I really hope so...otherwise, it's like throwing 800€ in the garbage as i just got the headphone a month ago.
I've had my HE6 for a few years now and tried lots of amps both integrated and power pre combos up to 150w I feel confidently enough to say the HE-6 can sound absolutely jaw on the floor epic with just 5-6W. A favourite combination of mine was the Bottlehead DHT battery powered quickie pre amp paired with the 6W Nelson Pass ACA this is a seriously good pre power amp combination that can cost around $200 to put together. I've built a couple of them now. https://diyaudiostore.com/collectio.../products/amp-camp-amp-pcb?variant=5938996356 https://bottlehead.com/product/quickie-1-1-battery-powered-directly-heated-tube-preamplifier-kit/ Some old pics
All i can say is that the dynamics were so poor with the Mjo. The can felt so restrained. Perhaps some 5w headamps are able to produce more current than others. I don't see any other explanation. With that said, now i just want to ressucitate my dead jewel
Many factors at play here... current, voltage swing, general characteristics of the amp... because you are never actually pumping 5W into a headphone. You would go deaf.
I wonder where the failure point is on @Drrizzt HE-6? Connector, leads to traces or on the actual trace? Might be an easy fix.
Strangely i went up all the way up to max volume and it didnt sound very loud to me though. The real sensivity of the he6 is closer to 78db rather than the spécified 83db. It requires 4 Times the power to reach the same level. Maybe that's why because this amp sounded like heaven with the lcd3
Sorry English is my second language, i don't quite understand what you mean by "leads to trace or on the actual trace"
Inside the outer grill there are two wires that connect to the driver, those are the leads. They connect to the diaphragm and provide the voltage/current to the gold trace that runs through the driver. One of the areas on the trace could also have shorted.
The HE-6 are very picky it takes a lot of trial and error but when you get it right and hear them sing its all worth it. By the way commiserations on your blown driver I know how that feels my experience with Hifiman support was good. Fwiw Class A amplification has consistently given good results my next amp build is the MoFo, 22W of Class A with very few component in the signal path in that less is more Nelson Pass way. I have nearly finished the Whammy headphone amp which I will use to drive the MoFo all up the pre power combo should come in around $400 and I will also use it to drive my 2 channel system. http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/313649-build-mofo.html http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/317803-whammy-pass-diy-headphone-amp-guide.html
Strictly speaking - where you need to go with the volume dial is about gain, not power. If we use InnerFidelity's measurements for reference, then you are right: The sensitivity of HE-6 is about 78.5dB. However, 5W as listening volume would be extremely loud and permanent ear damage would certainly occur before just one listening session was over, so I highly doubt you are power limited at 5W. I had the Burson Soloist some years ago and never lacked power even though it only did 1.7W into HE-6.
Then i don't understand why the level was still quite low even though the volume pot was set to max with the Mjo. Note that with some classical recording i'm around 14 o' clock with a 70w integrated speaker, Wich i beleive should be around 9w or so with the 50 ohms he6. Hungry bastard !
