I use the Woo WA6 SE with the 6FD7 tubes. This amp is not optimal for the HE 6, but it does get plenty loud and sounds very good to me, even when compared to driving them directly from a speaker amp.

1. HE6 (by far my favorite) 2. LCD3F 3. HD800 4. AKG 712

Mine says 1 year as well.

No, this is a little powered device that essentially matches unbalanced to balanced signals for impedance and level. The equalizer is sensitive to that.

Hey, bringing a HiFiman HE- 400i tomorrow as well, in case you want to hear one of those. I had the 560 but got rid of it, I personally think the 400i is better.

Been listening to the 560 for a week now. Comparing them to the 800, LCD3, K712 & HE 500. Got about 100 hrs. on em so far. Really a great HP. A lot of fuss over the pads on previous posts, great thing is with the HFM HP pad swapping is a breeze. The new pads are (for me) sonically better than...

Hi, new owner of the X1 as well. So far very impressed, it needs a bit more burn in though. These will probably become my most used cans for EDM, i really enjoy my K712 as well bu the X1 just flat out beats it. Better mids, bass and soundstage.

I find it an excellent comination IMHO, drives it with authority. With a Sofia Princess and a couple of fat bottle 6FD7's (with some burn in) you wont regret it!

Thanks, I have the Sofia, and currently use the fat bottle 6FD7. I tried the stock 6EW7 and thought the soundstage a bit constrained and a narrow dynamic range. Perhaps more burn in is needed. I like the 6DR7 as well but prefer the FD7's.

It is probably buried in this thread somewhere, what tube combos would you recommend to the HD 800?

Quote: So i notice you also have the HD800, which do you prefer or is it based on music type?

Quote: For portable use the Headstage Arrow 4g is my go to amp. The Arrow drives the HE 500 with more authority than the amp in the DX 100 IMO, especially with bass extension.

I use a Headstage Arrow (DX100 DAP as source) to drive my HE-500. Works very well. Enough power to get pretty good dynamics.

I hope I find out what caused the right channel to fail after only a few days of operation. I am not sure I agree that I need to pay for return shipping on a warranty issue. But I am anxious to get it fixed for sure. It goes back tomorrow.

Man I am so bummed, took delivery of a new black WA 6 SE last Monday and have been loving it so far. So yesterday I attempted to do some tube rolling (6DR7 to the stock 6EW7 just for grins) and boom, right channel goes out. Swapped tubes back, checked source, nothing seems to work. Can't...

Anyone noticed how the HE 500 changes tone with temperature? This may be true for planars in general. I use my HE 500 as a portable when I travel for hotel use. Very relaxing after a hard day. I left it in a hot rental car unintentionally and boy did it sound muddy! Even after cooling off it...

New WA 6 SE in da house! Just arrived this morning, burning it in a bit at a time, ordered with the Sophia Princess rectifier and some 6DR7's to play with as well. Looking forward to some critical listening this weekend and comparisons with my Violectric V181 although not running balanced...

I have the XM5 variant and am not that happy with it. Mostly problems with the volume pot. Had it replaced once and it has become noisy once again. Sound quality is ok, nothing stellar. I like my Headstage Arrow quite a bit more.

In my experience the LCD3 extends down further and has more impact than the HE 500. Soundstage and imaging are better as well. But that is to be expected given the price difference. I wish the LCD3's were as comforable as the 500 though!

Sounds good to me either way.

Yeah, that was me, the office room is off the table at this point since the office is up for sub-lease. Still would love to have a meet somewhere here!

Absolutely. You can definitely tell the difference between SE output on either side vs. the balanced output using RCA unbalanced in. More power for sure.

I listen to similar groups as well and have a particular afinity for symphonic metal. IMO if you can afford them the LCD 3 is the best cans in the world for that. However, I would suggest the HiFiman HE 400 for sound and comfort. I just love the sound of planars. My HE 500 is sometimes too...

What worked really well for me was using a pair of pads from a broken set of Denon D2000 cans. Very soft pleather, slightly anged for better soundstage, and just the right size. Anyone esle try this yet?