harrinj
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Nov 14, 2012
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Why does it say on the hifiman website that the speaker balanced adapter is not for the HE-500?
Why does it say on the hifiman website that the speaker balanced adapter is not for the HE-500?
Why does it say on the hifiman website that the speaker balanced adapter is not for the HE-500?
Probably because they are trying to make a point of the fact that the HE500 is easier to drive than the 5/5le/he6.
I just picked these up at Hong Kong. I went into an audio equipment store looking for an amp for my Denon D2000 cans and/or Westone 4s, but ended up picking these up with the amp. I honestly didn't even think about putting these on, because quite honestly, I could not recall hearing or reading about the brand of headphones. The guys at the store hooked the HE-400 up to the amp they recommended as I wanted to see what kind of an effect the amp might have (as I head never previously owned a headphone amplifier). Listening to just a bit of Adele's '21' on their Mac, withthe amp in the middle, I was quite stunned by the difference between what I was listening to at home on my PC and what I was presently demoing. They thought they would be on quite par with my Denons in terms of what I might expect to hear at home, but I begged to differ: the Denons are great, but these were incredible.
After a little bit of haggling and demoing the step-down model from the HE-400 (which I found lacking compared to my cans at home) and a cheaper Pro-Ject amp just for the sake of trying them out, we settled at a price somewhere in the 5400 HKD range for the HE-400 headphones and an Audinst HUD-MX2 Amp.
Just before sealing the deal on that package though, I thought I'd ask what the HE-500s would run me. I gave them a brief listen, without an in-depth comparison between the two, and in the spur of a moment, grabbed onto them. Haggling ensued, and I finally ended up paying a mere 6600 HKD or roughly 640€ for both items (Audinst amp & HE-500 headphones). I think I got pretty good deal, considering these weren't used demo pieces either. I went ahead and checked prices for the headphones alone in Finland, and it turns out those would've run me 699€ plus shipping alone - so the amp was practically free.
Speaking of which I did Google and try to make sense if the amp was sufficient enough (even though the guys at the store were knowledgeable, and assured me it'd be powerful enough to drive them). From what I gathered, it should give me the sound expected from the cans, if not the best that they can produce - which for me, at this point, should do very well. Especially at the given price point.
Now I'm 2 weeks from departure and heading back home, and I'm already driven mad staring at this box - I don't have any means to listen to them as I didn't take a laptop with me.
/blog
I just can't wait to get home and retire my Denons!
Also, my first post here - wohoo.
$2,000?
I'm running my HE-500 off a $20 Lepai 2020a+, and it is leaps and bounds better than any headphone amp I've tried under $1,000. $20 is extremely cheap.
It is actually better than the $129 200W Lepai amp I have. I can't get that to work with the HE-500 yet, despite the stronger than Emotiva Mini-X power.
... Power is power, unlike with tube or hybrid amps.
One of the most epic posts I've seen to date.That statement is so loaded I don't know whether I should open up the can of worm...
lol. I wasn't disagreeing with you. I just stated that your post was one of the boldest, straight up posts I've seen. It all comes down to if you are happy with your setup and getting the sound you are satisfied with, it doesn't matter how much you pay. What a subjective can of worms.