[Face]

What does it matter if it was 30 or 300?  Since we're talking about headphones, our ears would should give out before cooking something...

 

[Cante Ista]

Quote:

What does it matter if it was 30 or 300?  Since we're talking about headphones, our ears would should give out before cooking something...

Phonitor drives HE-6 and I doubt it puts out anything in double digits -- although I don't know for sure. Still to piggy back on Preporman's earlier point, you need some power but other parameters also come into play. I can't give a scientific explanation for this -- not my field -- and all I have to rely on is my ears (and little to compare to) but the I think the phonitor drivers the HE6 just fine with little wattage.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

What does it matter if it was 30 or 300?  Since we're talking about headphones, our ears would should give out before cooking something...

 
 
Well you have to ask Fang that..  

 

[jazzerdave]

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Why?  My understanding is that the adapter is only really needed for tube amps...to compensate for the HE-6's impedance.

 
I believe that Fang has recommended the adapter for tube amps and any solid state amps that put out > 70wpc.

 

[Armaegis]

Quote:

What does it matter if it was 30 or 300?  Since we're talking about headphones, our ears would should give out before cooking something...

 
Though to be fair, this hasn't necessarily stopped people from cranking it that high before.
 
Something with that much power might also risk damage with a short, or even turn-on/off pops, and any input DC offset multiplied by a high gain could be dangerous. 

 

[moodyrn]

Quote:

Phonitor drives HE-6 and I doubt it puts out anything in double digits -- although I don't know for sure. Still to piggy back on Preporman's earlier point, you need some power but other parameters also come into play. I can't give a scientific explanation for this -- not my field -- and all I have to rely on is my ears (and little to compare to) but the I think the phonitor drivers the HE6 just fine with little wattage.

I friend of mine once drove his he-6 with a phonitor. At that time, he ranked it below his T1, and lcd 2. Also, he thought the phonitor drove it really well, and thought it was a pretty good pairing. So thinking he had an idea about how the he-6 sounded, he was about ready to give up. He even mentioned to me he thought about selling them.
 
Now after pairing them with the dark star, he prefers them over his hd-800, and lcd-3. And now it would be one of the last headphones he would sell. 

 

[LarsHP]

I can easily understand someone preferring the HE-6 over both HD800 and LCD-3 since I do the same. The Senn is too bright and the Audeze is too dark IMO, and the HE-6 being bright, but less off than the other two. I think the HE-6 is bright sounding no matter how much power and Ampere you feed it. It sounds basically the same with both my 50W class A speaker amp, the Master-6 and the Burson Soloist (slightly more than 1W in 50 Ohms).

 

[Rossliew]

Hi LarsHP, if i may add, the HE-6 is not bright in any sense of the word (to these ears) but well-balanced across the frequency range, when it is well-amped. No offense meant but i believe both your 50W and Soloist amps are not driving it adequately. I used a 9W into 50 Ohm Class A transformer-coupled tube amp and yet it did not drive the HE-6 adequately. Not even my vintage Kenwood KA-5500 with 55W from the speaker taps. Now, i find musical bliss with the Pioneer SX-1280 and that's with 185W @ 8 Ohms. The HE-6 sounded well-balanced and full bodied with this amp (even through the headphone jack). I haven't had the opportunity to try other amps though.

 

[nigeljames]

Quote:

I friend of mine once drove his he-6 with a phonitor. At that time, he ranked it below his T1, and lcd 2. Also, he thought the phonitor drove it really well, and thought it was a pretty good pairing. So thinking he had an idea about how the he-6 sounded, he was about ready to give up. He even mentioned to me he thought about selling them.
 
Now after pairing them with the dark star, he prefers them over his hd-800, and lcd-3. And now it would be one of the last headphones he would sell. 

 
I had the exact same scenario but all I had to do to elevate the HE6's from 3rd choice to 1st choice was upgrade the stock cable to the Silver Poison.
Hell of a lot cheaper than the Dark Star

 

[mikek200]

Quote:

 
I had the exact same scenario but all I had to do to elevate the HE6's from 3rd choice to 1st choice was upgrade the stock cable to the Silver Poison.
Hell of a lot cheaper than the Dark Star

I drive the he-6's with both the emo-mini-x ,and the mjollnir/gungnir combo,& I do not consider them bright at all.,with the emo,I get dark,rich strong bass.
Recently ,I have been using a Moon Silver Dragon  cable,and as Nigel has said,it just adds to the overall SQ

 

[conquerator2]

Hi LarsHP, if i may add, the HE-6 is not bright in any sense of the word (to these ears) but well-balanced across the frequency range, when it is well-amped. No offense meant but i believe both your 50W and Soloist amps are not driving it adequately. I used a 9W into 50 Ohm Class A transformer-coupled tube amp and yet it did not drive the HE-6 adequately. Not even my vintage Kenwood KA-5500 with 55W from the speaker taps. Now, i find musical bliss with the Pioneer SX-1280 and that's with 185W @ 8 Ohms. The HE-6 sounded well-balanced and full bodied with this amp (even through the headphone jack). I haven't had the opportunity to try other amps though.

Yes and no... By many here it has been proved that 8ohms at 50W is enough. To name one I say the Emotiva Mini-X drives them without probs.
However I am sure other amps with similar specs are not up to the task

 

[LarsHP]

Quote:

Hi LarsHP, if i may add, the HE-6 is not bright in any sense of the word (to these ears) but well-balanced across the frequency range, when it is well-amped. No offense meant but i believe both your 50W and Soloist amps are not driving it adequately. I used a 9W into 50 Ohm Class A transformer-coupled tube amp and yet it did not drive the HE-6 adequately. Not even my vintage Kenwood KA-5500 with 55W from the speaker taps. Now, i find musical bliss with the Pioneer SX-1280 and that's with 185W @ 8 Ohms. The HE-6 sounded well-balanced and full bodied with this amp (even through the headphone jack). I haven't had the opportunity to try other amps though.

You are most likely not familiar with my 50W class A amp. It is a dual mono with two 500VA trafo's and it has 240.000uF caps in the power supply. It doubles the power in both 4 and 2 Ohms load, and in 1 Ohms it is stable giving 300W. The bass is the tightest and strongest even when comapring it to 200W amps costing around $2500. It in fact sound warmer than the Master-6.
 
If you check both InnerFidelity and HeadRoom measurements of the HE-6 and their comments about them, they directly (IF) and indirectly (HR) both say that the HE-6 has too much treble.
 
For reference, I think the LCD-2 is about just as dark sounding as the HE-6 is bright. For female voices and classical music HE-6 has the upper hand for sure, but for rhythmical music the LCD-2 is better. IMO of course.

 

[Rossliew]

Ah, point taken 

 
Just that to my ears, when driven off the SX-1280, they sound full bodied, heavy and non the more bright although with all other amps I tried, they sound thin and bright (most likely due to the rather weak mid and sub-bass frequencies). At the end of the day, it's all about synergy and what sounds good to one's ears. To each his own! 

 

[preproman]

Quote:

You are most likely not familiar with my 50W class A amp. It is a dual mono with two 500VA trafo's and it has 240.000uF caps in the power supply. It doubles the power in both 4 and 2 Ohms load, and in 1 Ohms it is stable giving 300W. The bass is the tightest and strongest even when comapring it to 200W amps costing around $2500. It in fact sound warmer than the Master-6.
 
If you check both InnerFidelity and HeadRoom measurements of the HE-6 and their comments about them, they directly (IF) and indirectly (HR) both say that the HE-6 has too much treble.
 
For reference, I think the LCD-2 is about just as dark sounding as the HE-6 is bright. For female voices and classical music HE-6 has the upper hand for sure, but for rhythmical music the LCD-2 is better. IMO of course.

 
 
Just because they say this, does this mean it "HAS" to sound that way in your system?  Again.  I'm not sure what amp they used to get those results.  A less than adequate amp will certainly provide bright harsh treble.  A amp that's pushing the HE-6s to it's limits will provide smoother less bright treble.  
 
This is in my experiences with this headphone.  and IMO, your choice of music plays a part as well.

 

[conquerator2]

Just because they say this, does this mean it "HAS" to sound that way in your system?  Again.  I'm not sure what amp they used to get those results.  A less than adequate amp will certainly provide bright harsh treble.  A amp that's pushing the HE-6s to it's limits will provide smoother less bright treble.  

This is in my experiences with this headphone.  and IMO, your choice of music plays a part as well.

Well even underamped as of now they arent bright in my system which consists of NFB16 and NFB3.32 DAC.

Not even with "my" recording which are slightly bright tilted ;D

Then again Iam coming from the Pro 900, which had ultimately peaky and harsh highs/vocals and are sibilant so it might have something to do with it.
Nonetheless I find the inviting vocals and extended highs perfect