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Aftermarket cables for the HE-6/ HE-500 etc.
Sep 1, 2011 at 4:51 PM Post #61 of 186
Just wanted to add my two cents re: the HE-6 cable from Q-Audio.
 
Sonically, I find it to be very smooth and transparent. Ergonomically, it's just a dream to use. And aesthetically, I think it looks gorgeous - in an impeccably understated way.
 
Moreover, Steve at Q-Audio has a first class approach to customer service and is a pleasure to do business with.
 
Frankly, I couldn't be any happier.
 
 
 
(Other than being a recent customer, I have no connection or affiliation with Q-Audio or Steve.)   
 
Sep 1, 2011 at 6:13 PM Post #62 of 186

Quote:
wuwhere said:
So you are not using the speaker out of your amp for your HE-6. The headphone out may not have enough power to drive the HE-6. Perhaps you should use the speaker out instead of the headphone out.
 
You can use the speaker out for your HE-6 and the hp out for your LCD.
Click to expand...


The XLR headphone jack on that amp may be the same power as the speaker tap, with the resistors already inline for impedance correction? Anyways if you try the speaker taps directly be careful, protecting tube amps is the main reason for using those resistors.
 
Sep 2, 2011 at 7:21 AM Post #64 of 186
@grokit
 
Yes, XLR headphone jack on my amp has the same power as the speaker tap (confirmed by manufacturer).
 
@Wuwhere
 
My amp has auto bias.
 
@paultel 2009
 
Could you please give more details according to my post #59?
 
 
Thanks for everyone's opinions.
 
Sep 2, 2011 at 12:37 PM Post #65 of 186
 
Quote:
chirawatf said:
@paultel 2009
 
Could you please give more details according to my post #59?
 
 
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Well yes and no 
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First off, I'm no where near as qualified as many other contributors at describing sonic differences.
 
Also, I haven't actually done any direct A/B testing so my comments as they relate to the stock cable are based entirely on memory.
 
Also, also, I do not look for (or indeed expect) after-market cables to significantly alter the sonic characteristics of a given set of headphones. Rather, I expect them to "reinforce" or "underscore" the sonic signature that I am already getting. It's a sort of... "more of the same" kind of thing. Other members here refer to the last 5 percent, or the icing on the cake.
 
Caveats out of the way. What I will subscribe to the Q-Audio cable is: absolutely no loss of detail to treble-mid-bass, no discernible change in terms of frequency response and tonal balance, and no loss of extension at either end. Perceived gains include: slightly improved openness and transparency, a "smoother" sound and a greater sense of control. Probably more soundstage depth, but about the same width. The area which I feel most comfortable being definite about is sibilance. The Q-Audio cable (for me, at least) produces noticeably less sibilance than stock from recordings and/or passages which I find suffer from this problem.
 
I hope that in some ways helps. But at the end of the day, I tend to judge a replacement cable as an overall package. Which, for me, most definitely includes the "look", "feel" and "usability" of the thing.            
 
 
Sep 4, 2011 at 11:41 PM Post #69 of 186
Sep 5, 2011 at 1:52 AM Post #74 of 186
@ Baird GoW and wuwhere
 
Regarding of sibilace, sometime I hear too much ss zz from female singer's voice that can fatigue my ears for example First of May/ Olivia Ong, I believe/Susan Wong.
 
From my experience the cause of sibilance in my system are...
- Bad record, I hardly hear sibilance if the source is audiophile record, Bluray concert.
- Interconnect both digital cable (USB cable) and analog cable (RCA, headphone cable). I think it cause from surrouding interference waves that lead to distortion of audio signal.  The better design cable, the lesser chance to have sound distortion.  The stock He6 cable has some distortion at upper mid and treble region, then I hope Q-audio cable can reduce this distortion. (Let's see later after I get Q-audio cable)
- Headphone design, the more transparency, detail headphone the more chance to have sibilance of singer's voice.
- Source, I use computer which has a lot of noise pollution to audiosignal (Wireworld Starlight 5.2 USB cable, Van Den Hule the Second can improof this problem).
- Underpower amplifier (my minute el34pushpull has enough power should have no this problem).
 
These are from my own experience, may be i'm wrong...please advise.
 
 
Sep 5, 2011 at 2:32 AM Post #75 of 186
- A low quality recording/low bit rate can cause sibilance. That is not a fault in your system. I have a couple of songs I downloaded that are like that.
- I'm not streaming from my computer. All of my music files are in an external hard drive accessed by my universal player Opp 95 through a SATA cable. No USB to SPDIF conversion, I don't have to deal with jitter and other problems with that conversion.
- I've never heard of cable distortion.
 
Its hard to say where the problem lies.
 
By the way, your amp has Russian tubes 6N1P, you may want to roll them with western tubes.
 
 
 
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