[santacore]

I'm with Bud, wait on the tube upgrades for now. You can always slowly integrate new tubes once you've become comfortable with the unit. It will help you appreciate each little upgrade you do.
 
One thing you might want to do now is upgrade the volume pot now. For a small fee, Donald offers a really smooth pot that definitely feels better then the standard Alps.

 

[third_eye]

Quote:

I'm with Bud, wait on the tube upgrades for now. You can always slowly integrate new tubes once you've become comfortable with the unit. It will help you appreciate each little upgrade you do.
 
One thing you might want to do now is upgrade the volume pot now. For a small fee, Donald offers a really smooth pot that definitely feels better then the standard Alps.

Agreed. I think that volume pot is now standard on the Stratus. Donald's demo unit may be the only Stratus with the Alps pot.

 

[longbowbbs]

Quote:

You guys are killing me here. My Stratus is scheduled to be built this month, if it's not already being built, and I can't stop thinking I should ask Donald to upgrade the tubes. This hobby is draining my bank account. 

This just occurred to you?  

 
Congrats on the Stratus!

 

[Da5Id]

OK thanks I feel better now. My OCD was kicking in pretty hard there for a while. 

 

[ChrisB7605]

Bud - i noticed earlier in the thread that u liked the stratus/he6 combo once the 6s are broken in... do u still use this combo? or mainly stick with the 800s?

 

[fejnomit]

I'll chime in too here - while the HE-6 is not my favorite headphone with the Stratus, I do think the Stratus drives the HE-6s quite well.  With my DAC on full output - meaning neutral gain so I assume somewhere in the vicinity of 2.2V - I can listen to the HE-6s between 4 and 5 before it gets too loud.  Not bad.  But of course that's not the entire story.  Whether they are being driven "well" seems to the be the focus of most comments about amps that work or don't work with the HE-6.  It's still a little unclear to me what this means exactly.  The various SS amps I have tried to use with the HE-6 have so far only brought out a bit too much of their innate treble sibilance - even the dark and beautiful Blue Circle monos couldn't totally tame although they do provide insane deep bass.  With the Stratus, however, that sibilance is gone and the bass even more focussed and tight.  Now I am by no means an HE-6 expert, so I am sure there are SS amps out there that can tame the HE-6.  I tried to follow the impedance and wattage ratings of the headphones when trying out SS amps but I know some on that thread swear by massive wattage power amps to drive them.  The treble on the HE-6s will never be my favorite but it's still better on the Stratus than on any other amp I have tried with them, whether SS or tube.  That being said, I have a pair of HE-5s that sound even better.  They rank up there with the HD800s and LCD-3s for overall best match with the Stratus - so the amp is certainly capable of producing beauty with Hifiman phones...

 

[preproman]

I really don't understand with all the information out now about the HE-6 and it's issues.  Why folks still try to use headphone amps.  Believe me it's not about how much power you put in it.  I'm using a 10 watt speaker amp - that's a current output source.  http://firstwatt.com/f1.html  http://firstwatt.com/f1j.html  This is the best I've heard the HE-6s.  
 
These headphones need current and current reserve.  Meaning large transformers that can store the current when the HE-6 calls for it.  Many headphone amp don't have the current for these headphones.
 
If I get the Stratus it won't be for the HE-6s it would be for any other headphone I have and mainly for the HD800s.

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

I really don't understand with all the information out now about the HE-6 and it's issues.  Why folks still try to use headphone amps.  Believe me it's not about how much power you put in it.  I'm using a 10 watt speaker amp - that's a current output source.  http://firstwatt.com/f1.html  http://firstwatt.com/f1j.html  This is the best I've heard the HE-6s.  
 
These headphones need current and current reserve.  Meaning large transformers that can store the current when the HE-6 calls for it.  Many headphone amp don't have the current for these headphones.
 
If I get the Stratus it won't be for the HE-6s it would be for any other headphone I have and mainly for the HD800s.

I with you on this. When I owned the HE6 the Taboo with the preamp CSP2 could drive the he6 but it coulnt do classical dynamic recording. {People think they get volume the amp is driving the he6 .{lain and simple its not driving them but tjust playing them. Speaker amps get the most out of the hE6 and until people hear them on a good powerful amp with current they have not really heard them. The Taboo was 6w with a high hgain and current  CSP2 driving them and the Pioneer sx 980 blew it away and never collapsed or clipped driving my most demanding recordings but people think they are driving them with low watt head amps is getting very old. They need 10-15W to sound good IMO

 

[fejnomit]

Quote:

I really don't understand with all the information out now about the HE-6 and it's issues.  Why folks still try to use headphone amps.  Believe me it's not about how much power you put in it.  I'm using a 10 watt speaker amp - that's a current output source.  http://firstwatt.com/f1.html  http://firstwatt.com/f1j.html  This is the best I've heard the HE-6s.  
 
These headphones need current and current reserve.  Meaning large transformers that can store the current when the HE-6 calls for it.  Many headphone amp don't have the current for these headphones.
 
If I get the Stratus it won't be for the HE-6s it would be for any other headphone I have and mainly for the HD800s.

 
 
Interesting.  Yes, I am on the verge of getting a First Watt.  I have been abreast of the threads pertaining to the HE-6.  That being said it is a headphone and it seems logical to try them out on headphone amps.  The original question was about whether any of us have used the HE-6s on the Stratus.  My original post acknowledged that SS amps seem to be the way to go.  I was merely stating that *to my ears* they sound good with the Stratus - not optimal but good.  They also sound good with my 15W George Wright Au-215 I tube amp using the speaker posts.  So far, in my odyssey with SS amps for the HE-6s, I have not been able to entirely do away with what I hear as a false treble sibilance and a lack of decay in the higher frequencies in general.  There is a combination of linearity and largeness of tone that good tubes bring to the HE-6s that I haven't found reproduced yet by a transistor.  But I by no means want to imply I have done exhaustive research.  Still, there does seem to be a general dismissal that tube amps can't drive the HE-6s *correctly* that isn't really borne out by mathematics, more by subjective reaction, which I respect and want to understand better.
 
 
Quote:

{People think they get volume the amp is driving the he6 .{lain and simple its not driving them but tjust playing them. Speaker amps get the most out of the hE6 and until people hear them on a good powerful amp with current they have not really heard them. The Taboo was 6w with a high hgain and current  CSP2 driving them and the Pioneer sx 980 blew it away and never collapsed or clipped driving my most demanding recordings but people think they are driving them with low watt head amps is getting very old. They need 10-15W to sound good IMO

 
The difference between "driving them" and merely "playing them" seems quite subjective to me.  I was recently called rude for appearing to imply that no one should comment on a given pair of headphones in combination with a given headphone amp unless they have actually spent some real time with that combination in a controlled environment.  I am not saying what you have said is rude, but it is a bit dismissive to say that anyone who hasn't heard the HE-6s on the amp you recommend hasn't "really heard them" and that anyone who saying they actually like the HE-6 with a tube amp is "getting old."  Funny, seems to me far people are saying that SS amps only can drive the HE-6s so technically that is getting old.  It's possible, isn't it, that someone might enjoy the sound of the HE-6s on, say, the Stratus, or the Wright or another tube amp?  It's possible that the HE-6s possess many different possible flavors, depending on the amp driving them.  You clearly have your preference.  The consensus seems to favor SS, although the topologies and wattage of those SS amps varies widely.  I have taken this to heart and, like I said, I have been searching for the right SS amp.  In fact, it was the guidelines laid out in general in the HE-6 thread that led me to the amps I have tried.  But still I miss the tone and, like I said, the treble has never sounded true.  The Stratus corrected this, perhaps giving something else up in the process, I don't know.  So onward I go in my search, using the only criteria I really can: my ears.

 

[Frank I]

Quote:

 
 
Interesting.  Yes, I am on the verge of getting a First Watt.  I have been abreast of the threads pertaining to the HE-6.  That being said it is a headphone and it seems logical to try them out on headphone amps.  The original question was about whether any of us have used the HE-6s on the Stratus.  My original post acknowledged that SS amps seem to be the way to go.  I was merely stating that *to my ears* they sound good with the Stratus - not optimal but good.  They also sound good with my 15W George Wright Au-215 I tube amp using the speaker posts.  So far, in my odyssey with SS amps for the HE-6s, I have not been able to entirely do away with what I hear as a false treble sibilance and a lack of decay in the higher frequencies in general.  There is a combination of linearity and largeness of tone that good tubes bring to the HE-6s that I haven't found reproduced yet by a transistor.  But I by no means want to imply I have done exhaustive research.  Still, there does seem to be a general dismissal that tube amps can't drive the HE-6s *correctly* that isn't really borne out by mathematics, more by subjective reaction, which I respect and want to understand better.
 
 
 
The difference between "driving them" and merely "playing them" seems quite subjective to me.  I was recently called rude for appearing to imply that no one should comment on a given pair of headphones in combination with a given headphone amp unless they have actually spent some real time with that combination in a controlled environment.  I am not saying what you have said is rude, but it is a bit dismissive to say that anyone who hasn't heard the HE-6s on the amp you recommend hasn't "really heard them" and that anyone who saying they actually like the HE-6 with a tube amp is "getting old."  Funny, seems to me far people are saying that SS amps only can drive the HE-6s so technically that is getting old.  It's possible, isn't it, that someone might enjoy the sound of the HE-6s on, say, the Stratus, or the Wright or another tube amp?  It's possible that the HE-6s possess many different possible flavors, depending on the amp driving them.  You clearly have your preference.  The consensus seems to favor SS, although the topologies and wattage of those SS amps varies widely.  I have taken this to heart and, like I said, I have been searching for the right SS amp.  In fact, it was the guidelines laid out in general in the HE-6 thread that led me to the amps I have tried.  But still I miss the tone and, like I said, the treble has never sounded true.  The Stratus corrected this, perhaps giving something else up in the process, I don't know.  So onward I go in my search, using the only criteria I really can: my ears.

Look I am not going to get into it with you.. i heard it with a more powerful tube amp than the Stratus your using which I owned and the SS Pioneer SX980 with 80W drove it better than the headphone tube amps I had which were 6W speaker amps. if you like it and it will drive the demanding recordings then so be it.  It been her efor over two years and the consensus on the he6 has been all that time is speaker amps make the HE6 sound best.  Like I said above most people have not heard them until they have the proper powerto drive thm. YOMV and really I am not interested in debating your opinion . thats my opinion and I am finished with my opinion on this subject agree with preporman  statement. My statement had nothing to do with tube or solid state it had to do with power. I prefer tube amps in general and have for 36 years in the hobby. The hE6 need 15W or more to sound there best with  demanding recording. YOMV

 

[third_eye]

Quote:

Look I am not going to get into it with you.. i heard it with a more powerful tube amp than the Stratus your using which I owned and the SS Pioneer SX980 with 80W drove it better than the headphone tube amps I had which were 6W speaker amps. if you like it and it will drive the demanding recordings then so be it.  It been her efor over two years and the consensus on the he6 has been all that time is speaker amps make the HE6 sound best.  Like I said above most people have not heard them until they have the proper powerto drive thm. YOMV and really I am not interested in debating your opinion . thats my opinion and I am finished with my opinion on this subject agree with preporman  statement. My statement had nothing to do with tube or solid state it had to do with power. I prefer tube amps in general and have for 36 years in the hobby. The hE6 need 15W or more to sound there best with  demanding recording. YOMV

Maybe Fang should just put a disclaimer on HE6's that they cannot be "really heard" unless driven by a 15W or more speaker amp?

 

[fejnomit]

power?  i thought it was current?  clearly you are not interested in debate anyway -- you have made that clear by merely re-stating what you said before.  whatevs.
not sure if you read my post carefully but we actually agree on most points (!).  anyway back to the original topic before it got derailed by the he-6/SS speaker amp mafia:
 
Quote:

Bud - i noticed earlier in the thread that u liked the stratus/he6 combo once the 6s are broken in... do u still use this combo? or mainly stick with the 800s?

 
While waiting for Bud to answer I merely meant to say - I do.  And I like the combo.  But I mainly stick with HD800/HE-5/LCD-3/K1000.  (Uh oh - I can hear the dismissive comments already...)

 

[fejnomit]

Quote:

Maybe Fang should just put a disclaimer on HE6's that they cannot be "really heard" unless driven by a 15W or more speaker amp?

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
 
Interesting.  Yes, I am on the verge of getting a First Watt.  I have been abreast of the threads pertaining to the HE-6.  That being said it is a headphone and it seems logical to try them out on headphone amps.  The original question was about whether any of us have used the HE-6s on the Stratus.  My original post acknowledged that SS amps seem to be the way to go.  I was merely stating that *to my ears* they sound good with the Stratus - not optimal but good.  They also sound good with my 15W George Wright Au-215 I tube amp using the speaker posts.  So far, in my odyssey with SS amps for the HE-6s, I have not been able to entirely do away with what I hear as a false treble sibilance and a lack of decay in the higher frequencies in general.  There is a combination of linearity and largeness of tone that good tubes bring to the HE-6s that I haven't found reproduced yet by a transistor.  But I by no means want to imply I have done exhaustive research.  Still, there does seem to be a general dismissal that tube amps can't drive the HE-6s *correctly* that isn't really borne out by mathematics, more by subjective reaction, which I respect and want to understand better.
 

 
 
What First Watt re you looking at?  The J2 is what I would go after if I didn't have the F1J.  Or even better but might be a little "overkill" (my middle name) would be a pair of F4s.  
 
I always say the HE-6 are speakers sitting on top of your head.  
 
The thing is.  The leg work has already been done for new comers.  Just like they ask questions in this thread after reading it.  The same could and should be done from a research standpoint in the HE-6 thread and the Amps that can drive the HE-6 thread.
 
I have to agree with Frank that if you have not compared head amps with speaker amps when pared with the HE-6 they you just don't know.  Then yes - you are playing them - not driving them.  However, I agree with you as well in that - some just might like the sound they get while "playing" them...
 
I've just had a lot of trial an error with these.  Been through many amps.  Been to audio store with the headphone in hand testing different amps.  Spent lots of time until I cam across the amp I have now.  
 
So yes, people can enjoy music from the HE-6 out of anything.  However, until people are able to hear and compare to other amps / speaker amps / tube amps - people are just not in the know.
 
I'm not a tube guy.  So I have no input on tube gear.  I've heard people say they got clipping with tube amps and the HE-6 on very demanding and complex passages.  I've not experienced that myself.  

 

[fejnomit]

I was looking at the F2J from the guy in Reno for about half the price of the J2...  Do you think that's too low?
 
Yes - speakers on head - like the K1000 in my opinion...
 
Anyway - I guess the part of my post where I said I've tried various SS speaker amps got lost.  I have tried a vintage Marantz rated at 100wpc; Blue Circle monoblocs rated at 50W; Audiozone Amp-1 rated at 45W; my old Yamaha integrated rated at 250W; and the speaker taps off my Marantz home theater amp, also rated at 250W.  I can understand what people are talking about.  And I respect all the homework that has been done by everyone on the HE-6 threads.  But this is the Stratus thread and - again - I was merely trying to answer whether I have listened to HE-6s on the Stratus and whether I liked the combination. Answer is still a resounding yes.  Never meant to imply it's the best combo ever.
Had the question been about the best amps to pair with the HE-6, I would have directed him to that thread.  You get the point...
 
Now, despite all that, none of my SS attempts have resulted in answering the treble issue I mentioned.  The Stratus did.  That's all.  That's also why I have been looking into the current source amps, since, as you point out, that is the real issue...
 
Anyway, onto bigger and better things:  curious if any Stratus owners have been listening to LCD-3s on it like I have?