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Quote:
The WA-5 is all tube and has plenty of power out of the K1K port to drive these headphones with ease.
Tubes are too expensive for me at least. I would like to hear one though.
The WA-5 is all tube and has plenty of power out of the K1K port to drive these headphones with ease.
Quote:I'm using a tube pre stage with a solid state speaker amp, no problems there.
Tube dac into ss speaker amp for pretty good sound. You could get some really robust tube speaker amps but if you are going for a tube sound with low E drivers, it's cheaper to flavor the source and use the advantages of ss amps. IMO
I, for one, don't like the smoothness of tubes. I think it takes away detail and that beautiful treble from the HE-6.
Although I haven't heard any high end tube amps, it seems like it isn't for me. The Lyr is a hybrid and I thought it was a tad too smooth, although it was using a different DAC so that could also be why.
I hope to go to Denver in October to try out some high end tube amps to see if it will change my mind as tube amps cost so much more than SS. Although I'm definitely more interested in the EF6 than anything else!!!
Thanks for the reply. However, it was not my intention to judge the tube amp or its sound.
Therefore, I'd like to try again. Assuming the required wattage is satisfied, amps with what other characteristics in SQ may be more suitable for HE-6 in your opinion? For example, why many of you prefer vintage amps?
The hope is that by knowing HE-6's SQ in general it may be helpful for people to try out new amps for better synergy.
Thanks for your sharing.
Up to now I only tried HE-6 with NAD216 and I start to get better grip on the SQ. Comparing to T1, HE-6's soundstage is much closer but wider. And the sonic image of the instrument or singer is larger (broader and wider). Sometimes, this characteristic make sonic focusing difficult. Just like people had harder time to see an object when it is too close (or when you get old). But most importantly, sometimes this makes the texture of midrange and treble "feel like" less condense or less refine/sweet comparing to T1. Maybe I can call it a little bit flat or less glowing. So I still prefer T1 for small scale music, but HE-6 certainly has its charm in the bass tone and the openness. That was the reason why I am looking for another amp that may address this issue.
I was considering one Rotel amp and one Sansui vintage. The size and weight makes me lean toward to Rotel unless there is strong sonic reason to choose differently. Thanks for the input!
I would llok into a Pioneer 950 or 1050 vintage amp. They are discrete and sound amazing. I preferred Pioneer over Sansui and Marantz. Another option is to look for a Nelson Pass Class A amp Forte or threshold or newer but they are pricey but for the bucks Vintage Pioneer work well but you may like Sansui.
Up to now I only tried HE-6 with NAD216 and I start to get better grip on the SQ. Comparing to T1, HE-6's soundstage is much closer but wider. And the sonic image of the instrument or singer is larger (broader and wider). Sometimes, this characteristic make sonic focusing difficult. Just like people had harder time to see an object when it is too close (or when you get old). But most importantly, sometimes this makes the texture of midrange and treble "feel like" less condense or less refine/sweet comparing to T1. Maybe I can call it a little bit flat or less glowing. So I still prefer T1 for small scale music, but HE-6 certainly has its charm in the bass tone and the openness. That was the reason why I am looking for another amp that may address this issue.
I was considering one Rotel amp and one Sansui vintage. The size and weight makes me lean toward to Rotel unless there is strong sonic reason to choose differently. Thanks for the input!
I wonder why many HE-6 owners prefer using it with tube amp or coloring the SQ with tube DAC, or use vintage receiver. Do some of you feel HE-6's treble needs some added smoothness?
For me I don't feel HE-6+NAD is any brighter than T1+Phoenix in general. I was just curious about its SQ that may not be discovered by my current setup.
Thanks!
As for the treble, the HE6 has great high ranges with no fatigue what so ever just very silky smooth like highs with very good precision and speed keeping very true to the source material.
As for the DAC I would think you should use a neutral DAC DSP that is well designed. The reason is simple, the HE6 is a neutral headphone so why limit the HE6's sound characteristics with a AMP or DAC colored.
I have tried speaker amps and other headphone amps but there is always something missing, the one amp that I have not tried is the lyr but I read Jude's review of the lyr and comparing the lyr to the WA5LE, there was no contest the WA5LE was the big winner.
Now I am waiting for Fang's new headphone amp for the HE6's, if it comes close to the WA5/LE then that's the way to go, unless you already have the WA5/LE. In my case I still may get the EF6 and therefor save my WA5LE and its very high end 300B tubes for use with only the best sound-tracks.