[screwdriver]

I wanna post an update about amps . I used to own og he6 with f1j nelson pass a while back and since sold it , best combo for me. I now circle back using he6se v2 and I was reading how the smsl sa400 ($659) paired well with a susvara and an he6 . so I gambled and bought the next amp lower than the sa400 smsl . it's called smsl ao200 and it's a class d amp for $279and I pair this with soncoz sgd1 , speaker taps he6se v2. it brings a very nice full sound once broken in and it's very airy. bass is full . I use volume 28 out of 70. the amp has a built in tone controls which u can. bypass or use . all in all if u have a he6se v2 and need a budget amp for it the $279 ao200 will work well.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Auralic Taurus MK II, HE-6SEv2 in balanced drive, 12 o'clock as highest as I can go before my ears start bleeding.

 

[swva]

I own the Monolith THX Dac Amp with dual THX 788 modules. Would this set up be powerful enough to drive the HE6se v1/v2? The total power for balanced output is 3.1 W at 32 ohms, unbalanced SE at 1.3 W at 32 ohms.

The Monolith does a great job with my Focal Elex and Sundara headphones connected with an unbalanced SE cable.

 

[randytsuch]

I just purchased a Nelson Pass ACA Class A Amp. I did not assemble it, someone else did. I'm using it with my RME-ADI-2 DAC as the DAC and to control the volume. I'm running the HE6 SE right off the speaker taps.

As for the Dick Olsher adage "The First Watt Is the Most Important Watt" And "Who cares what an amplifier sounds like at 500 watts if it sounds like crap at watt one".

There is something to that, because this Nelson Pass amp is out performing my Master 19 in sound quality. This is really nice.

I built a ACA a while ago, and use it for my HE6 SE's. Off the speaker taps. Sounds great to me. I do plan to upgrade, to a bigger, better Pass Class A amp.

Every once in a while, used ACA's come up for sale at diyaudio.

Randy

 

[JoeTho]

I built a ACA a while ago, and use it for my HE6 SE's. Off the speaker taps. Sounds great to me. I do plan to upgrade, to a bigger, better Pass Class A amp.

Every once in a while, used ACA's come up for sale at diyaudio.

Randy

 

[musicinmymind]

I own the Monolith THX Dac Amp with dual THX 788 modules. Would this set up be powerful enough to drive the HE6se v1/v2? The total power for balanced output is 3.1 W at 32 ohms, unbalanced SE at 1.3 W at 32 ohms.

The Monolith does a great job with my Focal Elex and Sundara headphones connected with an unbalanced SE cable.

you need 10W at 50 ohms, I am referring to OG HE-6 do not have HE6se

 

[monkey4054]

you need 10W at 50 ohms, I am referring to OG HE-6 do not have HE6se

That's a subjective opinion. You don't NEED 10W...

 

[Andrew_WOT]

10W seems like very excessive, this is my amp spec and I can't go past 12 o'clock in balanced drive when listening very loud.

This is SE, may be original were different, but from what I've read new one even less sensitive. (link)

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Also chart here

 

[Armaegis]

Continuous power draw is probably no more than a watt or two for most people, but those transient peaks can easily shoot it up. Every 3 dB is another x2 power. Even a modest +12 dB peak in the music will pull x16 more power. A strong 21 dB (not uncommon with percussion for example) peak is x128 the power, and now we're suddenly into triple digits

This is not to say that one *must* have gobs and gobs of power, but it's deceptive how quickly those power requirements go up. If you don't have it, well maybe it mushes some of those transients, maybe if it's a soft clip you don't even notice and it adds a nice character to the sound which might otherwise by harsh, I dunno.

As with all things, there are drawbacks to the big amps too. Higher noise floor, sacrificing nuance for muscle, blah blah blah. I've literally used kilowatt amps on my HE-6 for fun in the past.

 

[Andrew_WOT]

Also chart here

Another chart to demonstrate what these dB in the chart above translate to.
https://www.iacacoustics.com/blog-full/comparative-examples-of-noise-levels.html
For instance starting 80dB is actually sound of garbage disposal or freight train from 15m (hearing damage after 8 hours of exposure).
Also each 10dB increase doubles the loudness. So "modest 12db increase" from the other post is more than double the loudness.

 

[jmillar]

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?

Yes, the A90 should give you enough headroom. The headphones are rated at 50 Ohm (but have been measured by Amir (asr) at 64 Ohm). Use balanced connections, both in and out of the A90.

 

[jmillar]

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.

Watts isn't the key magnitude here. Volts and Amps are more relevant. The HE-6 is mid-low impedance so it is current hungry. Possibly the THX can't cope with it.
But in any case feed the amp balanced input (XLR) at decent voltage: (4-5 V) and use balanced headphone output.

 

[SilverEars]

Watts isn't the key magnitude here. Volts and Amps are more relevant. The HE-6 is mid-low impedance so it is current hungry. Possibly the THX can't cope with it.
But in any case feed the amp balanced input (XLR) at decent voltage: (4-5 V) and use balanced headphone output.

I really have no idea what you are talking about.

Power = V*I

Sensitivity = SPL/W

It's just one way to refer to the different parameters. And we don't keep mentioning power for no reason. The spec states 83 dB/mW

The important bit to look for in an amp is the power output at different impedances.

 

[sajunky]

I really have no idea what you are talking about.

Power = V*I

Sensitivity = SPL/W

It's just one way to refer to the different parameters. And we don't keep mentioning power for no reason. The spec states 83 dB/mW

The important bit to look for in an amp is the power output at different impedances.

@jmillar is right about power delivery. It was expressed in the way that technically fluent person would object, but it is actually an issue. Volts or Amps are also important in the way how it is delivered and whether the amp react to the resonances of the object. Especially amps that use negative feedback to reduce harmonic distortions can react to such happenings on the output and need much higher/lower internal impedance ratio than amps with zero negative feedback to deal with the issue.