[rdaneel]

I will, prepro.  I'm interested in hearing for myself what starving the cans for power will do (apart from lower the volume!).

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

I will, prepro.  I'm interested in hearing for myself what starving the cans for power will do (apart from lower the volume!).

Still good, albeit thin and clipping/distort isn't very pleasant to human's ears. I remember back when I first got the 6; I plug in my budget dac/amp combo that put out ~2W@50 ohm (i.e. crap amp section - quality wise). The sound is congested and thin, but technicalities wise is still far ahead of the he500 which was in the house at the time.
 

 
 
I think I have reached my nirvana. The He-6 is the best purchase I've done in these past years (other honourable mentions are hd600, hd800 and staxes). Now I just need a new rack,two headphone stands and find a good deal on a 2A3/300B Set amp 

 

[wink]

I wonder how long this will last?
 
Probably until the next meet........

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

I wonder how long this will last?
 
Probably until the next meet........

Till I get a new house for a speaker system 

 - then maybe I'll grab a 009 and BHSE. Right now, I can't even put a decent small bookshelf in my current room.

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

 
Pretty sweet wuwhere! You have a vintage amp rated at 50W @ 8 ohms do you not? What model amp are you using?
 
From my favorite tube dealer's site....."Like a warm British jacket of the finest tweed, these glorious tubes have an attractive sweet warmth in their midrange and lower regions. The top end is silky and pleasant, without being rolled-off. The best of these tubes retain a fine sense of "air" at the top, and the upper midrange is smooth and liquid. These tubes reproduce the human voice, especially female voices, with haunting realism."

 
I'm using a vintage Copland CTA 504, designed by Ole Møller, a Danish who used to work for Ortofon as an engineer before leaving to form the Copland company making tube amps and tube preamps. He was inspired by the sound of the Conrad Johnson tube amps. This amp uses 4 6550 in p-p. I'm using 4 vintage Tung Sol 6550s gray smooth plates with the 4 Mullards 12AX7A. This amp is not hard on the output tubes, the bias is only set at 45ma/tube for 50wpc.

 

[givemevinyl]

Forgive me for being indelicate, but, hey you, with the big head, do you find the HE-6 to clamp too much?  I'm enjoying the sound, but after 10-15 minutes I have to take them off my head.  There's just too much pressure under my ears and on my cheeks.  I know I can bend the headband, but I'm not really sure how much pressure I should apply (especially since I may have to return them).

 

[conquerator2]

just bend them. the headband is very flecible. You can almost flaten it to a 180 angle. I woulld just bend it until I feel content, just don't wpply herculran force
Helps to loosen the grip

 

[ZorgDK]

I've bend the headband outward a lot, the clamp was insane before. 

 

[Dr. Roberts]

Quote:

 
I'm using a vintage Copland CTA 504, designed by Ole Møller, a Danish who used to work for Ortofon as an engineer before leaving to form the Copland company making tube amps and tube preamps. He was inspired by the sound of the Conrad Johnson tube amps.

 
I did some research on this amp since it uses valves which can be rolled with NOS varieties and still put out 50 watts. I read the sound that the amp produces described as, "the presentation is somewhat romantic, warm and liquid," which is right up my alley since that is the sound presentation that I prefer. I even found one for sale in Singapore.
 
The problem for me however, is that it is not self-biasing. I think an owner of this amp needs to have some expertise in this regard, which you obviously possess.
 
I'm sure you have a lot of fun listening to the 6 with it. Perhaps you know that I am running the 6 from the taps of a BAT VK-55SE which is a splendid amp in its own right but does not have the flexibility that the Copland does with tube choices.
 
Happy Listening

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

 
I did some research on this amp since it uses valves which can be rolled with NOS varieties and still put out 50 watts. I read the sound that the amp produces described as, "the presentation is somewhat romantic, warm and liquid," which is right up my alley since that is the sound presentation that I prefer. I even found one for sale in Singapore.
 
The problem for me however, is that it is not self-biasing. I think an owner of this amp needs to have some expertise in this regard, which you obviously possess.
 
I'm sure you have a lot of fun listening to the 6 with it. Perhaps you know that I am running the 6 from the taps of a BAT VK-55SE which is a splendid amp in its own right but does not have the flexibility that the Copland does with tube choices.
 
Happy Listening

 
Yes it is not self-biasing and I had to figure it out because there was no user manual and all the previous owner sent me was a picture of the trimpot with a drawing of where the setting should be because he didn't know either (you can still find his plea for assistance in agon). Anyway, I used the manual for the CTA 505 which says set it at 45mv across the test resistor. When I set it at 45mv the sound was thin so I knew it was wrong. Then I measured the test resistor on the 504, it was 10 ohms, the 505 was 1 ohm. That was it, I had to set it 450mv instead of 45mv.

 

[Dr. Roberts]

Quote:

 
Yes it is not self-biasing and I had to figure it out because there was no user manual and all the previous owner sent me was a picture of the trimpot with a drawing of where the setting should be because he didn't know either (you can still find his plea for assistance in agon). Anyway, I used the manual for the CTA 505 which says set it at 45mv across the test resistor. When I set it at 45mv the sound was thin so I knew it was wrong. Then I measured the test resistor on the 504, it was 10 ohms, the 505 was 1 ohm. That was it, I had to set it 450mv instead of 45mv.

 
So it was trial and error for you. I read the same plea for help on Audiogon as you did. Apparently you figured it out to your satisfaction since I am presuming the Copland is your favorite amp to listen to the 6 with.
 
Actually, I'm kind of envious since it is difficult to find a new production amplifier that pushes out 50 watts and can be completely rolled with NOS valves.
 
I think I did read in the specs however that the Copland uses negative feedback which I have always read as being a negative.

 

[Cante Ista]

@ Dr Roberts and wuwhere
 
this is a bit off topic, but are there sonic benefits to having non self biasing amp. Makes you wonder why all designers dont make them that way. much obliged for your insights.

 

[Dr. Roberts]

Quote:

@ Dr Roberts and wuwhere
 
this is a bit off topic, but are there sonic benefits to having non self biasing amp. Makes you wonder why all designers dont make them that way. much obliged for your insights.

 
Sorry Cante Ista, I have never listened to a non self-biasing design but I'm sure wuwhere would agree the auto-biasing feature is a heckuva lot more convenient.

 

[Happy Camper]

Sorry Cante Ista, I have never listened to a non self-biasing design but I'm sure wuwhere would agree the auto-biasing feature is a heckuva lot more convenient.

It's a geek thing. Having the voltages within .01 % of each other makes ya feel warm and fuzzy. I used a GTA SE40 and had to bias it after rolling new tubes.

 

[Dr. Roberts]

Quote:

It's a geek thing. Having the voltages within .01 % of each other makes ya feel warm and fuzzy. I used a GTA SE40 and had to bias it after rolling new tubes.

 
HC, if I am understanding you correctly, manually biasing is superior to the auto-biasing circuitry currently in the marketplace. Thus, not only providing the listener with a superior experience, but with the added comfort of that much sought after "warm and fuzzy" feeling.