[Chronnoisseur]

Adcom GFA-545, 555 and 5500. Thinking of buying a used one of these. Think I would notice a difference between them?

What dac and preamps are you guys using in your setups? Any good ones that are both a dac and preamp or do I need to get them separate?

 

[jerick70]

What dac and preamps are you guys using in your setups? Any good ones that are both a dac and preamp or do I need to get them separate?

Separtes are usually a better way to go if you want a TOTL setup. You can spend a lot of money on separtes though.

I really like the Cayin iDAC-6 MKII for a lower costing DAC. You can change timbre on the iDAC-6 between SS and tube. The Holo Spring Level 3 DAC is an excellent R2R DAC that's not too expensive.

For a separate preamp I used the preouts on a Musical Fidelity M6 si with a First Watt J2 power amp and it was excellent IMO. Musical Fidelity kit is excellent in my experience. I tried the Schiit Freya and the tube noise was to loud for headphones.

It's really all preference though. If you pick up one of these you may not like it. As always YMMV.

FYI I've moved on from the HE 6 and no longer own a pair.

 

[astrostar59]

There are many amp choices for power hungry headphones. I use the Aries Cerat Genus, which is a 25W SET speaker amp with a headphone output directly off the OPT. I also rate the Moon 600i Integrated, with it's 125W output and superb volume control circuits. I no longer own the HE-6, but use the Abyss Phi TC with great results out of these speaker amps.

 

[monkey4054]

Anyone have any thoughts on how the HE-6 would pair with the new Topping A90 amp? Puts out 4.8W into 50ohm. That should be decent enough power?

 

[Mightygrey]

Anyone have any thoughts on how the HE-6 would pair with the new Topping A90 amp? Puts out 4.8W into 50ohm. That should be decent enough power?

HiFiman recommend 2 Watts minimum (as a guide, from memory), that ought to be plenty.

 

[monkey4054]

HiFiman recommend 2 Watts minimum (as a guide, from memory), that ought to be plenty.

Indeed, I'm guessing it will be a good pairing, just hoping there is someone with that exact pairing on here who could share some thoughts. Still waiting for the "HE-6 needs at least 20W from a $10,000 speaker amp or it sounds like crap" people to chime in.....

 

[rlawli]

My personal opinion based solely on your quoted power rating is not to the HE6's fullest potential; they would, however, probably sound pretty good and I doubt you could find a headphone amp in the A90's price range that would come close to the A90; and although you could well find a used speaker amp that was as good or even better it would take up a lot more desk space if not the whole desk. If possible, you should audition the A90 with your HE6s.

 

[MadSounds]

Indeed, I'm guessing it will be a good pairing, just hoping there is someone with that exact pairing on here who could share some thoughts. Still waiting for the "HE-6 needs at least 20W from a $10,000 speaker amp or it sounds like crap" people to chime in.....

I'm in the speaker amps do it best camp, but i've heard many cheaper amps that are defiantly good enough to justify owning the he-6 (vs somewhat more expensive headphone that's easier to drive). Its more about slew rate then RMS power, basically how quickly the amp and provide short bursts of current. Generally the comes down to having a good (fast) power supply with a decent amount of stored energy (capacitance). Based on what i've read about A90's "nested feedback composite amplifier" chips and their use of high quality AC/DC modules by Mean Well USA I would feel confident betting my 500$ this amp will be a good match for the he-6. I would like to see beefier caps but I think the design makes up for it. It may run fairly hot driving a load like he-6 but I'm sure Topping has taken this into account and will be nothing to worry about.

 

[NickMimi]

Anyone have any thoughts on how the HE-6 would pair with the new Topping A90 amp? Puts out 4.8W into 50ohm. That should be decent enough power?

i have used the Emotiva BasX100 in BEAST Mode, the Phonitor X, and an A&S Pendant at times to power my own. The HP’s play and sound fine.

My preference is to use a proper high power Vintage ADCOM power amplifier because I think/believe I hear a genuine difference in the SQ and performance which makes ME happy and makes the added expense worthwhile to ME. YMMV, IMO, etc. but that was an honest answer.

 

[bagwell359]

Anyone have any thoughts on how the HE-6 would pair with the new Topping A90 amp? Puts out 4.8W into 50ohm. That should be decent enough power?

Depends. I listen to music at about 85-88 db with peaks no more than 95 db, at that fairly low level you should be OK, but if you want to bop them at 105 db 8-16 wpc at the impedance of the can might be a better range. Certainly at least six.

 

[Oregonian]

Indeed, I'm guessing it will be a good pairing, just hoping there is someone with that exact pairing on here who could share some thoughts. Still waiting for the "HE-6 needs at least 20W from a $10,000 speaker amp or it sounds like crap" people to chime in.....

You can go with a vintage speaker amp, spending less than $500 on a recapped unit and get outstanding performance. I've done this for 7 years...............

 

[Armaegis]

Indeed, I'm guessing it will be a good pairing, just hoping there is someone with that exact pairing on here who could share some thoughts. Still waiting for the "HE-6 needs at least 20W from a $10,000 speaker amp or it sounds like crap" people to chime in.....

Speaking as a guy who currently runs his HE-6 from monoblock AHB2's but used to have little Topping amps... nah, just get whatever suits your budget and fits on your desk and be happy to get off the train to crazy down. Seriously.

 

[bagwell359]

Let me try and clarify. You do not need a mega buck (~$10k) amp to get the most out of these.

Not only is there a wide array of Class AB amps starting with the post 1990 models: Emotiva, Classe, Adcom, etc

Then there is the pre 1990 set, if you can verify that they have been recapped in the last 15 years (or less): HK Citation 12, SAE 31B, Ampzilla, etc.

Then there is a nice group of Int Amps: Yamaha, Denon, etc.

For the most detail, my experience says Class A (fully or sliding bias): Sudgen, some Asian amps/Int amps. Something like a Pass or a Krell might only make sense if they were doing duty as a speaker amp too.

The current or recently current Int amp I recommend is the Schitt Ragnarok 1 & 2. Used 1's are going $900-950. Class A to 4 watts, it's a monster driver for the HE-6 with a balanced connection. The 2 which I didn't hear with the HE-6 (but the HE-500, LCD-4, Arya) would do the job with even more impact in the bass then the 1, it also runs cool, and it's what $1500? And its got a nice warranty if you buy it new. I think the weak point is Class A for only 1 watt. PLus with either one you can get 100 wpc at 4 ohms out of them.

 

[Armaegis]

After rotating through many many options, my mid-tier amp for the HE-6 was the Bryston 2B for a couple years. You can generally find a used one for $400-ish.
Before that I had a little Nuforce and Topping that did the job well enough for the size (can't complain for $100 and an amp the size of a paperback). If I wanted something in that size range but a step up, I'd probably get the NAD D3020 again.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Let me try and clarify. You do not need a mega buck (~$10k) amp to get the most out of these.

Not only is there a wide array of Class AB amps starting with the post 1990 models: Emotiva, Classe, Adcom, etc

Then there is the pre 1990 set, if you can verify that they have been recapped in the last 15 years (or less): HK Citation 12, SAE 31B, Ampzilla, etc.

Then there is a nice group of Int Amps: Yamaha, Denon, etc.

For the most detail, my experience says Class A (fully or sliding bias): Sudgen, some Asian amps/Int amps. Something like a Pass or a Krell might only make sense if they were doing duty as a speaker amp too.

The current or recently current Int amp I recommend is the Schitt Ragnarok 1 & 2. Used 1's are going $900-950. Class A to 4 watts, it's a monster driver for the HE-6 with a balanced connection. The 2 which I didn't hear with the HE-6 (but the HE-500, LCD-4, Arya) would do the job with even more impact in the bass then the 1, it also runs cool, and it's what $1500? And its got a nice warranty if you buy it new. I think the weak point is Class A for only 1 watt. PLus with either one you can get 100 wpc at 4 ohms out of them.

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.