[Clemmaster]

 
You inferred it was 'bright' by claiming it may have been used with a bright source!
 
I never thought it was a bright pairing when I listened to it.
 
I heard the EF-6 in my own system months ago and directly compared it to my M6. The EF6 far from 'sucked' but was a clear level behind the M6 in clarity, dynamics, detail, neutrality and definition.
This was using a XLR and RCA versions of the same cable.
 
I can not think of a single amp outputting 5wpc into 50ohms that is considered a good match for the HE6's and that includes the Mjolnir where people have stated the lack of power is an issue with the HE6's.
 
I can't see why you would think the M6 would not be better than the EF6 to be fair. I mean fully balanced, 40% more power and more neutral sounding with absolutely no brightness even with silver cables (IC's & headphone) and a Sabre32 chipped DAC (not the darker PCM1704 Audio-gd DACs).
 
Also like to say that the M6 is nothing like the NFB-27 and is a much better amp which really is to be expected.

 
This description exactly matches what the NFB-27 is. 

 
Kingwa told me the difference was not much between the NFB-27 and NFB-7 + Master-6. I know he is too honest when describing the difference, I give you that.
I never heard the stack so I cannot be positive. But at the same time: did you hear the NFB-27?
 
I inferred it was bright because that's the only area I feel the HE-6 can be "blamed" for. To say it SUCKS infers that there's something really wrong with the sound. Since I discard the lack of power with the EF-6, the only thing that remains is brightness.
Anyway, let's wait for the guy to chime in 

 

[Moonhead]

Well I for one are very close too throwing the HE6 up in the air and shooting away 

Too expensive seeking the right amp, so I'm gonna go HD800 route. 
 
 
Anyone compare LCD X vs. TH900
I want one of the two and I know some of you guys have both, so please share your wisdom 

 

[TheDuke990]

The people who own LCD-Xs haven't reported any quality issues, so it seems off base to suggest differently--particularly on preliminary specs that may have testing artifacts. I suggest you forget about the charts and use your ears to evaluate the LCD-Xs.

 
I think you are right.
Unfortunately I'm not able to compare the Audeze with the new AKG 812 Pro which supposed to be better than HD800 which is for me one of the best headphones I ever heard. I like the HD800 a little bit more than the LCD-2 because the LCD-2 lacks in high frequency.
I'm not sure whether the LCD-X and 812 Pro are on the same level or not.

 

[jerg]

   
....AKG 812 Pro which supposed to be better than HD800....

Wa-wa-wait what? Says who?

 

[TheDuke990]

Some guys (most of them are dealer) in Germany got test examples and they were really impressed and said the 812 is a step forward compared to HD800.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

  Some guys (most of them are dealer) in Germany got test examples and they were really impressed and said the 812 is a step forward compared to HD800.

 
I am really curious about those myself. Here is what Tyll said about them so far:
 
Quote:

   
Hi Jude. Just to clarify: I find them a "bit" tizzy. Sounds to me something like there's always a triangle (the instrument) in the treble. I find it modestly fatiguing. I will also say though the I find the overall balance of the K812 better than the HD800, which to me lacks a little warmth in the bass. 
 
The three-pin cable connector indicates to me that AKG doesn't get, or isn't trying to impress this market yet. 
 
I still think it's a good effort on their part, lots of things like the aluminum build and novel earpads to admire, and I think these are markedly better sounding than the T1. But I think in the rush to the top (read: building $1000+ headphones) sonic performance in the market is not yet on par with the build quality these companies are putting into the product. I'd lump the HD800 into that category as well; seems like everyone agrees that they're a problematic headphone. Seems to me that the Audeze LCD-X is probably the closest to delivering a high price/performance ratio, but even there I feel we're well onto the steep diminishing returns curve.
 
In my estimation we're still in the infancy of ultra-high-end ($1000+) headphones, and it will be another 5 years before we really start seeing the performance of these cans strongly better than sub-$1000 headphones. 
 
In other words: Price still doesn't reflect acoustic performance on the whole, and the K812, T1, HD800, LCD-X, and others have plenty of room for improvement.
 

 

[TheDuke990]

Okay but Tyll is not the only person on the planet with "headphone know how" (headphone pope ) and everybody knows he likes the Audeze (soft and warm) sound.
 
Tyll:
I will also say though the I find the overall balance of the K812 better than the HD800, which to me lacks a little warmth in the bass. 
I still think it's a good effort on their part, lots of things like the aluminum build and novel earpads to admire, and I think these are markedly better sounding than the T1. But I think in the rush to the top (read: building $1000+ headphones) sonic performance in the market is not yet on par with the build quality these companies are putting into the product.
 
It seems he finds the AKG better as well but the sound quality is not on par with the build quality.

 

[dan.gheorghe]

  Okay but Tyll is not the only person on the planet with "headphone know how" (headphone pope ) and everybody knows he likes the Audeze (soft and warm) sound.
 
Tyll:
I will also say though the I find the overall balance of the K812 better than the HD800, which to me lacks a little warmth in the bass. 
I still think it's a good effort on their part, lots of things like the aluminum build and novel earpads to admire, and I think these are markedly better sounding than the T1. But I think in the rush to the top (read: building $1000+ headphones) sonic performance in the market is not yet on par with the build quality these companies are putting into the product.
 
It seems he finds the AKG better as well but the sound quality is not on par with the build quality.

 
Of course Tyll is not the only person. Wasn't trying to say that , just wanted to point out some thoughts of a renowned reviewer.
 
And Tyll doesn't say it is better. Having a better balance is very important but not the only thing.

 

[figaro69]

   
What are the output tubes you use?

I've used Sylvanias, GE Five Star, Siemens, Radio Technique, Mullard, Bugle boy, Mazda Cifte...you name it, I've used it.  These are 12AXT, 12AUT, 5751.

 

[figaro69]

   That's not a good start, because it's certainly not my experience. Either you have a very bright source (à la Gungnir or Mytek) or you have much bigger expectation/experience than I do 

.
 
Edit: oh, you have the Oppo. You might restate your sentence: the EF-6 is a clean sounding amp (more neutral than the Darkstar from what I read on several occasions) and the Oppo is a bright source. No wonder you don't like it with the HE-6 

.

Played the EF-6 with Oppo, Rotel, and Marantz CD players, the least expensive being the Rotel at $800.  The Rotel is supposed to be a warmish-sounding player.  The issue is not brightness...the HE-6s don't sound bright out of the EF-6.  The problems is that with all these sources the HE-6/EF-6 combo distort mildly with climaxes in big orchestral works like Mahler's symphonies, thus killing the joy of the music and making me really cranky.  These problems do not come up with the Darkstar, thus making me think that the EF-6 is not powerful enough to drive the HE-6 in big orchestral climaxes even though the EF-6 reportedly designed specifically to drive the HE-6.  By the way, the Mjonir had the same problems driving the HE-6...plus I was excessively bright to boot.

 

[figaro69]

  +1.......couldn't agree with you more.....or something is wrong with his EF-6

I really like the EF-6 with most other headphones in my stable, since nothing gets distorted.  I just don't like them with the HE-6.  By the way, the EF-6 does amazing work with the HD800s and T1s (i.e., some reviewer haven't liked how the HD800s sound being driven by it, but I am not one of those).  There is nothing defective about the EF-6...they are working just fine...just not with the HE-6s.

 

[figaro69]

  Figaro69 did not say anything about the EF6/HE6 combination being bright. I also was not very impressed with the EF6 driving the HE6's (my Master-6 is much better) and feel it's vastly overpriced for what it is.
 
The best phone I had with the EF6 was the T1's.

Definitely not bright...the tone is amazing; the problem is with extreme dynamics.  Sounds great driving the T1s...I can attest to that!

 

[Clemmaster]

  I really like the EF-6 with most other headphones in my stable, since nothing gets distorted.  I just don't like them with the HE-6.  By the way, the EF-6 does amazing work with the HD800s and T1s (i.e., some reviewer haven't liked how the HD800s sound being driven by it, but I am not one of those).  There is nothing defective about the EF-6...they are working just fine...just not with the HE-6s.

 
Cool then!
Let's give the LCD-X some EF-6 love now 

 

[figaro69]

   
Where did you hear the EF-6/HE-6 combo? At a meet?
 
I used to own the NFB-27, which has a (semi?) Master-6 inside; I don't recall it was anywhere close to what the EF-6 provides. The Master-6 might be a better amp than the NFB-27, but I honestly don't think it would bring it up par with the EF-6.
 
He didn't say it's bright, he said it SUCKS. How should I understand that? The only downside of the HE-6, besides the amp requirement, is their brightness. The EF-6 certainly doesn't lack power, so for the combo to really "suck", then something must be really wrong elsewhere.
Anyway, that's my opinion and the fact that I don't agree with him about this statement doesn't change the (other) fact that I'm eager to read from his experience with the LCD-X regardless 

Play Mahler's first and fourth movements of his fifth and sixth symphonies or the flying Dutchman and Tannhauser overtures of Wagner...wait for the climaxes and tuttis and you will hear what I am talking about.

 

[figaro69]

  Well I for one are very close too throwing the HE6 up in the air and shooting away 

Too expensive seeking the right amp, so I'm gonna go HD800 route.
 
 
Anyone compare LCD X vs. TH900
I want one of the two and I know some of you guys have both, so please share your wisdom 

LCD-X is definitely better than the TH900.  I love the TH900 and are currently my go-to closed headphones since every music genre sounds amazing with them...but the mids being kind of recessed puts them a step (rather big step) behind the LCD-Xs.  With the LCD-Xs, nothing is recessed and nothing is unduly prominent.  These headphones are, in my opinion, if adequately driven, straight as an arrow.