[sregor]

I received my HE-500 last night and still giving them a good listen before I pass any judgment. So far its neutrality has been very impressive, but I am not totally blown away.
 
I'm not sure if it is my source (EAC ripped CDs played with foobar2000 > HeadRoom Micro DAC & Micro Amp > HE-500) or that they aren't paired with a powerful enough amplifier. I spoke with Ben Thiede at HeadRoom and he said the Micro Amp should be fine to use with the HE-500.
 
Would there be something better to pair with these great cans? I was thinking maybe Burson HA-160D or Apex Hifi Butte?

 

[petervenkman]

Well, just pulled the trigger on a Lyr I found on Audiogon. Gonna be fed from a HRT Streamer II for now. Looking forward to hearing these through the Lyr..I've heard great things about the combo.

 

[sampson_smith]

Good call, PV. This is a very good pairing!

 

[WNBC]

I had a loaner Apex Butte for a couple weeks but way before I got the HE-500.  It sounded really good with the LCD-2 but only when I could throw something with a lot of voltage behind it using a CD player.  With the higher voltage that Butte was really amazing with plenty of slam/impact and clarity in the midrange.  The dynamics were not amazing when I tried it unbalanced from my DAC-2.  I also had the Schiit Lyr at the same time and found it to drive the orthos better than the Butte.  So if I had $500 or less to spend then I would pick up the $450 Lyr + $50 pair of tubes and be done.  If you're not looking to roll tubes then I guess the Lyr is off your radar.  No experience with the HA-160D.  So the Butte could be a good way to go but not necessarily if you don't have a powerful source to feed into it.  The small form factor of the Butte will be appealing to a lot of people.
 
Quote:

I received my HE-500 last night and still giving them a good listen before I pass any judgment. So far its neutrality has been very impressive, but I am not totally blown away.
 
I'm not sure if it is my source (EAC ripped CDs played with foobar2000 > HeadRoom Micro DAC & Micro Amp > HE-500) or that they aren't paired with a powerful enough amplifier. I spoke with Ben Thiede at HeadRoom and he said the Micro Amp should be fine to use with the HE-500.
 
Would there be something better to pair with these great cans? I was thinking maybe Burson HA-160D or Apex Hifi Butte?

 

 

[sregor]

I'm not terribly familiar with tube rolling. I have done it with extra tubes I have gotten when buying amps second hand, but other than that, not very familiar. I was looking at the Lyr and slowly working my way through this whole thread on the HE-500 to find out the consensus is as for a great matching amp. A Schiit Bifrost and Lyr seems to be a great pairing.
 
Quote:

I had a loaner Apex Butte for a couple weeks but way before I got the HE-500.  It sounded really good with the LCD-2 but only when I could throw something with a lot of voltage behind it using a CD player.  With the higher voltage that Butte was really amazing with plenty of slam/impact and clarity in the midrange.  The dynamics were not amazing when I tried it unbalanced from my DAC-2.  I also had the Schiit Lyr at the same time and found it to drive the orthos better than the Butte.  So if I had $500 or less to spend then I would pick up the $450 Lyr + $50 pair of tubes and be done.  If you're not looking to roll tubes then I guess the Lyr is off your radar.  No experience with the HA-160D.  So the Butte could be a good way to go but not necessarily if you don't have a powerful source to feed into it.  The small form factor of the Butte will be appealing to a lot of people.
 


 

 

 

[r_russ08]

 I have seen the V200, EF-5, burson 160D, Nuforce HDP, lyr and asgard mentioned in this thread.  From that list I I think I have things narrowed down to the v200, the 160D, and the asgard.  I don't really like the look of any tube amp currently available and would rather not deal with replacing, swapping, and researching tubes.
 
I like a brighter signature like the grado 325s.  Will all the amps on my simplified list do the trick?  Will one do it better than the other?

 

[winkyeye]

My HE-500's cable just broke at the left connector... The new silver cable is really poor quality and I really wish the phones came with the canare cable instead

 

[Ultrainferno]

Quote:

My HE-500's cable just broke at the left connector... The new silver cable is really poor quality and I really wish the phones came with the canare cable instead

Where exactly did it break?

 

[winkyeye]

at the end of the left connector's strain relief
 
BTW are the OCC HE-6 cables any better? My HE-500's cables weren't even properly litz braided at some points.

 

[nc8000]

The cables seem to continue to be the sore point. I've had defective cables with both the HE-4 and the HE-500

 

[winkyeye]

Just redid the connectors and added a heatshrink piece for the y splitter. What a pain

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

Quote:

Just redid the connectors and added a heatshrink piece for the y splitter. What a pain

I've had mine for about a week, now, and I've just encountered the same problem.  Would you happen to know of a guide on how to go about performing the same repair?
 
 

 

[winkyeye]

I just cut off the cable at the beginning of the strain relief and used the extra connectors they provided with some heatshrink tube for strain relief. + wire should be cut a bit longer than the - end. The + end goes into the connector and should be soldered onto the pin that is inside the connector. The - end can be soldered on anywhere on the connector that not in contact with the + terminal. I ended up reusing one of the connectors but it's a pain in the behind to remove all the rubber stuff they put inside the chamber that houses the + terminal pin.

 

[Cornu Ammonis]

Quote:

I just cut off the cable at the beginning of the strain relief and used the extra connectors they provided with some heatshrink tube for strain relief. + wire should be cut a bit longer than the - end. The + end goes into the connector and should be soldered onto the pin that is inside the connector. The - end can be soldered on anywhere on the connector that not in contact with the + terminal. I ended up reusing one of the connectors but it's a pain in the behind to remove all the rubber stuff they put inside the chamber that houses the + terminal pin.

I'm totally new to this, so you'll have to forgive me, but how can I tell the positive and negative wires apart?
 

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

I'm totally new to this, so you'll have to forgive me, but how can I tell the positive and negative wires apart?
 

With a multimeter?