[elwappo99]

Quote:

 
Ok, then could it be possible that the Emotiva itself is bass heavy, and not that the HE-500 benefits from a power plant?
 

 
I would suggest giving the HE-6 amplification a glance at some point. Basically every orthodynamic driver benefits from the extra power of a speaker amp. Before the HE-500 was release many (if not most) HE-6 owners were already running the HE-6 on speaker amps. 

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

So true. Speaker amps in general give you better performance all round but listening at low volumes give you firm control and keeps the soundstage intact. But when you want to really boogy, there's no problem cranking it to 11

.

 
Agreed, but 11 o clock on Emotiva with HE-500 

 
Only with classical music, movie soundtracks or stuff with huge dynamic range can I dare to do that. Try this electronic, hip hop or rap and you are going to fry your ears in no time.

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

 
 
So, it could just very well be that the Emotiva is a bassier amplifier, not that it unlocks some hidden potential in the HE-500.
 
Cool.

 
It all depends on your reference point I suppose. I can definitely vouch for the fact that Emotiva isn't a special unlocking amp of that kind. It's good price, doubles as headphone amp and doesn't take much space for speaker amp. Although one can argue that maybe the HE-500 doesn't have a hidden potential to begin with.
 
For example, I never got good depth with HE-500 through any amp. Emotiva with speakers and LCD-2 gives decent depth. I'm sure there are really good amps out there that can make it sound really nice, but can it also fix the inherent lack of depth that I've been noticing.

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

 
I would suggest giving the HE-6 amplification a glance at some point. Basically every orthodynamic driver benefits from the extra power of a speaker amp. Before the HE-500 was release many (if not most) HE-6 owners were already running the HE-6 on speaker amps. 

 
Not quite true. The HE-6 is just ridiculously insensitive, not that it's magically hard to drive or anything. The trace along the driver has extremely high resistance, necessitating the high power requirements to push enough current through. The Lyr can comfortably drive the HE-6.

 

[elwappo99]

Quote:

 
Not quite true. The HE-6 is just ridiculously insensitive, not that it's magically hard to drive or anything. The trace along the driver has extremely high resistance, necessitating the high power requirements to push enough current through. The Lyr can comfortably drive the HE-6.

 
I just don't even.... 

 

[Jesterphile]

Quote:

 
 
So, it could just very well be that the Emotiva is a bassier amplifier, not that it unlocks some hidden potential in the HE-500.
 
Cool.

I'm suggesting that the HE500 has no hidden potential if you drive it sufficiently. I would say the O2 does not drive it sufficiently (as much as I wanted the O2 to be the best amp ever)
 
Just my 2c

 

[Hedonism]

Hi there, I'm going to be moving up from a Hifiman HE-400 to a Hifiman HE-500 sometime tomorrow hopefully. I'd like to know the cheapest (non-DIY) method to connect the Hifiman HE-500s to an Emotiva A-100 amp. 
 
I'd also like to know how the Lyr pairs with the Hifiman HE-500s, or if there are any better alternatives in that price range (aside from the Emotiva amp).
 
Thanks in advance.

 

[M-13]

Quote:

I just don't even.... 

+1 LOL

 

[Radioking59]

Quote:

 
Agreed, but 11 o clock on Emotiva with HE-500 

 

 
He's talking about the proverbial 11 from Spinal Tap fame, not 11 o'clock on the Emotiva.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven

 

[Jesterphile]

Quote:

Hi there, I'm going to be moving up from a Hifiman HE-400 to a Hifiman HE-500 sometime tomorrow hopefully. I'd like to know the cheapest (non-DIY) method to connect the Hifiman HE-500s to an Emotiva A-100 amp. 
 
I'd also like to know how the Lyr pairs with the Hifiman HE-500s, or if there are any better alternatives in that price range (aside from the Emotiva amp).
 
Thanks in advance.

I liked my HE500's through my Corda Classic and Audio-GD NFB10SE. They are both worth checking out.

 

[civilmonkey]

Hi all, has anyone tried the he-500 with a Cambridge audio A500, using speaker taps? The amp is rated at 65 watts into 8 ohms. I'm buying a he-500,and looking to amp options, either a lyr, bottlehead s.e.x, or my speaker amp. Thoughts?

 

[eke2k6]

Quote:

I'm suggesting that the HE500 has no hidden potential if you drive it sufficiently. I would say the O2 does not drive it sufficiently (as much as I wanted the O2 to be the best amp ever)
 
Just my 2c

 
Why do you keep scapegoating the O2? It doesn't meet the manufacturer's requirements to drive the 500 to the maximum. The He-500 at it's peaks draws about 1W , the O2 supplies around 600mw. Leave the O2 out of this.
 
 
Quote:

 
I just don't even.... 

 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/545805/schiit-audio-lyr-my-first-impressions
 
I think he might be knowledgeable enough to state so.
 
 
 

[size=10pt] Model

	[size=10pt] HE-4[/size]	[size=10pt] HE-5LE[/size]	[size=10pt] HE-500[/size]	[size=10pt] HE-6[/size]
[size=10pt] Rec. power[/size]	[size=10pt] 2 watts[/size]	[size=10pt] 2 watts[/size]	[size=10pt] 1 watt[/size]	[size=10pt] 8 watts[/size]
[size=10pt] Drive[/size]	[size=10pt] magnetostatic; magnets on one side; aluminum traces[/size]	[size=10pt] magnetostatic; magnets on both sides; aluminum traces[/size]	[size=10pt] magnetostatic; magnets on both sides; aluminum traces[/size]	[size=10pt] magnetostatic; magnets on both sides; gold traces[/size]
[size=10pt] Response[/size]	[size=10pt] 10Hz - 60kHz[/size]	[size=10pt] 10Hz - 60kHz[/size]	[size=10pt] 10Hz - 40kHz[/size]	[size=10pt] 8Hz - 65kHz[/size]
[size=10pt] Impedance[/size]	[size=10pt] 38Ω[/size]	[size=10pt] 38Ω[/size]	[size=10pt] 38Ω[/size]	[size=10pt] 50Ω[/size]
[size=10pt] Sensitivity[/size]	[size=10pt] 86dB/1mW[/size]	[size=10pt] 87.5dB/1mW[/size]	[size=10pt] 89dB/1mW[/size]	[size=10pt] 83.5dB/1mW[/size]
[size=10pt] Weight w/o cable[/size]	[size=10pt] ca. 350g[/size]	[size=10pt] ca. 400g[/size]	[size=10pt] ca. 500g[/size]	[size=10pt] ca. 500g[/size]

[/size]

 

[Jesterphile]

Quote:

 
Why do you keep scapegoating the O2? It doesn't meet the manufacturer's requirements to drive the 500 to the maximum. The He-500 at it's peaks draws about 1W (as per the hifiman website), the O2 supplies around 600mw. Leave the O2 out of this.

 
I would say you need an amp that can supply at minimum 1W for optimal performance, same for the LCD-2s
 
I only mention the O2 because others are discussing it in this thread, and it is a good example of an amp with insufficient power for the HE500's that gets asked about a lot.

 

[erikfreedom]

I d'ont care what the headfi gods might say about the lyr and the he 6. I own both he 500 and he 6 and I own the lyr and lyr can't drive he 6 properly. not by a long shot. bass lacks weight and impact and is not tight at all, soundstage is unimpressive and treble is both piercing and unpleasant.  my 3 channel b22 does a better job than the lyr I find, but both amps are less than optimal choices with he 6. b22 is stellar with he 500. really impressive.
 
lyr is a very decent amp with he 500. especially if you have upgraded with great nos tubes.

 

[Zoom25]

Quote:

 
He's talking about the proverbial 11 from Spinal Tap fame, not 11 o'clock on the Emotiva.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_to_eleven

 
Ahhhh I see. Thanks for the clarification. TIL.