Solude
Headphoneus Supremus
TTVJ has had the HE-500 and HE-6 on their Deal of the Day before. I almost pulled the trigger on an HE-500 earlier this week because it was down to $630.
HiFiman HE-500 (HE as in High End) Proving to be an enjoyable experience in listening.
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rogersjd14
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The he500 is not all about power like the he5le or the he6... But u do need a quality amp..my amp is dual mono 1w per channel..and it sounds far better with the he500 then the mini powerhouse shiit lyr..its all about quality..and ur ears.. Yes the planars are more difficult to drive..but a good quality amp would be able to drive it well. Its all about synergy between the amp and the he500.. For ur info..the matrix mstage is even less the 1watt..and i used it with gainon 10db to burn in my he500 and he did it very well.. My 337 ofcourse blew him out ofthewater with the tubes i have..but it was better then some other amps outthere.. Just try some amps..and let ur ears decide
The he500 is not all about power like the he5le or the he6... But u do need a quality amp..my amp is dual mono 1w per channel..and it sounds far better with the he500 then the mini powerhouse shiit lyr..its all about quality..and ur ears.. Yes the planars are more difficult to drive..but a good quality amp would be able to drive it well. Its all about synergy between the amp and the he500.. For ur info..the matrix mstage is even less the 1watt..and i used it with gainon 10db to burn in my he500 and he did it very well.. My 337 ofcourse blew him out ofthewater with the tubes i have..but it was better then some other amps outthere.. Just try some amps..and let ur ears decide
jckp919
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I just ordered a WA7 and it so happened that the dealer has extra stock and I got to pick mine up today! so lucky! I tried it at the local dealer before I made the purchase. Not only does this small cube look great, but also sounds great with my HE-500 + cardas clear headphone cable!! WA7 drives the HE-500 pretty well with great clarity! I don't know if there is anyone found that the soundstage of HE500 is a bit weird (when using the stock cable (silver) and other amps) or it just me, but with the WA7, the soundstage becomes wider and "normal" to me! I believe the sound would change with different sets of tubes. I will try to write a review for my HE-500 with WA7 after it run-in for some time...
(I was going to try my WA7 at my office..but Windows 7 didn't install the driver properly. I notice from the Woo Audio website that they will release a customized driver for the DAC and I am asking Jack of Woo Audio to send it to me so that I can try the DAC section. I also placed an order for the pico power and hopefully it will drive my HE500 as good as the WA7!!)
Thank you guys for all the help, I will be getting the headphones then the amp in the next month, thx again for all the info guys, it has help me make my decision. That sucks it does not come with the fancy box lol, side question though, how do you think the Woo Audio WA7 will fair with these? i know a lot of people recommend the schiit lyr and dac, but the WA7 has it all in one, for the same price i believe, with the looks to go with it!
I just ordered a WA7 and it so happened that the dealer has extra stock and I got to pick mine up today! so lucky! I tried it at the local dealer before I made the purchase. Not only does this small cube look great, but also sounds great with my HE-500 + cardas clear headphone cable!! WA7 drives the HE-500 pretty well with great clarity! I don't know if there is anyone found that the soundstage of HE500 is a bit weird (when using the stock cable (silver) and other amps) or it just me, but with the WA7, the soundstage becomes wider and "normal" to me! I believe the sound would change with different sets of tubes. I will try to write a review for my HE-500 with WA7 after it run-in for some time...
(I was going to try my WA7 at my office..but Windows 7 didn't install the driver properly. I notice from the Woo Audio website that they will release a customized driver for the DAC and I am asking Jack of Woo Audio to send it to me so that I can try the DAC section. I also placed an order for the pico power and hopefully it will drive my HE500 as good as the WA7!!)
MrTie84
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Yeah I'm one of the speaker amp using weirdo's, I'm sure the WA7 will do a good job, I'm just leery of anything less then around 2 watts.
That thing is very nice looking to boot.
The he500 is not all about power like the he5le or the he6... But u do need a quality amp..my amp is dual mono 1w per channel..and it sounds far better with the he500 then the mini powerhouse shiit lyr..its all about quality..and ur ears.. Yes the planars are more difficult to drive..but a good quality amp would be able to drive it well. Its all about synergy between the amp and the he500.. For ur info..the matrix mstage is even less the 1watt..and i used it with gainon 10db to burn in my he500 and he did it very well.. My 337 ofcourse blew him out ofthewater with the tubes i have..but it was better then some other amps outthere.. Just try some amps..and let ur ears decide
Yeah I'm one of the speaker amp using weirdo's, I'm sure the WA7 will do a good job, I'm just leery of anything less then around 2 watts.
That thing is very nice looking to boot.
Llloyd
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I didn't know this had come out. What a beautiful amp. I love woo products and design!
Thank you guys for all the help, I will be getting the headphones then the amp in the next month, thx again for all the info guys, it has help me make my decision. That sucks it does not come with the fancy box lol, side question though, how do you think the Woo Audio WA7 will fair with these? i know a lot of people recommend the schiit lyr and dac, but the WA7 has it all in one, for the same price i believe, with the looks to go with it!
I didn't know this had come out. What a beautiful amp. I love woo products and design!
LugBug1
Headphoneus Supremus
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Very nice design. Kind of a nice ornament with the glow of the tubes aswell.
Zoom25
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Hey, I would say let the HE-500 for a while before getting a final picture. Well of course it is partially you getting used to the sound, so it doesn't have to be burn in. However in my case, I went from a used HE-500 fully burned in to a new replacement which sounded bad at first. After a while it finally returned to the original sound. I would give it a week. Regarding the volume level for burn in, play slightly louder than what you are used to.
I don't know which O2 you have. My O2 is from JDS Labs with the stock gain settings. At first, I kept going to high gain in an effort to get more bass thump, but it had woo too much distortion. After getting used to the O2's sound, I kept it at low gain. For the past few months, with HE-500 and LCD-2, I keep it at low gain position and stay anywhere from 11-1 o clock. No need for high gain for sure.
Hey, I would say let the HE-500 for a while before getting a final picture. Well of course it is partially you getting used to the sound, so it doesn't have to be burn in. However in my case, I went from a used HE-500 fully burned in to a new replacement which sounded bad at first. After a while it finally returned to the original sound. I would give it a week. Regarding the volume level for burn in, play slightly louder than what you are used to.
I don't know which O2 you have. My O2 is from JDS Labs with the stock gain settings. At first, I kept going to high gain in an effort to get more bass thump, but it had woo too much distortion. After getting used to the O2's sound, I kept it at low gain. For the past few months, with HE-500 and LCD-2, I keep it at low gain position and stay anywhere from 11-1 o clock. No need for high gain for sure.
I inquired about this...
"Feel free to post that HiFiMAN will not be selling on Massdrop"
-from someone at the top
LugBug1
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They're cheap enough anyway for a top tier hp.
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OK, so first thing I am not affiliated with this shop, associated, nor do I get any provisions 
But, if you happen to live somewhat close to north London, you may want to check this out. They do have an in-house show room, where I have seen HE-500, HE-400, Beyerdynamic T1 and some Audio Technica HPs. Then I went on their homepage, and they seem to even have HD700, HD800 and a few Grado headphones. To drive all this, they use amps from Musical Fidelity, Sennheiser and ... Schiit (Mjölnir)
http://www.hdaudiovisual.net/accessories-headphones.irc
But, if you happen to live somewhat close to north London, you may want to check this out. They do have an in-house show room, where I have seen HE-500, HE-400, Beyerdynamic T1 and some Audio Technica HPs. Then I went on their homepage, and they seem to even have HD700, HD800 and a few Grado headphones. To drive all this, they use amps from Musical Fidelity, Sennheiser and ... Schiit (Mjölnir)
http://www.hdaudiovisual.net/accessories-headphones.irc
Zoom25
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Agreed. Once you hear these, any thoughts of buyer's remorse will dissipate instantaneously.
Agreed. Once you hear these, any thoughts of buyer's remorse will dissipate instantaneously.
davidsh
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