[atistatic]

   
I read the little dot spec as throwing 5wpc. That is close to enough, if the amp can swing current/voltage rapidly and in large buckets (which some tubes amps seem to be able to do).
 
Never heard the Allnic with a HE6, but folks that have tell it does a fine job with 5wpc.
 
The WA5 with 8wpc does a great job with the HE6. Folks that have compared the WA5 with a thumping huge wattage solid state amp tell me that it gets 99% of the performance - just drops a sliver of the bass response.

You mean even the WA5 with 8WPC it gets just 99 of performance and dtops slightly of the bass response?

 

[TonyNewman]

  You mean even the WA5 with 8WPC it gets just 99 of performance and dtops slightly of the bass response?

 
The slight drop in bass response is the missing 1%.
 
Rather than me try and paraphrase the opinions of others, best thing is to read them for yourself - link to a post a little earlier in this thread:
 
Link.
 
EDIT - I come away from that email exchange with someone with experience of driving the HE6 from the WA5, and also from thumping speaker amps, is that you gain a small bass improvement from the extra megawatts. Other than that, the 8W of the WA5 does the job nicely, and you get the tube magic of the WA5 (great musicality). I'll take that trade anyday.
 
I have thought about hooking up the HE6 to the speaker taps on my 20W TRV845SE amp, but the WA5 does such a great job driving the HE6 that I struggle to find the motivation to do it.

 

[Rossliew]

  I have thought about hooking up the HE6 to the speaker taps on my 20W TRV845SE amp, but the WA5 does such a great job driving the HE6 that I struggle to find the motivation to do it.

Please try it anyways and let us all know the results

 

[atistatic]

   
The slight drop in bass response is the missing 1%.
 
Rather than me try and paraphrase the opinions of others, best thing is to read them for yourself - link to a post a little earlier in this thread:
 
Link.
 
EDIT - I come away from that email exchange with someone with experience of driving the HE6 from the WA5, and also from thumping speaker amps, is that you gain a small bass improvement from the extra megawatts. Other than that, the 8W of the WA5 does the job nicely, and you get the tube magic of the WA5 (great musicality). I'll take that trade anyday.
 
I have thought about hooking up the HE6 to the speaker taps on my 20W TRV845SE amp, but the WA5 does such a great job driving the HE6 that I struggle to find the motivation to do it.

So ... Dat mean that my little dot VI+ that deliver around 5wpc can't handle well then ? 
 
Cuz they have a lot VRMS too.
 

1. THD+N:
   1. 0.02% (2Vrms @ 1000Hz)
   2. 0.06% (10Vrms @ 1000Hz)
   3. 0.3% (20Vrms @ 1000Hz)

 

[TonyNewman]

  So ... Dat mean that my little dot VI+ that deliver around 5wpc can't handle well then ?
 
Cuz they have a lot VRMS too.
 

1. THD+N:
   1. 0.02% (2Vrms @ 1000Hz)
   2. 0.06% (10Vrms @ 1000Hz)
   3. 0.3% (20Vrms @ 1000Hz)

Perhaps. Best I can tell - and I am a rank amateur at this - it is more than just the raw wattage. The amp has to be able to swing current/voltage to feed the HE6 as well. The Allnic appears to do this. I know the WA5 does it. I have no clue how good the Little Dot might be at this.
 
The only way to be sure is to try it.
 
In my ignorance, I tend to look at the size of the transformers as a rough guide. On the WA5 and Allnic these are huge beasts - taking the weight of the amps into the "my spine just shattered" territory. Not so sure about the Little Dot.
 
I just don't know if the size of the transformers is even relevant to this - just a guess.
 
My TRV845 amp drives 88dB floorstanders with ease - only 20W, but it weighs close to 45kg (100lb). Lifting that person solo is NOT fun.

 

[musicinmymind]

2.0Vrms would be how much output into an 300 ohms headphone. Is it 20 mW into 300 ohms?
 
nothing to do with HE-6, just for my understanding.

 

[Silent One]

   
Think about how sad it is when everyone walked by my table at the big LA meet months ago when I hauled my whole setup including my 90lb Krell. Because of space and weight, I had to put the Krell underneath the table hidden from plain sight.
 
Actually, practically no one came into that small room that a couple of us were in. We had easily the best setups in the whole meet. Most of us brought more gear than vendors too! Yet not many got the chance to listen to the best HE-6 and HD800 rigs.
 
I'm still waiting on Jude to write something about his impressions on my rig.

+1
Other commits prevented me from meeting you and your fab setup. Still wanna hear it - a mini-mini meet, perhaps. Sadly, my own setups have been and will be mothballed for a handful of months. 

 

[shayson1357]

did I just......no way 

 ..... I looked up the littledot MKIV instead if MKVI 

 which gave me :
 

1. Power Output:
2. 500 mW @ 300/600 ohm
3. 300 mW @ 120 ohm
4. 100 mW @ 32 ohm

that's where I got my "50 times more power" figure 

the MKVI should do well with the he-6, but in my opinion you'd be better off with a speaker amp(especially at the MKVI's price) since they "typically" offer better value overall (and a beefier power supply).

 

[Xenophon]

  2.0Vrms would be how much output into an 300 ohms headphone. Is it 20 mW into 300 ohms?
 
nothing to do with HE-6, just for my understanding.

Vrms is already the DC equivalent approximation of  AC voltage.  If you mean peak to peak voltage an approximation would be 2* sqrt(2)= +-2.82 V.
 
With 2 V DC or rms, into a purely resistive load, power would be P=V^2/R or here 4/300 or 13 mW.  But in practice this type of calculation is only useful as a very rough approximation.

 

[Timestretch]

Hi guys, what do you think of the Crown D75A powering the HE-6?  It's a studio power amplifier, and it has a headphone jack that apparently has no extra resistors to what the speakers would get. 
  
http://www.crownaudio.com/media/pdf/amps/125243.pdf  
  
Some notes from the manual:
 
WARNING: HEADPHONE JACK
SUPPLIES FULL OUTPUT POWER AND
MAY DAMAGE HEADPHONES OR
CAUSE HEARING DAMAGE.
 
1 kHz with 0.1% THD
4 ohms         55W
8 ohms         40W
16 ohms       25W     
  
Signal to Noise Ratio (below rated power, 20 Hz to 20 kHz) 106 dB unweighted
Damping Factor: DC to 400 Hz > 400
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) at 1 watt, from 20 Hz to 20 kHz < 0.05%  
  
  
I don't know anything about electricity but from fiddling with numbers at http://www.rapidtables.com/calc/electric/watt-volt-amp-calculator.htm I think the D75A would put somewhere between 4.4 and 8 watts into a 50 ohm load?   
  
Reason I ask is I have one with a damaged volume pot or something like that, that I left at my dad's house a while back. It might be worth professionally fixing it up and trying it out with a cool headphone.   
  
My only experience is with it as a power amplifier for speakers, and I thought it had a very clean, pure, flavorless tone to it. Studio stuff all seems that way, and that's cool for some, not for others I guess. 

 

[Xenophon]

By the numbers, it 'll work to drive them provided the background is quiet.  The problem is in your description of the defect:  'the pot or something'.  Finding out what this 'or something' is and fixing it could cost a pretty penny.  Before going down the repair route, check how much functional used ones are.  Or get a vintage receiver, those typically also provide full power out via the headphone jack.  

 

[Timestretch]

http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB6/NFB6EN.htm  
  
Just so I understand -- could I unplug the 1/8th inch plug from the end of the HE-6 cable, and then plug the XLR connector part of the cable straight into the "balanced" output of an amp like the NFB6 without needing any special "balanced" cable or other adapter?

 

[grokit]

  http://www.audio-gd.com/Pro/Headphoneamp/NFB6/NFB6EN.htm  
  
Just so I understand -- could I unplug the 1/8th inch plug from the end of the HE-6 cable, and then plug the XLR connector part of the cable straight into the "balanced" output of an amp like the NFB6 without needing any special "balanced" cable or other adapter?

Sounds about right, except the standard he6 se adapter is 1/4" not 1/8".

 

[Timestretch]

 
Sounds about right, except the standard he6 se adapter is 1/4" not 1/8".

  
  
Ah yes - I knew that. Sorry - mistake of wrong words used on my part. It is certainly the larger plug.  
  
  
Also:  
  
I've heard the HE-6 from a Schiit Lyr for a while in the past, and thought it was alright. Does anyone with experience think that the Audio-GD NFB-6 would sound superior to the Lyr? It seems really attractive based on specs, and doesn't use tubes. 

 

[shayson1357]

"I've heard the HE-6 from a Schiit Lyr for a while in the past, and thought it was alright. " with what DAC and what source material using what cables and with or without power conditioning...etc...etc.. lots of links in the audio chain other than the cans and the amp ?

"It seems really attractive based on specs" BIG mistake.

" and doesn't use tubes ".... a bad thing for many