[Sarnia]

I'm looking for a new amp or amp/dac combo for my he1000. I would prefer something on the warmer side with good strong bass. 

What have people been happy with? Need to keep it under 2K.

Thanks

The Sony TA-ZH1ES fits that description perfectly if you can get it for under 2k. Love it with my He1000v2.

 

[Audio-Mark]

I'm looking for a new amp or amp/dac combo for my he1000. I would prefer something on the warmer side with good strong bass. 

What have people been happy with? Need to keep it under 2K.

Thanks

I'm very happy with my Violectric V280 (amp only), which I bought a few weeks ago. I'm using it with ny Chord Mojo (DAC function only), but I've planned to replace the Mojo in the near future.

 

[dannybgoode]

I'm looking for a new amp or amp/dac combo for my he1000. I would prefer something on the warmer side with good strong bass. 

What have people been happy with? Need to keep it under 2K.

Thanks

$ or £?

 

[dannybgoode]

Well my Trilogy 931 turned up todayand by god even cold it sounds incredible. Real weight and body to the notes and gives bass kicks a not too dissimilar punch that i felt from my Utopia's.

I can safely safe I am already utterly smitten by my HEK's and the 931 takes them to the next level.

I was listening to Leonard Cohen-You Want It Darker last night a the texture and timbre to his voice-the grit and gravel of his words were portrayed in a way I didn't event get with the Utopia. Just wow!

I usually try and avoid hyperbole, particularly when critiquing and reviewing but I'm genuinely blown away.

I of course appreciate, particularly at the summit, preferences are subjective but for me the HEK is *it*.

Now, dare I add an Yggy to the mix

 

[Sarnia]

Well my Trilogy 931 turned up todayand by god even cold it sounds incredible. Real weight and body to the notes and gives bass kicks a not too dissimilar punch that i felt from my Utopia's.

I can safely safe I am already utterly smitten by my HEK's and the 931 takes them to the next level.

I was listening to Leonard Cohen-You Want It Darker last night a the texture and timbre to his voice-the grit and gravel of his words were portrayed in a way I didn't event get with the Utopia. Just wow!

I usually try and avoid hyperbole, particularly when critiquing and reviewing but I'm genuinely blown away.

I of course appreciate, particularly at the summit, preferences are subjective but for me the HEK is *it*.

Now, dare I add an Yggy to the mix

 
I haven't heard the Utopias, but to be honest I've no desire to. The HEK are 'it' for me too.
 
The comfort is as good as it gets. I find them way more comfortable than the HD800S, my ears felt lost in them. I see people complaining about the build of them, but I think the build is great. It's functional I guess, but they seem very well put together and just work. Perfect clamp on my head, and I can hardly feel the weight. I had the Sony Z1Rs, which are all luxury leather etc, but the comfort of the HEK is on another level.
 
I even like the look of the grills, kind of industrial in a good way. The fact that I can see right through the drivers is kind of freaky, in a wow kind of way.
 
And the sound...just awesome. Great soundstage, so resolving, perfect bass (for my tastes), texture and I can listen to them for hours. I honestly struggle to imagine better at this point (famous last words I know).

 

[Todd R]

'Merican money
Guess i should clarify, a dac will be needed too. Maybe not right away as i can use my Mojo temporarily, but an all in one solution would be nice.

 

[Todd R]

I'm very happy with my Violectric V280 (amp only), which I bought a few weeks ago. I'm using it with ny Chord Mojo (DAC function only), but I've planned to replace the Mojo in the near future.

I tried the 200 last year and it was good, but had a very narrow soundstage. Returned it, but might try the new balanced model 280. Hopefully this one is better.

 

[doctorjazz]

Been very happy with HEK v1 and MicroZOTL2. Waiting on V2 and Mojo Audio ZOTL upgrades, will report back.

 

[Todd R]

Well my Trilogy 931 turned up todayand by god even cold it sounds incredible. Real weight and body to the notes and gives bass kicks a not too dissimilar punch that i felt from my Utopia's.

I can safely safe I am already utterly smitten by my HEK's and the 931 takes them to the next level.

I was listening to Leonard Cohen-You Want It Darker last night a the texture and timbre to his voice-the grit and gravel of his words were portrayed in a way I didn't event get with the Utopia. Just wow!

I usually try and avoid hyperbole, particularly when critiquing and reviewing but I'm genuinely blown away.

I of course appreciate, particularly at the summit, preferences are subjective but for me the HEK is *it*.

Now, dare I add an Yggy to the mix

Wonder if we can get them in the US?

 

[dannybgoode]

Wonder if we can get them in the US?

I believe you can. If you can't find a US distributor try highendheadphones.co.uk-I drove 400 odd miles round trip to demo the amp at their store, excellent shop.

Interesting topolgy-very simple. Fully discrete (no op amps) single ended class A solid state.

The designer also owns Isol-8 so knows a thing or two about clean power.

Bags of power and see mingle limitless reserves. Have a read if you're interested.

http://www.trilogyaudio.com/931.html

 

[sanjeewasam]

Well my Trilogy 931 turned up todayand by god even cold it sounds incredible. Real weight and body to the notes and gives bass kicks a not too dissimilar punch that i felt from my Utopia's.

I can safely safe I am already utterly smitten by my HEK's and the 931 takes them to the next level.

I was listening to Leonard Cohen-You Want It Darker last night a the texture and timbre to his voice-the grit and gravel of his words were portrayed in a way I didn't event get with the Utopia. Just wow!

I usually try and avoid hyperbole, particularly when critiquing and reviewing but I'm genuinely blown away.

I of course appreciate, particularly at the summit, preferences are subjective but for me the HEK is *it*.

Now, dare I add an Yggy to the mix

 
After reading this I searched for 931 and noted
Output Power
 800mW into 60 Ohms
 200mW into 300 Ohms
 
I thought HEK need more power to shine and people with Hugo (similar output rating) have commented is not enough or could do with more power
.
 
 
 
 

 

[john777]

I know probably posted this before but has anyone done a serious comparison between the various Pure silver Litz braided medium priced cable upgrades for the HEK 1000 V2 the likes of Lavricable, Moon, Norne, Toxic, Effect others?

Also, is there a pure silver XLR to 1/4 in single ended adapter that will not degrade SQ in any way??

An actual serious and well done comparison of the different pure silver litz cable upgrades from the various different makers would be extremely welcome. But, I wouldn't even know where to start and my health issues just got far more serious, as I nearly died last week

Anyone fancy a go at it?

You would have the gratitude of many, many people here. You might even get laid...

 

[john777]

I have now got a few hours on the HEK v2 and can give some initial impressions. Note I make my mind up very quickly usually on audio stuff - it either sounds right or not and I rarely change my mind (many years setting up sound systems etc).

And wow, I have finally found something that gives me what my old separates did. They were so musical.. Far from perfect but just has something that made everyone who heard it tap their feet and nod along to the music.

The thing I find odd about the Utopia (and I appreciate this is probably just me) is that when I am a/b'ing them, for the first couple of minutes they totally blow me away but as I stop concentrating so hard they fall back to being average. I feel I am forced to really concentrate on how special they are.

The HEK's allow me to just float with the music, drift away with their presentation of the music.

No they are not as fast but there's only a shade in it. No they are not as detailed but again imo no worse for it. No they are not nearly as dynamic but they don't try to be so don't suffer for it.

The HEK is undoubtedly more airy, more spacious and that for me is where they best the Utopia.

For the £1k saving for me I think I've decided but I have a couple more days to make my mind up.

For now though I have no desire to put the Utopia's back on.

I am realky glad I have had the chance to get them and they age undoubtedly one of the very best headphones out there, the absolute best on and areas but for how I listen to music, what I am looking for from a headphone the HEK take it I think.

Glad you like 'em... So do I. Almost as good as my Wharfedale IsoDynamics!

 

[john777]

I'm looking for a new amp or amp/dac combo for my he1000. I would prefer something on the warmer side with good strong bass. 

What have people been happy with? Need to keep it under 2K.

Thanks

Warmer side suggests Tubes... Tried Schiit products? I dug out my old Schiit Lyr to power my HE1000v2s whilst my dealer friend borrowed my Moon Nēo 430HAD and was blown away! Mind you, the 'rolled' tubes in it are rather expensive...

 

[dannybgoode]

After reading this I searched for 931 and noted
Output Power
 800mW into 60 Ohms

 200mW into 300 Ohms

I thought HEK need more power to shine and people with Hugo (similar output rating) have commented is not enough or could do with more power
.

Trust me-the 931 drives the HEK's extremely well.

Don't forget sometimes the headline figure is misleading because an amp needs a sufficiently good power supply to have current on reserve for swings in impedence and therefore load with changes in frequency.

Sometimes an amp with a seemingly high output struggles to deliver without distortion due to the power supply not having sufficient amppage to cope with sudden power swings and vice versa.

The 931 will drive house bricks and pillows I am pretty sure.

It's utterly effortless with no hint of distortion on the HEK.

Edit: bear in mind that's very nearly 1.6W into 32 ohm which the HEK is and this is where the power supply starts to matter. If the HEK (and this is for discussions sake-I don't have the impedence curve) dips to 20 ohms suddenly and briefly at certain frequencies there needs to be enough in the tank to supply well over 2W in power.

Clipping and distortion occur when the power supply simply can't provide this and the power supply in the 931 is one of the areas where significant work has been done.