[gurus]

Quote:

Mine's not bright at all but this could be attributed to my setup.

Same here. Like I have said before and people who have listened to my system- the best treble they have heard so far, period. Regardless whether the HE-6 is paired with my SS amp or the tube amp.

 

[drez]

I think the HE-6 is capable of being very incisive with treble and upper midrange, so particularly blistering trumpet blasts or cymbal hits are presented full-force, and strings are not smoothed over.  They are also very transparent so any characteristics of upstream gear or recordings will show through.  I can clearly tell when a ferrite clamp is placed on my power cord with the HE-6, the reduction in body is very apparent.
 
HE-6 can be forgiving depending what gear you pair with it, but that's because of the gear IMO, I consider the overall presentation neutral and transparent but with a natural body but with excellent transient response.  Compared to say Audeze LCD-2 the midrange is more neutral and dry but it still retains a natural body.  I consider the upper mids the most dry portion of the HE-6 spectrum, and unless your gear is smooth in the upper mids you will hear whatever is on the recording.  I do not consider the upper mids unnaturally grating or grainy, but I do not consider them smooth either - they are just neutral and dry, at least with the amplifiers I have tried so far.

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

I found a local repair guy who is kind of a legend here in LA. he owns a small shop on Ventura so no issue there. It's just that you need to wait if you want him. But I am all set now.
By the way I also have a Toshiba SA-7100 which I am thinking of selling, if you are in the market. It needs a good cleaning and perhaps some work but I would let it go for cheap. PM me if you are interested.

 
Certainly.

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

If the Phonitor can cope with the HE-6 - can the Auditor as well?
 
Technically it should because apparently the Phonitor and the Auditor have identical amp sections and the Auditor just lacks the cross-feed controls...?
 
But then again, the reason the Phonitor can drive the HE-6 may be to do with it having a better power supply o deliver more current - or even the cross-feed controls may in some way influence the gain settings.
 
My gut feeling tells me that the Auditor cannot drive the HE-6 as well as the Phonitor, but it would be sweet if it could!!

I never get over 9 o clock with HE-4

 

[KingFiercer]

SPL Phonitor with HE-6 will give you bass-light and birght sound. So Phonitor is BAD for HE-6, not enough power I think. But it's great amp with dynamic headphones.

 

[.Sup]

Quote:

SPL Phonitor with HE-6 will give you bass-light and birght sound. So Phonitor is BAD for HE-6, not enough power I think. But it's great amp with dynamic headphones.

Its only bright if your source is bright. Bass is flat like pro studio headphone amp must be but you can change opamps to something bassier. Power is not an issue with SPL amps.

 

[Kremer930]

It may not sound bright to you but amp comparisons have shown that more than 4watts per channel is needed to get the best from a HE6. The Phonitor is a great amp but not for the power hungry HE6. You would be missing out on all that the HE6 can give.

 

[grokit]

Yes this was discussed over a year ago, the Auditor/Phonitor is far from an ideal solution for the HE-6. It offers good voltage for high impedance dynamic headphones but not enough current for low efficiency, low impedance orthos.

 

[Skylab]

Indeed, the Phonitor is a terrible choice for the HE-6, since it's power delivery declines significantly as impedance declines. 1.7 W into 600 ohms but only 360mw into 30 ohms. So maybe it would do 500 mW into the HE-6, that isn't enough to make the HE-6 sound even remotely good.

 

[TheWuss]

i agree with Rob 100%.
i had the phonitor for a while, and while it produced a very alluring sound with "some music" through the HE-6 (huge soundstage, layering, etc.), it simply didn't produce palpable bass.  and, when playing mainstream music with the HE-6, the brightness was almost intolerable.
it was a "wow" sound at first, but i soon realized it was a pretty bad pairing in the long run...

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

One thing I am noticing: that for all the HE-6's sonic prowess, it's pretty darn forgiving of substandard recordings (when it's fed properly).

 
 
Interesting. I found that it's the least forgiving pair I've ever owned. I find myself frantically changing songs anytime anything poorly recorded shows up. 
 
 
 
Has anyone found a relatively cheap power amp to hook these up to? 

 

[grokit]

 

[Silent One]

grokit, thanks for rekindling my interest. I am now very curious about this amp. How long have you been running yours? How would you describe its sound? How does it sound in contrast to your Woo? Having heard a couple of '22's'  maybe your reply would help in this way.
 
And I'm guessing it's got "kick" if you're nominating it for the HiFiMan!

 

[grokit]

That $200 Alesis kicks the $2000 WA22's @ss when it comes to the HE-6, it's no contest at all.

I finally have the two amps working in tandem btw:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/529140/show-us-your-head-fi-station-at-its-current-state-no-old-pictures-please/6420#post_8419339

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

That $200 Alesis kicks the $2000 WA22's @ss when it comes to the HE-6, it's no contest at all.

I finally have the two amps working in tandem btw:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/529140/show-us-your-head-fi-station-at-its-current-state-no-old-pictures-please/6420#post_8419339

 
Perhaps, without derailing the thread too much, when using other dynamic cans with the Alesis, what does it sound like? In contrast with the '22.' I'm trying to get an idea 'cause I might want to suspend my upgrades and bring one of dem bad boys home from Sweetwater or AMZN! 

 Of course, @ 25 ohms the Denons may come across as a push-over...