Quote: Probabl y the most important aspect of a headphone amp is no noise,  it is adding severe IMD and degredation to the sound even if you think it is masks by the volume of the music.  Perfect example of why headphone amps have regulated power supplies and are only suitable for the...

Quote:   But I'm a tube guy.   Love my HE-500's,  very intrigued by the HE-6's but a good tube amp that can power them seems impossible.  I have a Lyr stashed away and like it but its not the same as a full tube amp being a hybrid. 

Quote: Do you think the HE-6 is worth the headaches (hi powered amp) over the HE-500 ?

All I'm saying is an EL34 SET with good iron can be an absolutely top choice for a tube headphone amp.  This amp has a whole lot of potential.  I wouldn't say its a bottom feeder,  maybe with the tiny edcors and the 12ax7 but those things are upgradeable. I guess I'm not an OTL fan and my bias...

Quote:   No I understand what you are saying has nothing to do with the HE-6,  not all electraprint transformers for 300b's are like those undersized 5k:16 50ma in the BA.  ElectraPrint can make a good transformer for a 300B/2A3 amp you just get what you pay for.  You were saying Jack's...

Quote:   This is fantastic.  My only concerns are sceleratus's comments that there is some noise.  What makes a great headphone amp is a simple test.   Play music on your most sensitive/efficient headphones about as loud as you like.   Then play a "silence" tack which is basically...

Quote:   You can't expect bottom budget SE output transformers to beat an OTL like the Crack,  with good iron you could have a really nice SE amp that far exceeds the Crack.  Just something to consider if went this far.

Quote:   How much power is this estimated at,  could it handle 5W the HE-6's ?

Quote:   The best AudioGD's are actually those with their diamond output and those have about 40dB' of NFB.  The other ones actually have feedback too, current feedback. So they measure better than a true open loop analog stage.   As far as the MSB module DAC's I don't see how you...

Quote:   Unfortunately the HE-6 has been measured at a very low 77db/mW,  you can do the math but I don't think that leaves much headroom? I have seen no claims of any EC amp power into 50 ohms or any other DHT headphone amp for that matter..   The only SET that claims it can power...

Quote:   Main benefit I see is the ability to power HE-6's,  now that's just one headphone out of a thousands but the dam things have all us SET guys scratching our heads.

Parallel won't lower hiss ,  only series but that opens up other issues.

Does this amp have a black background?  Any buzz or hum with sensitive phones like Grados?  Did you have to use dropping resistors on the OPT secondary ?

Quote:     Its doesn't measure that great I guess because of the true discrete output stage with no feedback.  The USB input works but shows a 10k hz spike (could be my measurement technique.)  But sound wise it is better than the Audio-GD's (I never thought I would say that.)  The...

Quote: It's not an inefficiency, it is a flaw.  One of the few advantages that headphones have over speakers is the low amplification requirements.  Needing a hook up to a 100W "pioneer" receiver is no longer high end,  it is circuit city stuff, or 25 year old sears stuff.  A 100W speaker...