They store charge longer unless you short them. Therefore when you turn them on there is less time to wait before you listen. Now those class-A amps...
Amps that can drive the HiFiMan HE-6 planar headphones
My amp doesnt have
my amp doesnt have an on-off switch also..on advice of gilbert...as his amps sound best while always on power..ofcourse volume is on zero wheni dont use it
gjc11028
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My amp doesnt have
my amp doesnt have an on-off switch also..on advice of gilbert...as his amps sound best while always on power..ofcourse volume is on zero wheni dont use it
i turn the preamp and the power amp off as they are hybrids and i do not want to run the tubes constantly. some do, but go though tubes every 6 months or so which can get pricy
Timestretch
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Well, I'm not sure if the Crown D75A at my dad's house is repairable, so I ordered a working one off of ebay.
Once it arrives I'll talk about how it works. I plan to use my DAC1 as a preamp, XLR out to the D75A, and use the headphone jack of the power amp directly. I remember how the Lyr sounded, and I know how the DAC1 currently sounds (woefully underamped). Hopefully the D75A compares favorably.
Once it arrives I'll talk about how it works. I plan to use my DAC1 as a preamp, XLR out to the D75A, and use the headphone jack of the power amp directly. I remember how the Lyr sounded, and I know how the DAC1 currently sounds (woefully underamped). Hopefully the D75A compares favorably.
shayson1357
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tubes can be run for years continuously if you run them "properly"...(notice the quotes -_- )
Happy Camper
Headphoneus Supremus
Military keeps them on for the life of the tubes. Some of those tubes are rated very conservatively in the tens of thousands of hours and with a quality power supply will be very robust if you are starting new old stock.
NOS or even used US made tubes. I bought some old used US made 6550s (GE) and they last as long as I don't over bias them. I had one Russian made 6550 and it self destruct.
gjc11028
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The 6922 do not seem to last as well as some othet
I have a Russian made EH 6922 in my ARC amp as a phase inverter. I already replaced one after less than a year. But they are really good tubes.
screwdriver
Headphoneus Supremus
heads up - first watt f1J for sale at the FS forum - this thing is hard to come by
http://www.head-fi.org/t/748013/first-watt-f1j-amplifier
http://www.head-fi.org/t/748013/first-watt-f1j-amplifier
gjc11028
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I have a couple. I am using some NOS Mazda (from France) in my preamp. They have more extension at both ends and sweet mids. Using golden lion in the amp which I find sound good for the money.
Look what i found what hifiman is going to introduce on CES this tuesday.... 
Timestretch
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So I was talking earlier about getting a Crown D75A fixed and using it as an amplifier for the HifiMan HE-6. I did it!
Well, it works fantastically. Now before I begin I should say that I really like the very sterile/plain/neutral sound of say, the Benchmark DAC1, that some detractors call thin or anemic. The D75A seems to have a very similar sound signature to this. If a song has bass you will hear bass. If a song doesn't, you won't. Something like a Schiit Lyr I feel adds much more weight to the entire sound, and I'm not sure if that's pure and this is thin, or if this is pure and that's too thick. In any case, this is my preference and I find the details and clarity and airiness and impact and crunch and all that just perfect.
As another disclaimer, I have not heard the very very expensive amplifiers that many people here revere and seek. Those amplifiers are truly summit-fi and may be dramatically superior to the Crown D75A. That said, although you can get a D75A for very cheap today, they weren't always cheap. It's a very specialized power amplifier, that has your pick of XLR or TRS balanced inputs, no RCA. It's a thin, wide, very functional/plain/rugged-looking rackmounted device for use in studio applications. The low cost today is because they are all ancient, used, being sold by commercial businesses who are upgrading their things to more modern stuff, and the very specific inputs/applications it has limits its versatility and therefore its value to most consumers. I do not believe the low price reflects its quality. These apparently used to retail for $1000 ages ago and I believe they meet the standards of that price.
I connect my DAC1 via optical to my PC, to avoid any USB noise or other bus interference. THen the DAC1 and D75A are both plugged into the power outputs of a Tripp Lite hospital grade isolation transformer, to ensure no oddities from whatever it is that bad power can do to the sound. No bad power here. Noise floor is dead silent.
It puts 55W into 4 ohms, and its headphone output delivers the full power that would be delivered to the speaker outputs - no resistors or whatever cutting that signal down. So you won't need the HiFiMan speaker cable adapter to plug your HE-6 straight into this amplifier. You will however, need a DAC or other preamplifier with XLR outputs that have some sort of volume control. For this, the Benchmark DAC1 does the job of DAC & preamp perfectly to my standards.
One neat feature of the D75A is the signal and IOC LEDs for each channel on the front faceplate. Signal LEDs flash brightly in step with how intense the signal in that channel is. For very queit passages, these signal LEDs won't spark up at all. As things get louder, the LEDs get ever brighter.
The IOC LEDs next to these function as a warning/alarm against clipping. They will flicker/glow red if you have the volume too high for whatever you have attached and things start clipping or are otherwise in bad shape. For the HE-6, you can put them up to unlistenable volume levels before clipping becomes an issue. For my speakers, on the other hand, you can make these red LEDs activate pretty easily.
I've heard the HE-6 before out of an old vintage Realistic receiver that must've weighed 60 pounds, the EF-6, the Schiit Lyr, and my own DAC1's headphone output. The DAC1 is certainly severely underamping the HE-6 if you plug it straight in, even with internal gain reduction jumpers removed, and sounds, while not completely totally unbearably dreadful, certainly not good or acceptable at all. To me, the Lyr and the EF-6 and the old vintage receiver all sounded great with the HE-6. It's been too long for me to remember their strengths and flaws. I can say at the very least, that the D75A sounds dramatically superior in everyway to the DAC1, and lives up to every faint memory I have of a properly amplified HE-6.
HE6 through D75A definitely sounds better to my ears & preferences than Audeze LCD2.2 through Benchmark DAC1. The DAC1+D75A+HE6 is just so so so clear and crisp and impactful. So clear to me, though, that some recordings that sounded sufficiently crisp/smooth on the LCD2 sound not as good on the new setup. Truly clear recordings are just spectacular, though. I'm not sure I'd get this feeling of gaining extra clarity again unless I upgraded to STAX or something equally elite.
I have a series of photos here:
http://imgur.com/a/u8RX6
Conclusion: if you like solid state sound and have a DAC/preamp that an do XLR output, then getting an old used Crown D75A off ebay is an extremely affordable choice for amping the HE-6.
Well, it works fantastically. Now before I begin I should say that I really like the very sterile/plain/neutral sound of say, the Benchmark DAC1, that some detractors call thin or anemic. The D75A seems to have a very similar sound signature to this. If a song has bass you will hear bass. If a song doesn't, you won't. Something like a Schiit Lyr I feel adds much more weight to the entire sound, and I'm not sure if that's pure and this is thin, or if this is pure and that's too thick. In any case, this is my preference and I find the details and clarity and airiness and impact and crunch and all that just perfect.
As another disclaimer, I have not heard the very very expensive amplifiers that many people here revere and seek. Those amplifiers are truly summit-fi and may be dramatically superior to the Crown D75A. That said, although you can get a D75A for very cheap today, they weren't always cheap. It's a very specialized power amplifier, that has your pick of XLR or TRS balanced inputs, no RCA. It's a thin, wide, very functional/plain/rugged-looking rackmounted device for use in studio applications. The low cost today is because they are all ancient, used, being sold by commercial businesses who are upgrading their things to more modern stuff, and the very specific inputs/applications it has limits its versatility and therefore its value to most consumers. I do not believe the low price reflects its quality. These apparently used to retail for $1000 ages ago and I believe they meet the standards of that price.
I connect my DAC1 via optical to my PC, to avoid any USB noise or other bus interference. THen the DAC1 and D75A are both plugged into the power outputs of a Tripp Lite hospital grade isolation transformer, to ensure no oddities from whatever it is that bad power can do to the sound. No bad power here. Noise floor is dead silent.
It puts 55W into 4 ohms, and its headphone output delivers the full power that would be delivered to the speaker outputs - no resistors or whatever cutting that signal down. So you won't need the HiFiMan speaker cable adapter to plug your HE-6 straight into this amplifier. You will however, need a DAC or other preamplifier with XLR outputs that have some sort of volume control. For this, the Benchmark DAC1 does the job of DAC & preamp perfectly to my standards.
One neat feature of the D75A is the signal and IOC LEDs for each channel on the front faceplate. Signal LEDs flash brightly in step with how intense the signal in that channel is. For very queit passages, these signal LEDs won't spark up at all. As things get louder, the LEDs get ever brighter.
The IOC LEDs next to these function as a warning/alarm against clipping. They will flicker/glow red if you have the volume too high for whatever you have attached and things start clipping or are otherwise in bad shape. For the HE-6, you can put them up to unlistenable volume levels before clipping becomes an issue. For my speakers, on the other hand, you can make these red LEDs activate pretty easily.
I've heard the HE-6 before out of an old vintage Realistic receiver that must've weighed 60 pounds, the EF-6, the Schiit Lyr, and my own DAC1's headphone output. The DAC1 is certainly severely underamping the HE-6 if you plug it straight in, even with internal gain reduction jumpers removed, and sounds, while not completely totally unbearably dreadful, certainly not good or acceptable at all. To me, the Lyr and the EF-6 and the old vintage receiver all sounded great with the HE-6. It's been too long for me to remember their strengths and flaws. I can say at the very least, that the D75A sounds dramatically superior in everyway to the DAC1, and lives up to every faint memory I have of a properly amplified HE-6.
HE6 through D75A definitely sounds better to my ears & preferences than Audeze LCD2.2 through Benchmark DAC1. The DAC1+D75A+HE6 is just so so so clear and crisp and impactful. So clear to me, though, that some recordings that sounded sufficiently crisp/smooth on the LCD2 sound not as good on the new setup. Truly clear recordings are just spectacular, though. I'm not sure I'd get this feeling of gaining extra clarity again unless I upgraded to STAX or something equally elite.
I have a series of photos here:
http://imgur.com/a/u8RX6
Conclusion: if you like solid state sound and have a DAC/preamp that an do XLR output, then getting an old used Crown D75A off ebay is an extremely affordable choice for amping the HE-6.
ohhgourami
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Welcome to hear the first layer of what an HE-6 is capable of. What you have there is a pro audio amp. I recommendeded people to get a Crest CA2 which could be easily bought used for less than $200. Should be similar to your Crown, but with more power.
Still there will be skeptics and what not, but I've stopped giving a crap about those people.
Still there will be skeptics and what not, but I've stopped giving a crap about those people.
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