[SilverEars]

I used to have a Lyr1 and currently have a Lyr3-multibit. Not impressed with either of them for the HE-6. It gets loud, but sonically doesn't do it for me. I think I preferred the Asgard to it honestly in terms of sonic matching. Currently my Lyr powers a modded T50rp.

One of the worst I've heard was THX789. It just sounded terrible. It has several Watts, but number of watts doesn't mean the HE-6 will sound right out of it. Supposedly, is measured with hardly any distortion that people calls it "wire with gain," but it just sounds bad that I could care less about it's measurements. Well, if "wire with gain" sounds like that, then "wire with gain" isn't what I'm looking for.

Well, it can get worse than THX789. lol. You can try to drive it out of a portable amp.

 

[paradoxper]

Well, it can get worse than THX789. lol. You can try to drive it out of a portable amp.

Are you positively sure the portable amp isn't better than the THX789.

 

[Articnoise]

One of the worst I've heard was THX789. It just sounded terrible. It has several Watts, but number of watts doesn't mean the HE-6 will sound right out of it. Supposedly, is measured with hardly any distortion that people calls it "wire with gain," but it just sounds bad that I could care less about it's measurements. Well, if "wire with gain" sounds like that, then "wire with gain" isn't what I'm looking for.

Well, it can get worse than THX789. lol. You can try to drive it out of a portable amp.

I don’t know why so many people have such a problem grasping it. Many thousands of posts have been written to explain it, but in wain. The exact same questions and debate about how many watts the amp needs to have to sound good or about measured SPL is constantly repeated day in and day out on Head-fi.

 

[JoeDoe]

Congrats on the new (to you) headphones.
I predict that the Vidar will be quite an upgrade from your Lyr 3, if it's similar in power to the Lyr 1.
However, the Aegir might be a better match for the HE-6's 'sweet spot'.

Took hold of the needed cable/adapter earlier in the week to test out of Vidar.

Call me a believer!

Definitely getting a much more 3D and rich sound than I did franking the Lyr 3. Gotta great deal on the Vidar and feel good recommending it to anyone looking for a speaker amp for their HE6. Not a vintage piece, and not a $$$$ one, but definitely holds it down for much less than a grand!

 

[SilverEars]

That's funny that you mention that, because after trying the HE-6 OG with my Yamaha 55 watt receiver from the 1990's I was able to sell my old Marantz that I'd previously used to drive the HE-6, because the Marantz needed to be re-capped. Then I tried the HE-6 with my Denon AVR-1804 receiver from 2004 and it was so good that I was able to sell the Yamaha.

Guys, can we tell which receiver/integrated/stereo amp will do by brand?

If so, what brands are better than what other brands?

Is there differences between integrated, stereo, and receiver in terms of amping quality?

How to make the best educated guesses on what to choose with these types of amp? Go with more recent for fresh caps?

I've been listening with Yggy A2 DAC as source, and would recommend for imaging. However, Yggy has no preamp. So, I'd have to go with volume control. I hate messing with preamps.

I've come to realization that HE6 has realistic and transparent timbre.

 

[koudairanger]

What do you guys use for the 3.5mm plugs for HE6SE cable?
I decide to build a cable for it.

 

[sennfan83261]

What do you guys use for the 3.5mm plugs for HE6SE cable?
I decide to build a cable for it.

https://www.redco.com/Rean-Neutrik-NYS226BG-Mono-3.5mm-Mini-Blk-Gold.html

 

[koudairanger]

https://www.redco.com/Rean-Neutrik-NYS226BG-Mono-3.5mm-Mini-Blk-Gold.html

Oh great thanks!

 

[Armaegis]

One of the worst I've heard was THX789. It just sounded terrible. It has several Watts, but number of watts doesn't mean the HE-6 will sound right out of it. Supposedly, is measured with hardly any distortion that people calls it "wire with gain," but it just sounds bad that I could care less about it's measurements. Well, if "wire with gain" sounds like that, then "wire with gain" isn't what I'm looking for.

Well, it can get worse than THX789. lol. You can try to drive it out of a portable amp.

And I'm one of those nutjobs with the Benchmark AHB2 (as monoblocks nonetheless) driving my HE-6...

 

[Oregonian]

Guys, can we tell which receiver/integrated/stereo amp will do by brand?

If so, what brands are better than what other brands?

Is there differences between integrated, stereo, and receiver in terms of amping quality?

How to make the best educated guesses on what to choose with these types of amp? Go with more recent for fresh caps?

I've been listening with Yggy A2 DAC as source, and would recommend for imaging. However, Yggy has no preamp. So, I'd have to go with volume control. I hate messing with preamps.

I've come to realization that HE6 has realistic and transparent timbre.

I'm fortunate in that my main system that drives my current HE-6SE (and used it with my original HE-6) has a preamp and a power amp separate setup (Pioneer Spec 1 preamp and Spec 2 amp) but seems you'd prefer no preamp. Even with driving the HE-6SE from another integrated amp (Pioneer SA-8800) with no preamp there was ample adjustment on the volume knob but I prefer the preamp option.

As far as brands go................I'm a Pioneer fan but also have a Kenwood, Sansui, Fisher and Marantz receiver. All do a stellar job driving the HE-6 family.

 

[SilverEars]

Ok, so I'm currently driving these out of NAD 316BEE speaker taps, and I can't say it's the best sounding I've heard, but not bad. I think this amp will of course beat any headphone amp claiming to be able to drive an HE-6, except the Bryston BHA-1. I don't think this amp is as good of a timbre or detailed as the BHA-1, but I can tell a difference with it being driven with much greater power than BHA-1. The soundstage is different, it sounds much more expansive, but imaging is still good on the BHA-1 (which I think it's due to better amping quality). Also, sounds more effortless as well. Impact is at good level, and as tight as HE-6 bass should be, and I think the extra power causes the bass response to be seem effortless and quicker with more heft.

For some reason 316BEE sounds slightly rolled off in the highs, which is a good thing for more relaxed listening, but the high-hat shimmer is lost a bit. Not great with separation and for busy passages. And I think the Yggy A2 helps in this regard. IMO, Yggy A2 is a good DAC for the HE-6. It's not bright, and bass is a bit elevated with good sub-bass, which helps. The 316BEE's resolution isn't so good, and sounds seemed abit smoothed out despite Yggy being fed to it. Yggy is suppose to have good mids defintion, which I'm not getting out of this amp.

Personally, I think something like BHA-1 with speaker level power output would sound good. With more expansive sound stage, and with it's vivid imaging and realistic timbre.

Takeaway from this experience is that: If you provide HE-6 lots of power, at minimum you will get more expansive sound stage and better bass response (effortless and better impact). And then the quality amp adds improvements for other aspects as well.

 

[Happy Camper]

Ok, so I'm currently driving these out of NAD 316BEE speaker taps, and I can't say it's the best sounding I've heard, but not bad. I think this amp will of course beat any headphone amp claiming to be able to drive an HE-6, except the Bryston BHA-1. I don't think this amp is as good of a timbre or detailed as the BHA-1, but I can tell a difference with it being driven with much greater power than BHA-1. The soundstage is different, it sounds much more expansive, but imaging is still good on the BHA-1 (which I think it's due to better amping quality). Also, sounds more effortless as well. Impact is at good level, and as tight as HE-6 bass should be, and I think the extra power causes the bass response to be seem effortless and quicker with more heft.

For some reason 316BEE sounds slightly rolled off in the highs, which is a good thing for more relaxed listening, but the high-hat shimmer is lost a bit. Not great with separation and for busy passages. And I think the Yggy A2 helps in this regard. IMO, Yggy A2 is a good DAC for the HE-6. It's not bright, and bass is a bit elevated with good sub-bass, which helps. The 316BEE's resolution isn't so good, and sounds seemed abit smoothed out despite Yggy being fed to it. Yggy is suppose to have good mids defintion, which I'm not getting out of this amp.

Personally, I think something like BHA-1 with speaker level power output would sound good. With more expansive sound stage, and with it's vivid imaging and realistic timbre.

Takeaway from this experience is that: If you provide HE-6 lots of power, at minimum you will get more expansive sound stage and better bass response (effortless and better impact). And then the quality amp adds improvements for other aspects as well.

Agree with your assessment of the NAD sound as I started with a home receiver. That high does get tamed without losing the shimmer as you go up. https://www.audibleelegance.com/ Mark let us bring the 6s in to try out amps a decade ago. We used a Wavelength Brick fed from laptop. The day started with a Marantz receiver, NAD receiver, PrimaLuna Prologue, Mac tube 275w amp and a Simaudio lower end amp and the Moon I600. The end was the "you got to hear this" moment. I lost any semblance of an itch hearing that. Can't buy one myself but the 6s sounded like a speaker. Mark suggested a Naim but we ran out of time. That was a fun day.

 

[SilverEars]

Agree with your assessment of the NAD sound as I started with a home receiver. That high does get tamed without losing the shimmer as you go up. https://www.audibleelegance.com/ Mark let us bring the 6s in to try out amps a decade ago. We used a Wavelength Brick fed from laptop. The day started with a Marantz receiver, NAD receiver, PrimaLuna Prologue, Mac tube 275w amp and a Simaudio lower end amp and the Moon I600. The end was the "you got to hear this" moment. I lost any semblance of an itch hearing that. Can't buy one myself but the 6s sounded like a speaker. Mark suggested a Naim but we ran out of time. That was a fun day.

That sounds fun. You know you are an audiophile if your idea of a good time is comparing DACs and amps. lol Our idea of potluck is bring your own amp to compare them. lol

I will be getting an ADCOM GFA-545 pure class-A this time. Stay tuned... Annoying thing with this amp is no integrated pre-amp.

 

[SilverEars]

Ok, so I'm listening to the HE-6 out of the Emotiva BasX a-100. I notice immediately the narrower sound stage, at least compared to BHA-1 OR NAD 316BEE. So, I spoke too soon, more wattage doesn't at minimum expand the sound stage. As far as clarity and cleanliness of the the sound, a100 does a good job. Sounds are distanct and well separated, and does do this better than the NAD. However, NAD does better in expanding the image, and BHA-1 does better in image depth and timbre out of all all three.

So, BasX does an admirable job, and I prefer it over the 316BEE due to sounding more detailed, and modifying what I said earlier, I would say the extra power causes sound to be at minimum effortless and bass being able to thump really fast, and I think bass is the most impressive part of adding more power. Sound stage and all that depends on the amp it seems.

BHA-1 would be my pick for listening to jazz due to it's high imaging capability and the large sound stage and depth. There is an area BasX fall short. The plucking of double bass or the sound of metal clanking doesn't have that depth to the sound as with the BHA-1, but the sound does seem to be better detailed than the NAD 316BEE. Because I find that HE-6 one of the most capable in terms of spatial imaging, particularly with live instrumental such as jazz. In my experience, jazz tracks are good test for good spatial imaging and depth.

I think a good imaging amp can cause sound perception to be really distanced out, and this sound to have much dimensionality to it. That is what I'm looking for. Good imaging like that with effortless thumping bass.

I think the bass sound great with the BasX if tracks with bass are used, but just that imaging realism isn't there to the level of BHA-1. It does seem to be a good pick for the price. I would recommend the BasX at it's price to drive the HE-6, if anybody was limited to such price point.

 

[510198]

Ok, so I'm listening to the HE-6 out of the Emotiva BasX a-100. I notice immediately the narrower sound stage, at least compared to BHA-1 OR NAD 316BEE. So, I spoke too soon, more wattage doesn't at minimum expand the sound stage. As far as clarity and cleanliness of the the sound, a100 does a good job. Sounds are distanct and well separated, and does do this better than the NAD. However, NAD does better in expanding the image, and BHA-1 does better in image depth and timbre out of all all three.

So, BasX does an admirable job, and I prefer it over the 316BEE due to sounding more detailed, and modifying what I said earlier, I would say the extra power causes sound to be at minimum effortless and bass being able to thump really fast, and I think bass is the most impressive part of adding more power. Sound stage and all that depends on the amp it seems.

BHA-1 would be my pick for listening to jazz due to it's high imaging capability and the large sound stage and depth. There is an area BasX fall short. The plucking of double bass or the sound of metal clanking doesn't have that depth to the sound as with the BHA-1, but the sound does seem to be better detailed than the NAD 316BEE. Because I find that HE-6 one of the most capable in terms of spatial imaging, particularly with live instrumental such as jazz.

I think the bass sound great with the BasX if tracks with bass are used, but just that imaging realism isn't there to the level of BHA-1. It does seem to be a good pick for the price. I would recommend the BasX at it's price to drive the HE-6, if anybody was limited to such price point.

I use the Basx as well. It’s a good first option. I got mine used for $160.00. It was basically a no brainer for me. As far as timbre and detail, DACs will make a big difference imo. I like my cheap bur-brown dac for its timbre. Although, it does not resolve as much as other dacs, it pairs well with my HE6. I find a lot of other listeners go for a Schiit Yggdrasil A2 for it’s timbre and natural sound character with an HE6.