[Silent One]

Quote:

 
That is really just DAC > Sansui, the Woo isn't relevant.

 
In my view the Woo is relevant because the Sansui's amp is not in the picture, only its preamp; headphone jack. I stand to be corrected, as I figure out what direction I both want to go in and need to go in. Sometimes, these are two 

 different things. Better to plan before any $$$ changes hands.

 

[gjc11028]

Quote:

The problem using a tube amp of 8W is you need the HE-adapter or the like to avoid destroying your power amp. With a solid state amp you can plug the HE-6 in and it will take whatever juice it has. With tube amps the resistor will get most of it, not the headphone. This means you need a quite powerful tube amp while lower wattage SS amps will do because they don't need the resistor.

This makes sense, and cannot quibble with the logic. But when i listen I find that fairly low-wattage tube amps (albeit with good transformers) though the HE adapter perform pretty close to the 150 watt hybrid amp i also use. there is a little more punch with the hybrid but the tube amps do not sound meek in any way, nor do they fall apart with complex music .  Never get close to half-way on preamp volume with the tube amps and there is plenty in reserve when the music gets complicated.   I enjoy being able to switch back and forth.  
 
Still, because this is a hobby and it is hard not to fiddle with things, I am experimenting with getting the resistors out of the way except when needed.  Got a new adapter that lets you switch in or out parallel resistor for a speaker amp and also switch on or off series resistors to tune the sound a bit. Just got it so have not compared seriously to the HE adapter.  picture here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/17843311@N00/9228500435/

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

Spoiler: Warning%3A%20Spoiler!

 
This makes sense, and cannot quibble with the logic. But when i listen I find that fairly low-wattage tube amps (albeit with good transformers) though the HE adapter perform pretty close to the 150 watt hybrid amp i also use. there is a little more punch with the hybrid but the tube amps do not sound meek in any way, nor do they fall apart with complex music .  Never get close to half-way on preamp volume with the tube amps and there is plenty in reserve when the music gets complicated.   I enjoy being able to switch back and forth.  
 
Still, because this is a hobby and it is hard not to fiddle with things, I am experimenting with getting the resistors out of the way except when needed.  Got a new adapter that lets you switch in or out parallel resistor for a speaker amp and also switch on or off series resistors to tune the sound a bit. Just got it so have not compared seriously to the HE adapter.  picture here:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/17843311@N00/9228500435/
 

 

 
Looking forward to hearing your impressions. Who makes the adapter and what's retail, if I may ask?

 

[khaine1711]

In my view the Woo is relevant because the Sansui's amp is not in the picture, only its preamp; headphone jack. I stand to be corrected, as I figure out what direction I both want to go in and need to go in. Sometimes, these are two 

 different things. Better to plan before any $$$ changes hands.

The HP jack tap power directly from the speaker out though; so even if you connect the Sansui pre to a 700W Icepower thingy, or a cmoy; it's the same

If you use the Sansui pre to drive the WA5, then use the he6 on the WA5 speaker post- then it's relevant.

 

[Silent One]

 Now moar clear, with 33% more understanding... thanks!

 

[gjc11028]

Looking forward to hearing your impressions. Who makes the adapter and what's retail, if I may ask?

Gilbert young of blue circle audio built it. I asked if he would consider building one and he said yes. It was about 300 or so. Not sure if he just wanted to try doing it or if he would want to sell more, but he is very responsive to questions. Everything is built to order.

What is surprising me at first listen is that prefer having the series resistors in with the big 150 watt amp. There is no noise either way, but the music is more coherent and the base is better. Not what I expected.

 

[Silent One]

Quote:

Gilbert young of blue circle audio built it. I asked if he would consider building one and he said yes. It was about 300 or so. Not sure if he just wanted to try doing it or if he would want to sell more, but he is very responsive to questions. Everything is built to order.

What is surprising me at first listen is that prefer having the series resistors in with the big 150 watt amp. There is no noise either way, but the music is more coherent and the base is better. Not what I expected.

 
Thanks kindly for your timely reply. It allows me to go to bed in a few hours and dream. I blew up my system! Intentionally, I might

 add. I am now embarking on its reconstruction and my needs have changed once I decided to get with the HE-6. If you could PM me is contact that'd be great!

 

[czqdtc]

I have a pair of HE-6 on sale. They are really really high-end sounding headphone from my experience, but somehow I prefer the warmer muddier HE-500 for my music XD. That being said I have only my lyr to drive them though.
here's the link:
http://www.head-fi.org/t/670580/hifiman-he-6-price-drop
just send me a pm if anyone is interested.

 

[Opethian10]

Has anyone had a chance to try Project Ember with the HE-6?  At 1.5wpc I'm guessing it should be enough to properly drive them.  I'm considering putting my Project Horizon up for sale to help fund one.
 
Thanks!

 

[brunk]

Quote:

Has anyone had a chance to try Project Ember with the HE-6?  At 1.5wpc I'm guessing it should be enough to properly drive them.  I'm considering putting my Project Horizon up for sale to help fund one.
 
Thanks!

Specifications:

1. Solid state output stage
2. Non overall feedback - triode voltage gain stage
3. Power consumption: 5W continuous, 15W peak
4. Power supply: 48VDC (0.10A cont, 0.32A peak)
5. Input Resistance: 11 kO or 21 kO depending on gain setting
6. Input Sensitivity (6N23): 0.8V or 1.6V (dependent on gain setting and used tube)
7. Gain: 20- 26dB (selectable and dependent on tube)
8. Max Output voltage: 15.7Vrms at 300Ohm
9. Output Resistance: Selectable 0.1O, 35O or 120Ohm
10. Frequency Response: 3Hz – 65 KHz (-0.5dB) with 32Ohm load
11. Frequency Response: 1.5Hz – 190 KHz (-3dB) with 32Ohm load
12. Signal to Noise ratio: 92dBA (dependent on tube)
13. Crosstalk: -89dB (dependent on tube)
14. THD: > 0.010% (dependent on tube)
15. Suitable for: 16-600ohm Headphones

My only concern would be the power supply current, but I'm not adept enough to give a definitive answer. Hopefully someone else can help since i posted the specs.

 

[philo50]

Quote:

Has anyone had a chance to try Project Ember with the HE-6?  At 1.5wpc I'm guessing it should be enough to properly drive them.  I'm considering putting my Project Horizon up for sale to help fund one.
 
Thanks!

I don't believe 1.5 wpc will properly drive the HE-6. That will get them loud but you will be lacking in both range and detail. I have 2 amps, the Soloist(in my Conductor) at about that same 1.5 wpc and the EF-6 at 5 wpc. The differences are stark....the Soloist just is not powerful enough. Granted, they are both SS, but power is power. The EF-6 makes them sound terrific.

 

[LarsHP]

I have the Soloist, and find it VERY good with HE-6. However, I agree that the power supply has to be strong. As the Headfonia review says, it plays the HE-6 perfectly - even better than RSA Dark Star. In my book Soloist drives it without a hint of brightness. Max output in 50 Ohm is about 1.9 Watts (this number is derived after consulting Burson Audio and getting info about the upgrade in PSU after the initial production run sent to reviewers). That means about a max output of around 109 dB. As earlier stated, I measured the bass, mid and treble at 70dB and 101dB, and the Soloist kept up in the bass fully at 101dB (continuous power).

 

[Solude]

Quote:

I have 2 amps, the Soloist(in my Conductor) at about that same 1.5 wpc and the EF-6 at 5 wpc. The differences are stark....the Soloist just is not powerful enough.

 
Joke of course being that the measured power puts the Soloist ahead of the EF-6 by quite a bit.  ~320mW for the EF-6, ~1280mW for the Soloist, just saying.  The EF-6 might no go vertical at 4Vrms, but that is it's 1% distortion point while the Soloist doubles it at 8Vrms at the 1% mark.

 

[preproman]

Break that down a little bit more - it don't seem correct.

 

[philo50]

Quote:

 
Joke of course being that the measured power puts the Soloist ahead of the EF-6 by quite a bit.  ~320mW for the EF-6, ~1280mW for the Soloist, just saying.  The EF-6 might no go vertical at 4Vrms, but that is it's 1% distortion point while the Soloist doubles it at 8Vrms at the 1% mark.

are you suggesting that the Soloist drives the HE-6 better than the EF-6?