[preproman]

   
Do it... do it 

now!

 
Pushing me over the fence huh..  Returning the favor? 

 

[Silent One]

 
Pushing me over the fence huh..  Returning the favor? 

 

[brunk]

   
Pushing me over the fence huh..  Returning the favor? 

 

 

 

 
Hehe! 

 

[gjc11028]

   
Yeah - me to, very annoying 

 
I've been thing about selling my F1J and getting one of these:  Pass Labs XA-30.5 stereo power amp  

reno hifi
 

Pass Labs XA-30.5 stereo power amp

Refurbished, very good condition, one year transferable factory warranty, new factory double boxing, Satisfaction Guaranteed S/N D-3446   $2995  Black Friday Sale!

 

[preproman]

Yup - that's the one..

 

[gjc11028]

there is a nice deal on an integrated there also for someone without a preamp

 

[NZtechfreak]

Well my 4-pin XLR female to bananas adapter arrives tomorrow, and hopefully my HE-6 also, so my speaker amps journey is set to begin!
 
A few things I wanted to clarify first, having read the entire thread twice and still not feeling 100% crystal on:
 

1. For non-tube amps, no resistance adapter is required at all up to 70W (and not really above that either from the consensus of feedback here, but lots of caution involved if using anything with high watt output)?
2. When connecting the HE-6 turn volume down to zero, power on the speaker amp, plug in HE-6. When finished listening turn volume down to zero, unplug HE-6 and then turn off amp (in both scenarios to prevent a possibly damaging on/off "thump" being transmitted to the headphone). Does this apply to amps in the 'safe' range up to 70W?
3. I also noted possibility to short the amp if disconnecting the headphones while powered on?
   1. In relation to that, I saw a few different things mentioned -
      1. First, if using an adapter into the HE-6 XLR termination, you can just disconnect the headphone from the adapter with impunity even with the amp on (I think HappyCamper mentioned this)?
      2. Second, I saw that some weren't bothering with disconnecting first, simply dropping volume to zero and turning their amp off. It seems like those doing that were not suffering any ill-effects?
         1. Reason I mention both of these things is that I would probably rather just get a single cable (no adapter) and leave it and the HE-6 connected to the amp all the time, so if the amp can be powered down safely with volume at zero while the HE-6 is plugged into it that would be great. Since I'm running it off the Reference 10 this would be ideal for me, can leave amp off and use my other headphones direct from the headphone ports in the Ref 10 when some kind of insanity overtakes me and I want to listen to another headphone.
4. In relation to suitable amps, they need to offer balanced out via banana plugs (or spades)?

 
Hopefully someone can quickly verify these for me before I strike out to the audio stores to freak out speaker amp retailers with my odd-ball request to plug my headphones into their speaker amps

 

[LarsHP]

  Well my 4-pin XLR female to bananas adapter arrives tomorrow, and hopefully my HE-6 also, so my speaker amps journey is set to begin!
 
A few things I wanted to clarify first, having read the entire thread twice and still not feeling 100% crystal on:
 

1. For non-tube amps, no resistance adapter is required at all up to 70W (and not really above that either from the consensus of feedback here, but lots of caution involved if using anything with high watt output)?
2. When connecting the HE-6 turn volume down to zero, power on the speaker amp, plug in HE-6. When finished listening turn volume down to zero, unplug HE-6 and then turn off amp (in both scenarios to prevent a possibly damaging on/off "thump" being transmitted to the headphone). Does this apply to amps in the 'safe' range up to 70W?
3. I also noted possibility to short the amp if disconnecting the headphones while powered on?
   1. In relation to that, I saw a few different things mentioned -
      1. First, if using an adapter into the HE-6 XLR termination, you can just disconnect the headphone from the adapter with impunity even with the amp on (I think HappyCamper mentioned this)?
      2. Second, I saw that some weren't bothering with disconnecting first, simply dropping volume to zero and turning their amp off. It seems like those doing that were not suffering any ill-effects?
         1. Reason I mention both of these things is that I would probably rather just get a single cable (no adapter) and leave it and the HE-6 connected to the amp all the time, so if the amp can be powered down safely with volume at zero while the HE-6 is plugged into it that would be great. Since I'm running it off the Reference 10 this would be ideal for me, can leave amp off and use my other headphones direct from the headphone ports in the Ref 10 when some kind of insanity overtakes me and I want to listen to another headphone.
4. In relation to suitable amps, they need to offer balanced out via banana plugs (or spades)?

 
Hopefully someone can quickly verify these for me before I strike out to the audio stores to freak out speaker amp retailers with my odd-ball request to plug my headphones into their speaker amps

1) Yes.
2) I think this primarily applies to (speaker) amps that makes a "thump" when turning on/off. If the amp always is turning on and off without the thump, then I wouldn't bother.
3) I can't imagine how you could make a short if you unplug a 4XLR. You should really be making some effort to make that happen IMO.
4) "Suitable amps" could be speaker amps as well as powerful headphone amps like Audio-gd Master 6/-8/-9 or HiFiMan EF-6 etc. For headphone amps the balanced output usually is either via 4XLR or two XLR. For speaker amps it's just the ordinary banana / spade connection.

 

[NZtechfreak]

Thank you very much for that.

When I mentioned suitable amps I missed a word, I meant to say suitable *speaker* amps. My Reference 10 has a 4-pin XLR that I used my the HE-6 with when I last had them, but I wasn't totally satisfied with how it drove them as they only really started to shine at volumes that were getting too loud for me. I sold them, but regretted it ever since, haven't heard anything else before or since that presented sound in a way that fit so well for me - hence the re-purchase and newly invigorated hunt for an amp pairing!

 

[LarsHP]

I think the trick with HE-6 is to either enjoy the little extra treble (or if you compare to HD800, slightly extra treble) or to tame the treble by modifying the headphone itself.
 
Having extra power doesn't change the tonality in my experience and measurements. Both via HM-901 built-in balanced amp and my Audio-gd Master 6 boasting 7W in 50 Ohm it's the same general tonality. Also when I measured Burson Soloist (around 1.7W in 50 Ohm) and Master 6, they both gave the same relative output at 50Hz, 500Hz and 10kHz at 70dB and 101dB. This tells me, that the extra power didn't change the tonality at higher volumes.
 
However, what surprised me was that at 101dB the treble measured lower with both amps (relative to mids and bass) than at 70dB. This doesn't make sense, but if it really is so, this could explain why people like to turn up the volume with HE-6.

 

[Steve Eddy]

I also noted possibility to short the amp if disconnecting the headphones while powered on?

Not going to happen with a 4 pin XLR. That can be an issue with TRS plugs where the insulated gap between tip and ring on the plug can be shorted across by the ring contact in the jack. If that happens while the tip contact of the plug is in contact with the tip contact in the jack, then the outputs of the left and right channels will be shorted together. Since the output impedance of most solid state amps is well under an ohm, it's effectively no different than if you shorted the amp outputs to ground.

se

 

[NZtechfreak]

  I think the trick with HE-6 is to either enjoy the little extra treble (or if you compare to HD800, slightly extra treble) or to tame the treble by modifying the headphone itself.
 
Having extra power doesn't change the tonality in my experience and measurements. Both via HM-901 built-in balanced amp and my Audio-gd Master 6 boasting 7W in 50 Ohm it's the same general tonality. Also when I measured Burson Soloist (around 1.7W in 50 Ohm) and Master 6, they both gave the same relative output at 50Hz, 500Hz and 10kHz at 70dB and 101dB. This tells me, that the extra power didn't change the tonality at higher volumes.
 
However, what surprised me was that at 101dB the treble measured lower with both amps (relative to mids and bass) than at 70dB. This doesn't make sense, but if it really is so, this could explain why people like to turn up the volume with HE-6.

 
No problem with the tone here, I have a little high frequency hearing loss so I don't mind a little hot treble - if anything its an asset for me and my hearing pattern (probably part of the reason I really like the T5p, which is not generally adored here at Head-Fi, and also why the GS1000i and HD800 are fine in the treble realm for me). It's things like the transient response/imaging that I am looking to preserve at lower volumes by using a speaker amp - feedback from most here is that the current reserves are the important thing and that I should be able to maintain the quality of these at lower listening volumes by running off speaker taps.

 

[ALRAINBOW]

I am of the kind to tame the beast just a little. Sometimes I like to listen just a little loud but it feels like my ears are smoking when done. Like the hd800 do. As I know it will be a trade off for clarity . Sound stage I do not really hear like most. The stage is out there and not close up , unless it really is. I can tell instrument placement but not to the degree people speak of. So for me just a little toeing down. So I will try the felt in the front first .

Al D

 

[beancounter0]

Anybody use a switch after the speaker taps?
 
I have a pair of HE-5LE's on the way; not HE-6's but a similarly difficult drive.  Lower impedance tho, 38 ohms.  I plan to run these off of the 16 ohm speaker taps on a DIY tube amp, push-pull 2A3 that puts out about 12W into 8 ohms (actually 6B4G, 6.3v filament octal base version of the 2A3).
 
I might get by without a parallel resistor (reflected impedance the tubes would see might be inside "normal" curves), but I'll start out with a 30 ohm.  Should give me 16 ohms load on the output transformer.  A little more than half of the power will be dissipated by the resistor so I should get roughly 5-6W (8 ohm equivalent) power on the phones - just about right I would think.
 
My issue is switching between the headphones and the speakers.  I need a switch.  As much as I loath junk in the signal path,  swapping cables every time between speakers and phones isn't a viable option.  Speakers are on the 8 ohm tap, not sure it that will make the solution easier or more of a mess, haven't thought that through...
 
Any ideas?  DIY is no problem.

 

[potterma]

  Anybody use a switch after the speaker taps?
 
I have a pair of HE-5LE's on the way; not HE-6's but a similarly difficult drive.  Lower impedance tho, 38 ohms.  I plan to run these off of the 16 ohm speaker taps on a DIY tube amp, push-pull 2A3 that puts out about 12W into 8 ohms (actually 6B4G, 6.3v filament octal base version of the 2A3).
 
I might get by without a parallel resistor (reflected impedance the tubes would see might be inside "normal" curves), but I'll start out with a 30 ohm.  Should give me 16 ohms load on the output transformer.  A little more than half of the power will be dissipated by the resistor so I should get roughly 5-6W (8 ohm equivalent) power on the phones - just about right I would think.
 
My issue is switching between the headphones and the speakers.  I need a switch.  As much as I loath junk in the signal path,  swapping cables every time between speakers and phones isn't a viable option.  Speakers are on the 8 ohm tap, not sure it that will make the solution easier or more of a mess, haven't thought that through...
 
Any ideas?  DIY is no problem.

Niles Audio has several models that may do the trick for you.