[Clemmaster]

No 

 

[Jesterphile]

Quote:

No 

lol. Well I hope it stays in then

 

[preproman]

Quote:

OKay Had the HD650's and I disliked them.
 
Bit the bullet and purchased the HE-500's.....I also own the grado Rs1's.
 
These are so far ahead of those headphones its quite scary. For the price you pay for these, I can't believe the sound they produce. I auditioned the LCD2 and T1's These sounded better than the T1's and to my ears equal to the LCD2.......for $500 cheaper that is a real bargin.
 
 
question what pads do you guys use? velour or pleather? 
 
I too like a few others have reached the end of the road with audio enjoyment with these headphones. I can't see myself upgrading from here. 
 
thanks. 

 
 
Yes it is.  Plus you don't feel like your in a closet listening to your music like with the LCD-2..

  

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

OKay Had the HD650's and I disliked them.
 
Bit the bullet and purchased the HE-500's.....I also own the grado Rs1's.
 
These are so far ahead of those headphones its quite scary. For the price you pay for these, I can't believe the sound they produce. I auditioned the LCD2 and T1's These sounded better than the T1's and to my ears equal to the LCD2.......for $500 cheaper that is a real bargin.
 
 
question what pads do you guys use? velour or pleather? 
 
I too like a few others have reached the end of the road with audio enjoyment with these headphones. I can't see myself upgrading from here. 
 
thanks. 

 
i feel the same way about the HE-500 vs. hd 650 and rs1.
 
i still prefer the T1 over the HE-500 though, to me with the velours, they sound extremely similar, especially in the midrange (both have quite a neutral midrange presentation), but the WA2 takes the T1 to the next level. the HE-500 come close to the T1's performance though at half the price (half the 1399$ MSRP)

 

[OldSkool]

Quote:

 
i feel the same way about the HE-500 vs. hd 650 and rs1.
 
i still prefer the T1 over the HE-500 though, to me with the velours, they sound extremely similar, especially in the midrange (both have quite a neutral midrange presentation), but the WA2 takes the T1 to the next level. the HE-500 come close to the T1's performance though at half the price (half the 1399$ MSRP)

DG, what's your impression of the HE500 with either of your Woo amps? Any synergy there at all?

 

[Sanlitun]

Quote:

Do you think the lyr no tube rolling will be a big upgrade over the asgard 2 with the he500

 
 
I am running my HE-500's with an Asgard 2 and I am not really feeling it. It sounds good, but I don't feel it allows the HE-500's to use their full potential.
 
I am considering replacing the A2 and recently I have heard the HE-500's through the Burson Conductor, the Teac HA501/UD501 and the Schiit Lyr with stock tubes. 
 
There were two surprises with this, the first was that I didn't think the Conductor was fundamentally better than the A2 with the HE-500s (Gasp!). The second surprise was that I thought the Lyr sounded best by some margin out of all of the equipment I had heard with these phones so far. The Lyr seemed to be able to bring soundstage, high end and treble to the HE-500's. I am sure there are other Amps that sound great as well but I have not been able to audition them. As well I should mention the A2 sounds great with my HD650s, but I just don't think it has the juice for the HE-500s.
 
Anyways if I could redo it I would have ordered the Lyr.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Wa2 cannot drive the HE-500, not enough power cause of the OTL nature of the amp.
 
the WA6-SE is powered very well and sounds great. i use pleathers because the velours are bright and edgy sounding. the WA6-SE sounds great with the pleathers though, clean bass, open/forward sounding midrange, very neutral, and the treble is smooth but very well extended. overall the sound is very clean, detailed, and uncolored, but still smooth. haven't heard the HE-500 off any other decent amp, so i can't really comment on how good the synergy is, but the WA6-SE definitely works great with them. 
 
just as with the LCD-2, i found the 6GL7  and 596 tube combo to be one of the best. the extra gain and dynamics from this combo really help open them up. other tube combinations such as sophia or 6ew7 where ok too, but could be a little slower or more congested at times. note: the WA6-SE is not a sweet or overly tubey sounding amp, its more SS is nature, someone seeking a neutral sound with just a bit of ortho flavor will love this combo quite a bit, i love HE-500/WA6-SE with vocals and electronic music in general. does good with just about anything, very forgiving of poor recordings as well.

 

[OldSkool]

Quote:

Wa2 cannot drive the HE-500, not enough power cause of the OTL nature of the amp.
 
the WA6-SE is powered very well and sounds great. i use pleathers because the velours are bright and edgy sounding. the WA6-SE sounds great with the pleathers though, clean bass, open/forward sounding midrange, very neutral, and the treble is smooth but very well extended. overall the sound is very clean, detailed, and uncolored, but still smooth. haven't heard the HE-500 off any other decent amp, so i can't really comment on how good the synergy is, but the WA6-SE definitely works great with them. 
 
just as with the LCD-2, i found the 6GL7  and 596 tube combo to be one of the best. the extra gain and dynamics from this combo really help open them up. other tube combinations such as sophia or 6ew7 where ok too, but could be a little slower or more congested at times. 

Thanks! Your awesome review just answered my tube questions, also.

 
And...I just moved the WA6-SE to the top of my list.
 

 

[MickeyVee]

Speaking of Woo, anyone tried the new WA7 with the HE500? Looks yummy, reviews are good so far and it may be an awesome one box setup.

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

 
 
Yes it is.  Plus you don't feel like your in a closet listening to your music like with the LCD-2..

  

 
Perhaps. Although a closet with more height and depth

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
Perhaps. Although a closet with more height and depth

I need more width than height

 

[Llloyd]

Quote:

 
 
I am running my HE-500's with an Asgard 2 and I am not really feeling it. It sounds good, but I don't feel it allows the HE-500's to use their full potential.
 
I am considering replacing the A2 and recently I have heard the HE-500's through the Burson Conductor, the Teac HA501/UD501 and the Schiit Lyr with stock tubes. 
 
There were two surprises with this, the first was that I didn't think the Conductor was fundamentally better than the A2 with the HE-500s (Gasp!). The second surprise was that I thought the Lyr sounded best by some margin out of all of the equipment I had heard with these phones so far. The Lyr seemed to be able to bring soundstage, high end and treble to the HE-500's. I am sure there are other Amps that sound great as well but I have not been able to audition them. As well I should mention the A2 sounds great with my HD650s, but I just don't think it has the juice for the HE-500s.
 
Anyways if I could redo it I would have ordered the Lyr.

 
yeah i was not a big fan of the asgard 1 with the he-500, it's a little flat sounding to my ears. I even prefered my little dot MKII over the asgard even though it was sacrificing a little bit of clarity for dynamics and warmth(probably a little too much warmth but it has nice character).  The lyr is a reasonable amp for its price point.  It definitely meets the needs of the HE-500, I would still rather go with the bottlehead s.e.x. over the lyr tho.  I just find the lyr to be... idk.  It's fine I just dont prefer its qualities I guess.  I can't say that I feel it's not worth the money.  It's a reasonable competitor.  Maybe I'm a bigger fan of their DAC gear for the price compared to their amps.  Or their DAC gear intrigues me more compared to their amplifier design, which seems to come from a different approach.

 

[Dubstep Girl]

Quote:

Thanks! Your awesome review just answered my tube questions, also.

 
And...I just moved the WA6-SE to the top of my list.
 

 
 

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

I need more width than height

 
Ah, very true. Same here. Although the depth precedes the width for me in a relative ratio.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

 
Ah, very true. Same here. Although the depth precedes the width for me in a relative ratio.