[lootbag]

Thanks for the feedback thus far everyone!
I have gone through more of the HE-6 and HE-500 threads as well.
Seems I will have to carefully choose which headphone I go with.

 

[baka1969]

Marantz is releasing a PM6004 integrated that is rated at 45 watts. According to the folks at Music Direct it's supposed to add 10 watts and a better power supply over the PM5004. Who's to say how much of an improvement the 6004 will be but for under $600 it might be something worth looking into.

Has anyone used the HE6 with the little Rega amp? Someone mentioned Krell and Pass. Has anyone used a 30-50 watt Krell or Pass with the HE6?

 

[sphinxvc]

I botched my chance to try an über rare Krell KSA-5 amp with an HE-6 at the recent Brooklyn minimeet.  It sounded a-mazing with K1000s off speaker taps, and as a result I couldn't think straight enough to grab the HE-6.  
 
Have you decided to go with the HE-6 over HE-500, Ross?

 

[baka1969]

I botched my chance to try an über rare Krell KSA-5 amp with an HE-6 at the recent Brooklyn minimeet.  It sounded a-mazing with K1000s off speaker taps, and as a result I couldn't think straight enough to grab the HE-6.  
 
Have you decided to go with the HE-6 over HE-500, Ross?

I'm not sure what I'm doing. At the moment I am still happy with the HD800. There are times I think the HE500 is the best option as it works well with my amp. There are other times I think the HE6, when properly driven, is a better headphone. Then that would force me to have two amps. If I do decide on the HE6 I would mate it with a speaker amp in the 30-50 watt range. No more. I'm not keen on a vintage amp because of the worry about it's longevity. I don't want a tube amp. So a modern solid state integrated amp is what I'd look for. I think I'd want to go beyond the NAD/Cambridge/Marantz amps. A budget of $1500 street price is about what I'd shoot for. That might exclude Krell or Pass. So who knows? I'm undecided.

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Marantz is releasing a PM6004 integrated that is rated at 45 watts. According to the folks at Music Direct it's supposed to add 10 watts and a better power supply over the PM5004. Who's to say how much of an improvement the 6004 will be but for under $600 it might be something worth looking into.

Has anyone used the HE6 with the little Rega amp? Someone mentioned Krell and Pass. Has anyone used a 30-50 watt Krell or Pass with the HE6?

 I have used my HE-6 with a Pass labs Aleph 5 (60 watts/ch Class A), Alpeh 3 (30 watts/ch Class A) and currently using them with a Threshold T50 (50 Watts/ch Class A). With all of them they sounded incredible! For my taste the Alpeh 3 and T50 sounded better (smoother) then the Aleph 5 but all of them really bring the HE-6 to thier potential. They only other amp I have heard the HE-6 sounding this open and good is the RSA Dark Star. With my WA5-LE they sound very good too but you need to be careful witch driver tubes to use with some of them the amp could not make it but with the Sylvania 6SN7WGT Brown Base, RCE 5693 Red Base and Brimar CV1988 sounced really good nevertheless the speaker amps took them a notch higher.
 

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

i own both HE-500 and HE-6. If you only have 1500 budget, i would recommend you to get HE-500 which should leave you enough money to get a good amp to match. If you go for HE-6, then you wouldn't have enough money left to get a decent amp to drive the monster HE-6.
 
A properly driven HE-500 is better than not properly driven HE-6. Even the HifiMan owner Fang said the exact same thing. 
 
that being said, HE-6 definately has much more potential. Not a lot of ppl including myself has listened to HE-6 in its full capacity. 

Well, I'd still rather listen to the HE-6 out of my little EF5 amp than the HE-500, even if the HE-500 will play louder.  However, out of my ZDT amp the HE-500 scale up very well and then if I use a nicer cable the HE-500 get even closer.  So, I still think the HE-500 do best with a powerful amp.  That sounds like basically what you are saying (when you say properly driven), but my favorite amp for the HE-500 is still quite costly.  If all I had was my DACmini or WA6 I'd have to go with the HE-500, no question, but some low end amps do very well with the HE-6.  The HE-6 with HE-adapter out of my 40 watt Marantz sound pretty darn good too, and for a lot less money than the HE-500 + ZDT amp.  Which wold I recommend?  I don't know anymore - they're both good phones.

 

[blankdisc]

i agree. i was just saying that in gengeral. If we go into specific combinations, then i am afraid there is really no way to decide on this. for example, i really like my HE-500 out of EF5 rather than HE-6.  Everyone definately have their own favorite combo.
 
I think for a beginner (ortho-wise) with limited budget, HE-500 should be a much safer bet than HE-6. HE-500 sounds good with most of amps maybe except some very weak portable amps, but HE-6 needs something really powerful. i have heard from several ppl who thinks that HE-6 sucks and sold it shortly after they bought it without realizing that it was not driven properly.

 
Quote:

Well, I'd still rather listen to the HE-6 out of my little EF5 amp than the HE-500, even if the HE-500 will play louder.  However, out of my ZDT amp the HE-500 scale up very well and then if I use a nicer cable the HE-500 get even closer.  So, I still think the HE-500 do best with a powerful amp.  That sounds like basically what you are saying (when you say properly driven), but my favorite amp for the HE-500 is still quite costly.  If all I had was my DACmini or WA6 I'd have to go with the HE-500, no question, but some low end amps do very well with the HE-6.  The HE-6 with HE-adapter out of my 40 watt Marantz sound pretty darn good too, and for a lot less money than the HE-500 + ZDT amp.  Which wold I recommend?  I don't know anymore - they're both good phones.

 

 

[Happy Camper]

The 500 and 6 will both work well off the same amp when given enough juice. If starting from scratch, get a decent speaker amp and you will be fine. If you want an amp that works with other hps, stay with the 500s. The 6 is showing they are speakers with earcups and the majority of hp amps will not be up to the task to perform optimally. If people are willing to spend $1200 on a headphone and not consider the rest of the circuit deserve the futility.

My brother is this way with his muscle car fetish. He wants to look the part but buys the cheapest thing he can and moves it on after realizing he has to put more into the car than he paid for it to perform to his expectations. Case in point, he bought a Coronet Superbee 440. Started driving it and found a lot of money needed to be put into it just to keep it running. He paid 12.5 and put 25 into it to have it perform the way he expected it to. Now he can't get the investment out of it, continues to put money into it and has become disenchanted. Point is if you are looking for high performance, it takes an investment. Just getting the hp won't make it sing, it needs everything to perform as advertized.

 

[wuwhere]

Its similar with getting a pair of planar speakers like a Magnepan, a Martin Logan or a Quad ESL. Paired with the wrong amp you'll be disappointed. But with the right amp they sound wonderful.

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

Well, I'd still rather listen to the HE-6 out of my little EF5 amp than the HE-500, even if the HE-500 will play louder.  However, out of my ZDT amp the HE-500 scale up very well and then if I use a nicer cable the HE-500 get even closer.  So, I still think the HE-500 do best with a powerful amp.  That sounds like basically what you are saying (when you say properly driven), but my favorite amp for the HE-500 is still quite costly.  If all I had was my DACmini or WA6 I'd have to go with the HE-500, no question, but some low end amps do very well with the HE-6.  The HE-6 with HE-adapter out of my 40 watt Marantz sound pretty darn good too, and for a lot less money than the HE-500 + ZDT amp.  Which wold I recommend?  I don't know anymore - they're both good phones.

 
That's interesting, I would think that the HE-500 with the EF5 would be an ideal combo. I've always thought that it's a shame that HiFiMAN doesn't offer them together at a discount, and that they would really move some product if they did. But I haven't heard that combo so what do I know, that's probably why they don't offer them together as you say it doesn't sound that good. I did try the EF5 with the HE-6 I and didn't think that the EF5 was powerful enough to make the HE-6 sing compared to a less expensive but more powerful speaker amp. Just goes to show that we all hear differently.

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Its similar with getting a pair of planar speakers like a Magnepan, a Martin Logan or a Quad ESL. Paired with the wrong amp you'll be disappointed. But with the right amp they sound wonderful.

 
 I agree. One time I auditioned a pair of ML Request. they were connected to a Sunfire amplifier. They sounded harsh and terrible to the point that the salesman apologized and ask me to come back next day to audition them again with a different amplifier. Next day a CJ solida state was there and the sound was totally different and wonderful...

 

[immtbiker]

I own a HE-6 and have on loan a pair of HE-300. With the 300's, I was fortunate enough to get a pair of leather pads. There's no doubt about it, the HE-6 is a superior headphone. The mids on the HE-300 are to die for.
Putting on the leather pads brings the driver closer to the ear (think Grado flats vs. bowls). This has enhanced the bass three-fold. One of the problems is that the the HE-300's had slightly less bass. Well, now that problem is solved. Bringing the drivers closer to the ear has increased the bass exponentially.So, now you can have a fantastic dynamic headphones which are hundreds less come close to the 6's. 
But, now there's no need for a special amp. The mids on the 300's are as sweet as it gets and I find the 300's superior to the HD6XX/K701's/and Beyer 880's at half the price. I wrote up about them in the 300 thread in the Sponsored Thread. I am floored by them. They haven't come off my head since I got the (except to take a shower).
 
Just throwing it out there. Don't get me wrong, the 6's are one of the best headphones made, but they come with a price. But then again, if you have the disposable cash to buy the new Stax, then it's a no-brainer. However, if you want to add an incredible dynamic to you stable for $299, the 300's are the way to go. They are amazing.

 

[MrQ]

If the 300's were closed-back, I'd be all over them. I need another open-back can like a hole in the head.

 

[Happy Camper]

If the 300's were closed-back, I'd be all over them. I need another open-back can like a hole in the head.

Same here. The 701s I'd have no problem culling but the RS-1 with acoustic rock is a tough thing to say goodbye to. Guess I'll have to hear the 300s to ease the fear.

 

[immtbiker]

The RS-1's are good with all rock, soft and hard. The HP-2's are even better. Rock on, dude.