[kid vic]

Any time I put the HE500 on after a listening session with other cans, no matter how purportedly good or expensive the other headphones are, is like breathing new life into the music. They are my quintessential "reference" headphone for anything Jazz related which accounts for the majority of my listening. The weight and breadth of each note is still astonishing after all these years. I've owned cans 12x the price of the HE500 and currently own the Diana TC. Most modern planars sound absolutely lean and light compared to it, lacking body definition to notes. The HE500 reproduces horns with pin point harmonic fidelity and follows through the entire sound spectra with a full weighty bite most cans I auditioned are lacking.

I have dubbed the HE500 "The Gatekeeper" in my collection; effectively, if a new headphone is not at least as good as the HE500 it will not stay in my collection. Right now I am genuinely considering keeping my HE500 and selling my HE1000 now that I am moving towards electrostatics, so I completely get where you are coming from.

 

[wmedrz]

I have dubbed the HE500 "The Gatekeeper" in my collection; effectively, if a new headphone is not at least as good as the HE500 it will not stay in my collection. Right now I am genuinely considering keeping my HE500 and selling my HE1000 now that I am moving towards electrostatics, so I completely get where you are coming from.

Out of all these cans, can you guess which one I kept? Picture was taken around 2017:

 

[antikryst]

had my HE500 moded with dual 3.5 pin so i could replace the garbage cable. waiting for my new dekoni pads. i only have 1 headphone stand on my desk. and the HE500 is back on the stand

this is one headphone i will never sell.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Which Dekoni pads did you get?

 

[TWerk]

had my HE500 moded with dual 3.5 pin so i could replace the garbage cable. waiting for my new dekoni pads. i only have 1 headphone stand on my desk. and the HE500 is back on the stand

this is one headphone i will never sell.

Good decision!

I never understood why the HE-6 maintained it's value and goes for like $1,800 now used and HE-500 value dropped to like $400 used when MSRP was $900.

It is a rare headphone that many of us love and it has characteristics special to it that even the 6 doesn't have like those incredibly sweet mids.

If anything, the HE6SE should have nerfed the price of the OG 6.

 

[wmedrz]

had my HE500 moded with dual 3.5 pin so i could replace the garbage cable. waiting for my new dekoni pads. i only have 1 headphone stand on my desk. and the HE500 is back on the stand

this is one headphone i will never sell.

Just want to throw this out there - I had the fenestrated sheepskin on for the longest time and got some Modhouse Xenon sheepskin in today for another headphone. They didn't fit that headphone so I threw some hifiman rings in and attached to the HE500...3 hours later and I'm still here listening while I have stuff to do They're the same price as the Dekoni sheepskin and sound amazing. The dekoni have a smaller diameter with a more intimate stage and mid, slightly weaker bass. The Xenon has a wider diameter, improves the soundstage, and provides beautifully textured bass. They are a touch more tizzy up top though, but with the wider stage it's almost unnoticeable.

 

[wmedrz]

Good decision!

I never understood why the HE-6 maintained it's value and goes for like $1,800 now used and HE-500 value dropped to like $400 used when MSRP was $900.

It is a rare headphone that many of us love and it has characteristics special to it that even the 6 doesn't have like those incredibly sweet mids.

If anything, the HE6SE should have nerfed the price of the OG 6.

I've wondered the same and think it has to do with the scarcity of the HE6. From what I remember the HE500 was originally 900 but dropped to around 600 fairly quickly. It was a more accessible headphone for most people at that price. It could also be driven with a moderately powerful headphone amp unlike the HE6 which needs gobs of power, so more people bought it. Another thing if memory serves right, the HE6 was discontinued before the HE500...I believe 2 or 3 years (or maybe more). I see more HE6s for sale with with one broken driver leading me to believe there are many that failed as a result of people driving them with high voltage speaker amps. All this makes me think there are many more HE500s in the wild today than the HE6 which is a far more elusive beast. The price has held up pretty well for the HE500 after all these years compared with many HFM cans though, but they aren't as scarce. There is also this "mystique" about the HE6 - if you pair it with the right amp it's the "greatest ever" type thing and people chase that.

 

[ruthieandjohn]

A Secret Brotherhood lives here on head-fi — the brotherhood of HE-500 aficionados. You need to have been around for some time to have gotten the HE-500 when it was the new thing from HiFiMAN. Latecomers have had to be convinced and educated by these senior HE-500 lovers. I feel privileged to have an HE-500. I feel particularly foolish to have sold my first one in a fit of headphone herd trimming, and I feel particularly fortunate to have been able to snag another one. I love this headphone!

 

[Nimzerz]

I'll be honest, after having owned both the HE-500 and HE-6, I do think there is a reason why the HE-6 is valued far more than the HE-500. It is a far more technically capable headphone, but as many of you said, there are unique qualities of each that are great. The main draw to the HE-6 IMO is the fact that it was (and maybe still is) one of the only headphones that expands on the technical capabilities of the HE-500 while still maintaining the overall sonic character of it. You do lose out on some of the musicality of the headphone, in particular the mids and mid-bass which are very fun for some genres, but the clarity, bass extension, and bass definition are far above what the HE-500 offers and gives someone a reason to own both.

 

[TWerk]

Have you tried HE6SE though? I find what you said true of that headphone also.

 

[Nimzerz]

Have you tried HE6SE though? I find what you said true of that headphone also.

I haven't had the opportunity to hear the HE6SE, sorry

 

[r343]

Have you tried HE6SE though? I find what you said true of that headphone also.

Bought HE6SE couple years ago but that turned out disappointing for me.
It did better imaging and separation but soundstage was not great as HE500 and dynamics were flat, that unit could have been dud (tried with ~5 amps) so i am thinking of giving it a new chance at some point thou the headband is one of the worst ever in HE6SEV2.

Arya Organic did pretty good job because it had gained bass heft and dynamics, resolved better and hand more soundstage than HE500 but guy who made the tuning must have listened it in 15 minute intervals because high treble is just trough the roof.

 

[omarccxr]

The headband is kinda why I sold my HE500. Even with the zmf headband cushion the weight was s bit much if you don't have much hair on top. I didn't want to bother with a headband swap either.
But they were the headphones I would grab whenever someone came to the house and I wanted to share the hifi experience with them.

 

[bagwell359]

The HE-6 (4 & 6 screw) have the cult/aura because of the:

* bass impact
* ridiculous amp requirements (in the early years before desktop amps came out that had the juice).
* initial cost/rarity

The HE-6 6 screw is bright/angry in the treble (4 screw even more so) which is where it gets a lot of this "hyper definition" rep from. It also has a recessive midrage, that sometimes has the scratchy coloration that the HE-5LE has in spades. The SE models are denigrated for not having the bass impact of the OG (and they don't - theorized as more glue holding the stators). But they are much better balanced IMO, and have very fine bass at the Adorama price range.

With PEQ and mods, the 500 becomes more technical and more balanced, but maintains its way with female vocals that is addictive. Every fan here really has to try the fuzzor mod - cuts reflections and cancellations - which increases focus, and calms them - very few changes on any equipment will get you that.

I mentioned this, but I'll say it again. In October went to a Schiit sponsored meet, and heard lots of great cans (14), and about 2/3 were arguably better (some by a little, a few by more), but none of them made me want to spend the $3 or $5k on them.

 

[ozz007]

The HE-6 (4 & 6 screw) have the cult/aura because of the:

* bass impact
* ridiculous amp requirements (in the early years before desktop amps came out that had the juice).
* initial cost/rarity

The HE-6 6 screw is bright/angry in the treble (4 screw even more so) which is where it gets a lot of this "hyper definition" rep from. It also has a recessive midrage, that sometimes has the scratchy coloration that the HE-5LE has in spades. The SE models are denigrated for not having the bass impact of the OG (and they don't - theorized as more glue holding the stators). But they are much better balanced IMO, and have very fine bass at the Adorama price range.

With PEQ and mods, the 500 becomes more technical and more balanced, but maintains its way with female vocals that is addictive. Every fan here really has to try the fuzzor mod - cuts reflections and cancellations - which increases focus, and calms them - very few changes on any equipment will get you that.

I mentioned this, but I'll say it again. In October went to a Schiit sponsored meet, and heard lots of great cans (14), and about 2/3 were arguably better (some by a little, a few by more), but none of them made me want to spend the $3 or $5k on them.

Do you have a guide on how to perform this fuzzor mod?