[Robert777]

Thank you so much @plakat - you are a star.
 
Cheers.

 

[Whazzzup]

Thank you so much @plakat
 - you are a star.

Cheers.

Let us know how the e6 sounds on your a8. Im curious but pretty satisfied with the 900

 

[Robert777]

Let us know how the e6 sounds on your a8. Im curious but pretty satisfied with the 900

The HE-6 is on its way. I believe it has been discontinued and I really wanted to own one.
 
I will be purchasing a more powerful amp but not until next year.
 
Cheers.

 

[Robert777]

Let us know how the e6 sounds on your a8. Im curious but pretty satisfied with the 900

I finally heard the HE-6 with the HP-A8.......... outstanding, but I shall be returning the Hifiman headphones.
 
I slightly prefer the HE-6 to my TH900's. The bass is tighter and the midrange is fuller. This improved tonality and timbre to male voices and to guitar strings adds to my enjoyment of the music. I never heard the so-called recessed midrange of the Fostex headphones until I compared them to HE-6's. The reason I am returning them is because the improvements in sound are incredibly subtle, as I am starting to appreciate that most things are at this level, and I do not have the money to own multiple pairs of headphones with just subtle differences.
 
I do not doubt that with proper amping the HE-6's would shine even more, but I enjoyed them on my current set-up.
 
I also obtained a new amplifier; the Audio-gd SA-31SE. This was to pair with the HE-6 as it outputs 10watts into 40ohm's.
Using this amplifier made again very subtle improvements to the HE-6 but it was not a huge improvement over the Fostex amp.
 
I decided to keep the Audio-gd amp to use with my TH900's as this amp has added an effortlessness to the music and improved clarity and separation. The improvements and refinement are so subtle but they are there. I now get swept up by the music even more than before, and have an amplifier that should power any headphone I add to my collection in the future.
 
One thing I will add is that I do not think that either the Fostex or Audio-gd amplifiers came close to powering the HE-6 to their full potential. I really enjoyed the sound but the bass was no where near as thunderous as the TH900's and I have read countless posts about properly amped HE'6's providing visceral skull shattering bass.
 
If I had the money, I would have kept the HE-6 headphones powered by my HP-A8 and my TH900's would have been relegated to second fiddle.
 
On a separate note, my wife hated the HE-6 headphones. She proclaimed them to have no bass and to be boring.... She likes Beats!
 
Cheers.

 

[Whazzzup]

Good to know and thx. I think we hit it right with first purchase as well, for me the portable chord Hugo is a good compliment to a8 and have not felt motivated to add anything either. Happy listening.

Spoiler alert


Chord Hugo TT in the house. I lied and it's good.

 

[jellofund]

Hi,
 
Thought I'd revive this thread as I have the chance to buy a HP-A8 for a decent price.
 
I'm not in a position to audition prior to purchase but have heard it suggested that the headphone out's output impedance might potentially be a little on the high side. Which is a concern as I have a number of low impedance headphones I'd potentially use with it. 
 
I know that that the TH-900, 25 ohm / 100 dB I think, is meant to pair well with this unit but wondered if anyone either knows the output impedance (suspect Foster don't make this common knowledge) or has experience of using other low impedance 'phones with it? If so how did you find them?
 
Thank you!

 

[Robert777]

  Hi,
 
Thought I'd revive this thread as I have the chance to buy a HP-A8 for a decent price.
 
I'm not in a position to audition prior to purchase but have heard it suggested that the headphone out's output impedance might potentially be a little on the high side. Which is a concern as I have a number of low impedance headphones I'd potentially use with it. 
 
I know that that the TH-900, 25 ohm / 100 dB I think, is meant to pair well with this unit but wondered if anyone either knows the output impedance (suspect Foster don't make this common knowledge) or has experience of using other low impedance 'phones with it? If so how did you find them?
 
Thank you!

I do not know the output impedance but the manual says it supports headphones between 16 - 600 ohms.
My SZ2000's have an impedance of 16 ohm's and I have no problems listening to them on the HP-A8. I mean, it is not a good pairing, but there are no problems with background hiss.  Of course, it has been speculated that the actual impedance of these phones is closer to 25 ohm's.
 
Cheers.

 

[jellofund]

@Robert777
 
Thanks for the reply and for sharing your experiences with the SZ2000.
 
The dealer I've been speaking to did say that even with the Sonorous VI (8 ohms) there was no hiss and decent volume control so that shouldn't be an issue. Biggest concern I really have now is that if the headphone out's output impedance is high that can potentially  be a problem with some low impedance headphones due to the low damping factor. Some seem more susceptible than others.
 
When you say the pairing isn't a good one is there anything in particular you dislike about it?
 
Cheers again

 

[Robert777]

  @Robert777
 
Thanks for the reply and for sharing your experiences with the SZ2000.
 
The dealer I've been speaking to did say that even with the Sonorous VI (8 ohms) there was no hiss and decent volume control so that shouldn't be an issue. Biggest concern I really have now is that if the headphone out's output impedance is high that can potentially  be a problem with some low impedance headphones due to the low damping factor. Some seem more susceptible than others.
 
When you say the pairing isn't a good one is there anything in particular you dislike about it?
 
Cheers again

I only listened to them for five minutes because I thought they may be broken and wanted to test them on all my amps. What instantly struck me was that they sounded really thick and congested. I do not think it was anything to do with power or impedance, just a poor match.
 
Every other headphone I have ever tried with the HP-A8 sounds wonderful: TH900, TH600, HE-6, HE-400, HE-400i, FAD VI, TH500RP, HD800. Maybe wonderful for the HD800 is a stretch. That sounds much better on my more powerful amp.
 
Cheers.

 

[Whazzzup]

 
@Robert777


Thanks for the reply and for sharing your experiences with the SZ2000.

The dealer I've been speaking to did say that even with the Sonorous VI (8 ohms) there was no hiss and decent volume control so that shouldn't be an issue. Biggest concern I really have now is that if the headphone out's output impedance is high that can potentially  be a problem with some low impedance headphones due to the low damping factor. Some seem more susceptible than others.

When you say the pairing isn't a good one is there anything in particular you dislike about it?

Cheers again

I only listened to them for five minutes because I thought they may be broken and wanted to test them on all my amps. What instantly struck me was that they sounded really thick and congested. I do not think it was anything to do with power or impedance, just a poor match.

Every other headphone I have ever tried with the HP-A8 sounds wonderful: TH900, TH600, HE-6, HE-400, HE-400i, FAD VI, TH500RP, HD800. Maybe wonderful for the HD800 is a stretch. That sounds much better on my more powerful amp.

Cheers.

Hd800S sounds fine on a8. I had to crank it way up in volume and higher gain but sounded fine. I do prefer my new chord Hugo TT, but it's just a tad tighter in the low end slam, slight better Mids with more detail, but a8 can get it done.

 

[abhinit90]

Googled, but couldn't find an answer. Is the A-8 the same as the A-8C

 

[Whazzzup]

  Googled, but couldn't find an answer. Is the A-8 the same as the A-8C

power supply for your local will depend on which you are shipped

 

[abhinit90]

 
power supply for your local will depend on which you are shipped

Maybe I was unclear.
 
There seems to be two models Fostex HP-A8 and HP-A8C. Is there any difference between the two?

 

[jellofund]

 
Maybe I was unclear.
 
There seems to be two models Fostex HP-A8 and HP-A8C. Is there any difference between the two?

 
I think Whazzzup partially answered your question.
 
My understanding (from reading some discussion earlier in the thread) is that they are essentially idenitical. C denotes the international version (warranty wise & internal power jumper will be set for the appropriate territory) whereas the 'regular' A8 is the Japanese model.
 
Only other difference I'm aware of is the colour of the side panels. May have got this the wrong way round but I think HP-A8 has silver and A8-C black, although I believe the glass front panel still reads as HP-A8 on both models.

 

[Whazzzup]

 

 
power supply for your local will depend on which you are shipped

Maybe I was unclear.
 
There seems to be two models Fostex HP-A8 and HP-A8C. Is there any difference between the two?

ellipsoid is difficult to find but in north america you get the HP a8 black version. other locals get the C for their ps variances