[ALRAINBOW]

Wa 22 all upgrade = hd800 As there is no best this combo tames the beast just a little with out any mod and in doing so give you a fantastic sound stage however it must be balanced from dac or source to obatin this level of sound.
And really good over all dynamics. Now the HE 6 is better in some areas , but only the ES headphones can give you the speed like no other. Now this does come with a price
As lack of overall euphoria and missing the deep bass by a lot compared to the HE6. But the ambience , detail , and quick rise and fall is Stella
But the fact that the decay is just too fast I think is where they start to stray away from the reality that the HE6 has. And look I did not use ergo .

Al

 

[Dubstep Girl]

the WA22 with HD 800 was very nice, though it took me a lot of expensive tubes to get there (Western Electric 422A, GEC 6AS7G, TS BGRP)

 

[preproman]

Are the WA22 and the DNA Stratus on the same level - using tubes priced the same?

 

[Greed]

Are the WA22 and the DNA Stratus on the same level - using tubes priced the same?

Not in my opinion. I would say the Stratus is more the EC BA level.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

I never had a stratus , but dub yes tubes make a big difference as we found out. I had a wa7 fire fly and those two little tubes when upgraded made a difference you could immediately. The other thing is thAt amp needs to be fed balanced for it to sound it's best. As I have the WA5. And it is great with the he6 and many other headphones it was not the best offering with the hd800. Even the hdvd800 does not sound as good as the woo .

Al

 

[erikfreedom]

I bought my he-6 last year. I have had them for about 8 months. at first I did not give them a fair chance. I had no proper amp to drive them and I was more into my hd 800.  today I can say in all honesty that they are my favorite headphones.
 
I can hear more details with my he-6 than with my hd 800. I feel they have incredible clarity. I prefer the soundstage of my he-6 over my hd 800 too. and I listen to quite loud levels. and with the he-6, the louder, the more impressive they are. they are truly a force of nature.
 
the only gripe I had was with comfort and I found a way to improve it big time.
 
I find the voices to sound incredibly natural with he-6. with hd 800 it is not as impressive.
 
I have played the entire mass effect series with he-6. it was incredible. watching movies is also quite the trip with he-6.
 
if you love trance music, he-6 is king.  when I listen to trance music, no other headphones connect me more to the music.
 
when my friends or family visit me, the first headphone I make them listen is my he-6 rig.
 
I will never sell them nor my he-500 nor my ef-6 amp. even if hifiman release another flagship. 

 

[brunk]

^ Yeah it would take a herculean headphone to have me part with my HE-6. I don't think I'll ever sell my BH Crack + Speedball either lol even if I dont use it right now. That amp is too damn musical, and tubes age like fine wines, they get more expensive! 

 

[Lorspeaker]

  I bought my he-6 last year. I have had them for about 8 months. at first I did not give them a fair chance. I had no proper amp to drive them and I was more into my hd 800.  today I can say in all honesty that they are my favorite headphones.
 
I can hear more details with my he-6 than with my hd 800. I feel they have incredible clarity. I prefer the soundstage of my he-6 over my hd 800 too. and I listen to quite loud levels. and with the he-6, the louder, the more impressive they are. they are truly a force of nature.
 
the only gripe I had was with comfort and I found a way to improve it big time.
 
I find the voices to sound incredibly natural with he-6. with hd 800 it is not as impressive.
 
I have played the entire mass effect series with he-6. it was incredible. watching movies is also quite the trip with he-6.
 
if you love trance music, he-6 is king.  when I listen to trance music, no other headphones connect me more to the music.
 
when my friends or family visit me, the first headphone I make them listen is my he-6 rig.
 
I will never sell them nor my he-500 nor my ef-6 amp. even if hifiman release another flagship. 

 
i enjoy reading posts like yours...a man in love with his can

 

[Dubstep Girl]

im listening to the HE-6 and i think this headphone can really do it all. my old pair must of been defective in some way, cause i would complain about the midrange being somewhat recessed and i didn't feel that they where really top level, but these are way different.

 

[Lorspeaker]

i settled on the flattish ad2000 suede pads, gave me more intimacy than the other pads lying around.

 

[Silent One]

When I was at the NYC audio show
And others I did head to head and the truth is
The HE 6 wins. I own the top 4 headphones.
And the he 6 wins. Dub step your crazy
To sell it. Of all the stuff I own. It is the headphone
Of choice. A headphones have consessions but the HE 6 does more really well
Then all the others. Even the ELECTRO S.
I have the 009 and the HE60. Better in someways
But the he 6 is better in more places and genres
. To me the HE 60 and HE 6 are the best out there.
All the rest have to catch up to the HE 6.

Al

 Along with the clear-as-a-bell mids, this is a strong selling point for me!
 
 
 

 
It really is an amazing amp for the HD-800, I was shocked just how invisible it really is. I need to tweak the gain structure up a notch for the HE-6 before I arrive at the final conclusion with the pairing.  Gotta love the HE-6 though! I have a few more amps I'll be building in the future to check out with the HE-6, namely the LPUHP which is also part of The Wire series. It'll be fully dual mono too, though they are going to be for my horns+supertweets, making it 4x LPUHP The boards just arrived today, but I have to finish up some F5's for you fellas first!

With no elves in sight or the farm fresh egg nog to bribed them, you've certainly got your work printed out. 

 
 

 
Yea, I think you are spot on and I agree sometimes I'd rather not have to wait for tubes to warm up, etc. Having both will definitely be a treat. 

I love ceremony and simply delight in other activities while waiting sometimes days hours for everything to be

 just so. Even my ss vintage lovelies improve with extended warm-ups.
 
 

  I can't really agree here. I've had quite a few tubes amps and yes some (especially OTL) have that syrupy, "tubey" sound but none of that is present in any of the higher end tube amps I've heard. For me, it was an eye-opener hearing a few of these amps, because to me they sounded more neutral (and natural) than most of the SS amps I've heard. Control was never a problem, and none of the generic tubey issues were present. It is hard to explain, but it is one of those things that need to be experienced before being judged. I mostly agree that doubling up on tubes with a tube DAC and a tube amp might take away from the overall clarity and transparency (i.e too much coloration), but then again - the Stratus+AMR doesn't sound bad at all. 

Well stated. Currently, my rack is stuffed with examples of both!

 

[Silent One]

Wa 22 all upgrade = hd800 As there is no best this combo tames the beast just a little with out any mod and in doing so give you a fantastic sound stage however it must be balanced from dac or source to obatin this level of sound.
And really good over all dynamics. Now the HE 6 is better in some areas , but only the ES headphones can give you the speed like no other. Now this does come with a price
As lack of overall euphoria and missing the deep bass by a lot compared to the HE6. But the ambience , detail , and quick rise and fall is Stella
But the fact that the decay is just too fast I think is where they start to stray away from the reality that the HE6 has. And look I did not use ergo .

Al

 
HD800.... a technical wonder! For soul stirring sensations visit the HE-6 room next door. 

 

[Silent One]

   
An even better amp plus some simple modding stomps on the T1. And I really liked the T1 too.

 
I am encouraged by what you've achieved inside the ohhgourami lab.... I want in. I would certainly like to enlist your help, though. If these mods are left for my own hand, I'll proceed packing up my audio rig and wait. 
 
Besides, how could you say "No" when you've not heard my 

 bribe?
 
 
Update :   : 
 
This morning (pre-dawn) I swapped out the LawtonAudio biscuits for the stock HiFiMAN scooter pies. In some ways I enjoy the new pads but like many things in life, there are trade-offs. I may setup velcro on the rings for instant swapping, as I enjoy both pads.

 

[lojay]

You evil people. This thread is pushing me to buy an HE6 for my Woo WA5 to complement the HD800. My understanding is that the HD800 will sound absolutely magical with about 5% of the music in one's collection but the HE6 will sound almost completely magical in 99%. 

 

[NZtechfreak]

You evil people. This thread is pushing me to buy an HE6 for my Woo WA5 to complement the HD800. My understanding is that the HD800 will sound absolutely magical with about 5% of the music in one's collection but the HE6 will sound almost completely magical in 99%. 

I think that underestimates the HD800 figure a trifle, but the HE-6 figure is correct