[AbsoluteZero]

Quote:

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB-10.1/NFB10.1EN_Use.htm   $550 plus freight plus remote..650?
big tall soundstage u gonna get..clear, slightly warm side of neutral..a quality that made me sell off my LYR n LDMK4se tube amps.. v nice.

Whoopsie, I thought it was the "reference" series :
http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/Reference10/RE10EN.htm
 
Now I can see that going to my list then, thanks a bunch!

 
 
Quote:

Most of the time you won't know what you're missing until you have demoed/owned something better. Even if you have then it's all for the better - motivating yourself to save up for the big rig 

 
I would not worry about "do them justice". I see the whole matter as "What can buy me the best sound quality improvement with my current budget?" - and I'm still saying that a He-6 + a 200 bucks T-amp/Vintage receiver/Speaker amp will sound better than a He400 + a Burson Soloist or a V200; or any other amps for that matter. 

Couldn't not be much more true than this. I am currently looking for a future proof amp (although I'm sure this term never existed in headfi

).
 
Make sense, might change my mind and see what these speaker amps can do.
I always have the thought that if I bought a speaker amp then I'm afraid of wrongly handling them that can smoke my equipments.

 

[Silent One]

Tomorrow evening I'm going to inspect (visually only) my new amps. Tonight before bedtime, I am wondering if my F2a Sinhonia monoblocks will have enough to drive the HE-6 should I proceed with the HiFiMan's. 40 wpc @ 8 Ohms I believe, but still... no tellin'!
 
I have the G-22K waiting in the wings in case this experiment fails. But it would be nice to have a single pair of cans doin' work on three to four different amps. Judgement day finally arrives Mid August.

 

[Clemmaster]

Quote:

The audio-gd nfb-27 works very well for me too.
 
It's the same amp as the ref 10.32 with a Sabre DAC instead.

 
I find it too bright for my tastes, but yeah it drives them adequately (balanced, of course).
So do the SA-31 (single ended, of course²).
 
I want to try the Exposure 2010S integrated but I need banana plugs (no screw plug on the amp...).
Does anyone know if there exists banana for the tiny headphone cables (in my case the XLR->SE adapter that came with the HE-6).
 
Edit: I also ordered a Hifimediy T1 headphone edition board for my T-amp (the original T1 STA510 died on me, so the box and PSU are awaiting their new companion)

 

[LarsHP]

I should add, then, to my recommendation of Burson Soloist, that (as I have earlier underlined in this thread) I have a huge 50W class A speaker amp and also my Master-6 (7W in 50 Ohm) present, when I say the Soloist drives HE-6 very well.

Soloist is capable of playing powerful, thundering bass and orchestra tutti's never sound harsh. The max peak from a Soloist will be less from my two other amps, and even though I have tried for short periods to challenge it, I haven't heard any distortion in transients.

Also, please don't think any speaker amp will do a better job driving HE-6 because it has more power reserves. The HE-6 is a HIGHLY resolving and transparent 'phone. That's what makes it special, not how hard it is to drive. To benefit from these qualities, make sure the amp and DAC you plug it into are of similar quality. In other words: quality is more important than quantity with regards to the amp IMO.

 

[LarsHP]

Also be aware that no matter how big an amp you get, the HE-6 has a little more in the treble than neutral, just as HD800. This might make some people think they are underpowering it. Signs of underpowering is lean or thin bass, distortion in the peaks and/or not reaching the SPL you need.

Actually my HM-801 with Balanced amp drives it beautifully apart from not reaching earsplitting levels. The HM-801 DAC filter has a purposely made treble roll off and this just pairs exquisitely with HE-6.

 

[preproman]

Well, from my experience they're amps that will tame the treble better than others.  That may come down to synergy or what ever you want to call it.  However, on an amp that is under powering it.  The treble can get out of control thus will result in peaks at unwanted times.  I've heard this happen on a few amps and not happen with other amps.
 
I'm to glad to hear the Soloist works.  However, I would trust my HE-6s on but a few Headphone amps.  EF-6 and a Dynahi.  The GS-X mk2 does well and I could live with it, but the F1J just out shines it in every way.

 

[Clemmaster]

Glad to hear the EF-6 dois a decent job at taming the treble 

 

[gjc11028]

Quote:

Glad to hear the EF-6 dois a decent job at taming the treble 

I listened to an HE-6 with EF-6 at the capital audio fest this weekend. Might have been the source, but I was not at all impressed.  Just no life there.  The HE-500 at the Mytek stall a few feet away was so much better.  Did anyone else get a chance to hear them?  I was surprised.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

I listened to an HE-6 with EF-6 at the capital audio fest this weekend. Might have been the source, but I was not at all impressed.  Just no life there.  The HE-500 at the Mytek stall a few feet away was so much better.  Did anyone else get a chance to hear them?  I was surprised.

 
I was there and listened to the same two setups - I think the exact opposite.  I'll take the Metrum Octave mk2 / EF-6 any day over the Mytek.  We have different ears..

 

[AbsoluteZero]

Quote:

I should add, then, to my recommendation of Burson Soloist, that (as I have earlier underlined in this thread) I have a huge 50W class A speaker amp and also my Master-6 (7W in 50 Ohm) present, when I say the Soloist drives HE-6 very well.

Soloist is capable of playing powerful, thundering bass and orchestra tutti's never sound harsh. The max peak from a Soloist will be less from my two other amps, and even though I have tried for short periods to challenge it, I haven't heard any distortion in transients.

Also, please don't think any speaker amp will do a better job driving HE-6 because it has more power reserves. The HE-6 is a HIGHLY resolving and transparent 'phone. That's what makes it special, not how hard it is to drive. To benefit from these qualities, make sure the amp and DAC you plug it into are of similar quality. In other words: quality is more important than quantity with regards to the amp IMO.

 
The Soloist is one of the amp I could probably be able to demo along with the HE-6 so for me its worth giving a try.
Also thanks for the input, it seems I have to find a balance between power and the amp quality itself.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

I'm to glad to hear the Soloist works.  However, I would trust my HE-6s on but a few Headphone amps.  EF-6 and a Dynahi.  The GS-X mk2 does well and I could live with it, but the F1J just out shines it in every way.

 
Just to toss out my $.02 on the soloist, when I had the pairing, I thought they did OK, but thought the amp did hinder the HE-6. I believe Skylab said that the soloist did not drive the HE-6 well at all, and then later during a full review said the Soloist did great. 
 
When I had the pair the HE-6 got very little time with the Soloist. I thought the bass wasn't impactful, and the treble was still hot and sibilant. 

 

[citadel]

Quote:

 
I find it too bright for my tastes, but yeah it drives them adequately (balanced, of course).
So do the SA-31 (single ended, of course²).

 
 
Interesting. In your opinion, would this be a general Sabre es 9018 DAC property (in comparison to say the PCM1704UKs and others)? Or would it be just that particular pairng?
 
Also, are you speaking only for the HE6 or all headphones in general?

 

[khaine1711]

The dac chip by itself does not have any sound. I could point you to a few "mellow" sounding Sabre dacs, or "not quite mellow sounding" PCM1704UK dacs too =p.

 

[citadel]

Quote:

The dac chip by itself does not have any sound. I could point you to a few "mellow" sounding Sabre dacs, or "not quite mellow sounding" PCM1704UK dacs too =p.

The reason why I ask is because I thought he was talking specifically about the nfb-27 (and not the ref. 10.32, which has the same amp component).
 
So I wondered if it was the DAC implementation...

 

[khaine1711]

Quote:

The reason why I ask is because I thought he was talking specifically about the nfb-27 (and not the ref. 10.32, which has the same amp component).
 
So I wondered if it was the DAC implementation...

Clem never had a 10.32, he had the 5.32. Pretty sure it's the amp that is not to his liking, since he sold his favorite Metrum Quad and kept the Nfb 27. He had a rough ride with the Nfb 27 though it still comes out on top 

 
Also Kingwa's dacs are anything but bright.