[swbf2cheater]

Well, it seems the he500 fits a lot of my needs and wants but due to its lower impedance I was curious if anyone has tried to drive it with an SR71A portable amp, and drive it nicely?  

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

My best guess is yes. The Protector drives them very well and the SR71A should be even more powerful.

 

[dcpoor]

Quote:

My best guess is yes. The Protector drives them very well and the SR71A should be even more powerful.

I think you're mixing up the SR71A and SR71B.

 

[FrederikS|TPU]

The SR-71A (I am perfectly aware that there is a balanced version now) was designed to drive HD-6xx series headphones. The Protector is made to drive in-ears and efficient headphones. If that can drive the HE-500s well then chances are that the SR-71A which has even better specifications will do the same if not better. Of course it lacks balanced drive, but it should still be more powerful.

 

[dcpoor]

Quote:

The SR-71A (I am perfectly aware that there is a balanced version now) was designed to drive HD-6xx series headphones. The Protector is made to drive in-ears and efficient headphones. If that can drive the HE-500s well then chances are that the SR-71A which has even better specifications will do the same if not better. Of course it lacks balanced drive, but it should still be more powerful.

 
http://www.raysamuelsaudio.com/products/protector
"The Protector is designed to drive all the headphones in the Hi-End market with no problem. Being high impedance or low, the Protector can do it all.
 
It is important to mention that the Protector has 3 independent levels of gains. The low gain is designed to work with all the in ears monitors, IEMs. The Medium gain is for all the low impedance headphones out there. The Hi Gain is for all the high impedance."
 
Wish there were specs provided so we could compare. :/

 

[swbf2cheater]

the he500 is only 38 ohm and in theory should be well driven by the sr71a despite not having a balanced mode, this is something that has been bugging me for a while.  I am not at all sure of how the HE-500 would sound via an unbalanced amp.  Im not even sure if that is a wise thing to think about let alone try.  
 
 

 

[Chris_Himself]

The HE-500 needs a fair bit of power. They might be 38ohm, but they want something like 500mw to run ideally. The SR-71 is basically a desktop amp shrunk into a portable. It might not have the buffering caps of a larger desktop amp, but the power is definitely all there.
 
I heard them out of a Meier Concerto and it sounded really good. I've heard a GS-1000 alongside it and you'd have to be a really hardcore Grado fan to still prefer the GS-1000 to it. Then he told me how much they cost and my jaw dropped.
 
Besides I kind of like headphone amps anyway, they're curious little things

 

[swbf2cheater]

I've never heard ANY of the Hifiman sets and don't know anyone who owns them.  However, the He-500 seems tailored specifically for me,lol.  As if the designers sat down and say "hmm, lets make swbf2cheater his perfect set!"
 
If people feel the HE-500 is significantly better than the Edition 8, odds are great I will pick it up and run it off the Sr71a for a little while until I can snag a full size amp for them both.

 

[Vaughn]

My HE-500 was beautiful sounding from an SR-71B, I would imagine the SR-71A would also be a great match. 

 

[swbf2cheater]

Thanks for the help everyone, I appreciate it.  Expect pictures/reviews in the near future of my HE-500, Edition 8 and the SR71a with THE MOST AMAZING HEADPHONE STANDS EVER...EVER!!! 
 

 

[Chris_Himself]

You'd have to be silly to not like HE-500's, understandable if you prefer the LCD2 or other top tier headphone, but still I mean they sound GOOD.
 

 

[swbf2cheater]

I'm prefer soundstage qualities over any other quality and it seems the LCD2 falls short against some of the other big boys in that tier.  I enjoyed the T1 but wanted something different, something more warm, more comfortable if possible and definitely something that has a vast soundstage that is easily driven.  Seemed like the He-500 was almost precisely what I want in a set 
 
lets hope i enjoy it