[tuna47]

Had the asgard 2 with the he 500 drove them well but I felt the needed a little more so I got the Lyr very happy

 

[tuna47]

How do you get the grills off I am totally bad at using my hands please but in instructions for the hand handicapped

 

[hekeli]

Head to regrilling thread. My measurements show diy grill almost as good as without.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/619447/hifiman-regrilling-mod/375#post_10799969

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Head to regrilling thread. My measurements show diy grill almost as good as without.
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/619447/hifiman-regrilling-mod/375#post_10799969

Nice, thanks for that. Seeing as how this is such an active thread and has some DIY and cable tweakers I am pasting a post in a thread I started in the cables forum that wasn't getting any responses and only a few views. So here was my post:
 
I need to get a custom cable built that will act as a speaker tap for my HE 560s which I intend to run from the speaker terminals of my NAD M3. Based on feedback I have received it sounds like the relatively low noise floor of the M3, the moderate efficiency of the 560 and the quality volume pot on the M3 means I should be able to enjoy fairly low noise listening while providing plenty of power for the 560s. Sadly the M3 uses a common ground so I guess balanced is out, bummer.
 
Currently my speaker B is unused and I would like to have a short say 3 foot cable that merges the L and R taps into an XLR (female) connector. The idea being that when not being used I can unplug the 560 while still leaving the speaker tap connected. I would then have a 10 foot cable made that has the correct terminations to screw onto the 560 connectors and terminate into a male XLR connector that could be used to attach to either my A18 XLR out, or the speaker tap connector. Does this make sense?
 
So what I really wanted was, of course anybody to flag me if my idea is idiotic or somehow missing any consideration, but more so a recommendation for where to have the cable made? As I have no idea if this will result in a noisy experience or a great experience I would like to keep the cost around $250. I am not even sure if that is possible or not. If the results are as good as I hope I might just go with the M3 for my headphones and potentially sell the A18 which is stupidly good sounding so the M3 will have to be pretty darn good to best it. Frankly the idea of having a single amp for speakers and headphone listening is attractive as is the idea of being able to use my M3s remote control!
 
Long post I know so please all of you cable experts have at it, your thoughts and suggestions are very welcome. Cheers.

 

[Oregonian]

I have that exact cable combo for my HE-6. Can run speaker taps and then plug my male XLR into the HiFiMan adapter box. Good options.

 

[Insidious Meme]

I'm having a long cable done ending in an adapter so I can do single end, balanced and speaker taps too. It won't be cheap, but I knew that going in. Norne has done some excellent work with stuff like this, but it may not be to your budget. You'll have to go through the usual cable making suspects. But you were doing that anyway.

 

[philo50]

Q French Silk look nice and work well.....

 

[hifimanrookie]

How do you get the grills off I am totally bad at using my hands please but in instructions for the hand handicapped

carefully use a credit card to peel it off..be careful not to kill the little plastic hinches on the grill..good luck!
On the jerg grill thread its showed in more detail

 

[tuna47]

Thanks I think I will screw it up

 

[davidsh]

Why not just get an adapter that connects to your current cable?

 

[Wildcatsare1]

Just slip a credit card under the ring, expose the tabs, pull back gently. Work around the circle, remove the ring. Then tip the headphone, the grill will drop out. Safely store the grill so you can replace it if you sell the HP's in the future. If I can do it, anybody can.

The results are incredible, open soundstage, improved fil "dimensionality", speed, etc., it is not a subtle improvement.

 

[Sonic Defender]

  Why not just get an adapter that connects to your current cable?

I am considering doing that, but even then I still need to have several feet made and custom work. Plus, not sure if it really matters at all, but if I was going to all of the effort to do this (okay I'm doing nothing, I should say going to the expense) why have two different cable materials? I have always tried to avoid adapters wherever possible, but perhaps I am worrying about nothing? I don't want to have any resistors in the signal path at all unless I have no choice. I would rather spend extra to avoid that as long as there was no risk to either the headphone or the amp.

 

[Za Warudo]

Why go through all that trouble and expense when you already have a very good amp like the A18?  Or is it not really that good?

 

[garunamodi]

 
I am considering doing that, but even then I still need to have several feet made and custom work. Plus, not sure if it really matters at all, but if I was going to all of the effort to do this (okay I'm doing nothing, I should say going to the expense) why have two different cable materials? I have always tried to avoid adapters wherever possible, but perhaps I am worrying about nothing? I don't want to have any resistors in the signal path at all unless I have no choice. I would rather spend extra to avoid that as long as there was no risk to either the headphone or the amp.

A well made adapter should literally be just really short wires with negligible resistance. Nothing to worry about.
 
What I do find worrying is that people need to remove the cables to fit the HE560s in their travel case, especially considering what was said earlier about these connectors only being rated for a paltry 100 insertions. I do doubt this latter claim though, the connector would have to be pretty fragile for that to be the case.

 

[davidsh]

Dude, just buy an extension cable for like 10 bucks and snip the male end off and connect to the speaker taps just to try it out..
Just be aware that the wires should preferably not be lacquered. And tie the grounds together on the amp if necessary as long as you are a 100% sure it has shared ground.