 - but its does not make a huge difference the headphone does not take EQ that well in my opinion. The LCD2 did a lot better here.
Like I said in the LCD2 thread I do personally like a headphone that has a slightly U-shaped balance. So that could be part of the reason for my dislike for these. For me the Sennhesier HD250II is easily the best headphone I have ever heard and is the best suited for my personal tastes and ear shape (even far better than the LCD2 for me) so I will stick with that for now. It has a very low bass peak and follows a falling FR line which is better suited for me for headphone listening than any of these more “flat” headphones.
I will look at the HD800. That’s my last stop really. Its likely to have a similar treble to the Sennehsier HD250II but will unlikely have the same bass and dynamics ability. It might be possible to EQ the HD800 in the bass to give me something good but I am not sure.
So anyway sorry for the disappointing views but this headphone is just not my cup of tea. It does have some nice qualities like low level detail retrieval but the FR is not to my personal tastes and I do think they particularly lack dynamics and impact. I am next going to hook it up to the thickest sounding valve pre power combo I have and see how it does then, - perhaps the valve gear will make the sound less thin for me, - will post back when I have tried it. Am worried the leading edge and dynamics with be even worse with the valve kit though!
Like I said in the LCD2 thread its possible people with different shapes ears or different tastes and prior experiences would love this headphone, but I don’t unfortunately. Shame I was really hoping they might do it for me. Got to try the HD800 now.
Cheers,
Colin
