[Chris_Himself]

  Meier Corda Classic here. 
 
Ran the He-500's effortlessly when I had them. 

 
German horsepower is best horsepower

 

[bourbonhoova]

Fearless1 - thanks a lot for your advice. Just one more question...in your signature you refer to the Lyr being ’magic’ with the HE-400/500, with the right tubes. How much would you say, I'd have to spend on a pair of tubes to make the HE-500 sound better on the Lyr than it does through the SA-31? (I mean more enjoyable to listen to in your opinion). I am a sucker for the Lyr’s good-looks.

Zoom25 - I don't remember exactly how much the shipping cost for the emotiva was going to be but.. I live in Perth, Australia (just about as remote from the U.S. as you can get I think). I just came to the conclusion that when you add on - say, $250 onto the price of the Mini-X for a quality, custom made cable and the shipping it wasn't really such a low-cost alternative any more. Also to be honest this thing will probably live next to my bed, and my ultra-tidy wife would definitely have a few things to say about me getting the idea in my head that the emotiva can sit permanently on my bedside cabinet. I do find the added bonus of it being suitable for smaller speakers appealing but I'm not real keen on investing money into modding my headphones.

Llloyd - you may be right but this is how it is for me: I started out looking at head-fi about a year ago with a budget limit of $300 in my head. I ended up with $700 headphones via owning a couple of more bass-head models on the way (that I just couldn't be totally happy with). My budget for the amp has consequently had to double in order to get something that powers the ortho’s properly. I do realise that having a decent source is an important part of the chain, but unfortunately I just can't afford to spend over a grand on an amp & DAC right now. But at the same time I know I won't be happy with my set-up unless it has bass that puts a smile on my face ... so I've been wanting to upgrade my amp for about 6 months. I'll keep your point in mind a little further down the track but finances are a limiting factor.

Sorry if this post rambles on and on ... I don't have Internet this week (having just moved house) so I'm having to type it on my phone.

 

[nicholars]

Do the HE500 have as much bass as the HE400?

 

[Zoom25]

Zoom25 - I don't remember exactly how much the shipping cost for the emotiva was going to be but.. I live in Perth, Australia (just about as remote from the U.S. as you can get I think). I just came to the conclusion that when you add on - say, $250 onto the price of the Mini-X for a quality, custom made cable and the shipping it wasn't really such a low-cost alternative any more. Also to be honest this thing will probably live next to my bed, and my ultra-tidy wife would definitely have a few things to say about me getting the idea in my head that the emotiva can sit permanently on my bedside cabinet. I do find the added bonus of it being suitable for smaller speakers appealing but I'm not real keen on investing money into modding my headphones.

 
Hmmm fair enough. Although regarding prices, it's not that bad apparently. I talked to some of my friends in Australia and they said Emotiva works out quite well for them. This was about those XPA 5.1 amps though. It was easier on their wallet in comparison to other brands like Marantz. The cost of cables can vary quite a bit, so there is that to consider. What I did was get a balanced cable and left it on permanently. Then I got two adapters made. One with banana plugs for speaker use and another adapter for single ended use. Also, space wise it's actually not that bad. My Marantz on the other hand takes much more space. You can always ask them for a quote for your own reference purpose

 

[daerron]

Importing my Mini-X to South Africa was also quite expensive, though it still ended up being relatively good value for money, but the same holds true for almost anything you buy here. I weighed the price against something like a Rega Brio-R which ended up being more than double as expensive as the Mini-X after I added all the costs, so I reckon its still worth it. You do take a knock if you want to sell it on again. Nobody else cares about the additional costs one incurred importing the unit, they only look at the listed price on the website! The XPA amps are more worthwhile importing compared to the price of local offerings.

 

[hifimanrookie]

i need some advice guys...i know i said i was not going to post anymore on this thread..but i am in big doubts..and i need second opinions..as as u guys are deadly honest..i turn to u
 
it concerns the top of my new amp...i saw this pic of their new creation and i was thinking about letting them doing the same to my new amp...
 
what u think guys? the see through thingie...remember..my amp is black..not white...shall i do it also?
 
i know u guys are very direct and honest..so i count on ur honest advice..
 
thanks..
 

 

 

[alota]

this is just one amplifier???

and i thought mine was big

 

[modulor]

Nice!  It's probably a separate amp and power supply design, but they look pretty serious.  I say go for it, the windowed view is pretty neat!

 

[hifimanrookie]

no complete amp..its just a pre-amp!

 

[alota]

  no complete amp..its just a pre-amp!

 
what????just a preamp?and the rest where you put it?
you need a new house

 

[hifimanrookie]

   
what????just a preamp?and the rest where you put it?
you need a new house

yeah they do BIG..mine will be a little less high...but rest will have same measurements...
i have a dedicated audio rack though to house it...and as u know my evil 337 was huge also and he fitted perfectly as u can see on my pics! so nothing new here.

 
and thanks for ur replies until now guys! ur the best...am waiting for some more

 

[nk77]

I've had great success as with others with the Topping TP60 via speaker taps, similar power to the Emotiva so no need to use resistors. It would be putting about 10 watts into the HE500s which is plenty. Cost = $200 delivered.

 
Take worst scenario and power efficiency at 8 (EDIT: 4) ohm rating then it would be closer to 7 Watts max (which I assume is 3.5W per channel). How is the noise level (hum at low volume) and heat? Is volume control good?
 
BTW where did you manange to find it at $200 delivered (I assume you bought it on eBay)? 

 

[nk77]

  i need some advice guys...i know i said i was not going to post anymore on this thread..but i am in big doubts..and i need second opinions..as as u guys are deadly honest..i turn to u
 
it concerns the top of my new amp...i saw this pic of their new creation and i was thinking about letting them doing the same to my new amp...
 
what u think guys? the see through thingie...remember..my amp is black..not white...shall i do it also?
 
i know u guys are very direct and honest..so i count on ur honest advice..
 
thanks..

 
Are you going to have tubes going through the top in yours? So what is the difference in material for the top covers - one metal and the other perspex??

 

[hifimanrookie]

Are you going to have tubes going through the top in yours? So what is the difference in material for the top covers - one metal and the other perspex??

Amp is going to be totally opamp based..completely hardwired..no tubes..and also not really a SS amp..as i said before..it will be based on their NSL amp..to be said being outside the SS OR tube territory..
Standard material is black colored quality metal (no aluminium) and this is black smoked perspex.. This see-through look looks way cooler..but am afraid that it will be to much bling bling or affecting cooling efficiency..
Thats why i asked u guys.

 

[khaine1711]

Go for standard metal, maybe with venting holes.
 
Perspex/Acrylic looks very catchy at first sight, but gets old really fast (like a transparent acrylic PC case vs a classy Lian Li aluminum case if you catch my drift).