[mrarroyo]

I think a vintage amp would be a great way to amp both the HE6 and HE500. Get a quality pigtail and use the speaker out to drive both of the cans. I would say a vintage amp in the 20 to 65 wpc would be fine with either of this cans. I have used a Marantz 2238B with great success also a RWA Signature 30.2 LFPV-Edition. Having said this the HE500 is my favorite since it is easier to use with non-specialized cans. For those who have a K1000 a vintage amp like the 2238B will drive it beautifully as well. Good luck.
 
Aaron, I may be getting an HE300 and hope to be as happy as you are with yours.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

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.

 
You misunderstand, I NEVER said "it doesn't sound that good".  I sometimes like to keep "sound quality" impressions separate from power output, and with some amps the HE-6 sound great as long as you don't want to listen very loud.  Other times the under-amped HE-6 can sound thinner and brighter and not as enjoyable.  The HE-500 with the EF5 is an ideal combo as you surmise (and HE-5 LE with EF5 is great too).  What I was trying to say was that the HE-6 offer a little better micro-detail, micro-dynamics and sub-bass, as long as you don't want the HE-6 to play as loud as the HE-500.  It's a quality vs quantity issue.  If I want to listen at quiet to moderate volumes the HE-6 are excellent for that, and I mentioned that before in my HE-6 impressions that it's an excellent low volume headphone.  I use them in my bedroom all the time with EF5 and SR-71b, because if I want loud I can switch to another phone.
 
The HE-500 with ZDT is an even better combo, but the HE-6 still edges out the HE-500 by a small margin if you only consider their technical abilities, but still wont play as loud as the HE-500 or other headphones on the same amp.  So I would say the HE-6 are still not "properly" driven by the ZDT.  Somehow the SR-71b drives the HE-6 to higher volume levels than the ZDT, but while it's very detailed and transparent it's not as refined and life-like sounding as the ZDT amp (although it's sound quality is closer to something like my DACport or WA6).
 
In my house the HE-6 are driven best by my Marantz 2240 via speaker outputs in terms of power levels, but I haven't been able to compare that side by side with the other amps yet.  But thats why I concluded my comments with the following:
 
 
Quote:

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.

 
 
I'm going to borrow an EF6 from Fang at some point and report back my findings.
 

 

[baka1969]

I think a vintage amp would be a great way to amp both the HE6 and HE500. Get a quality pigtail and use the speaker out to drive both of the cans. I would say a vintage amp in the 20 to 65 wpc would be fine with either of this cans. I have used a Marantz 2238B with great success also a RWA Signature 30.2 LFPV-Edition. Having said this the HE500 is my favorite since it is easier to use with non-specialized cans. For those who have a K1000 a vintage amp like the 2238B will drive it beautifully as well. Good luck.
 
Aaron, I may be getting an HE300 and hope to be as happy as you are with yours.

My only worry about going with a vintage amp would be longevity. To be frank, I'm not too keen on having to send one in for repair soon after picking one up. If someone were to go with a modern Marantz/NAD/Cambridge they can be had for under $400. Even less used on AudiogoN. If you want to splurge then Pass or Mac. If bought new you get a warranty.

 

[grokit]

 
Quote:

 
You misunderstand, I NEVER said "it doesn't sound that good".  I sometimes like to keep "sound quality" impressions separate from power output, and with some amps the HE-6 sound great as long as you don't want to listen very loud.  Other times the under-amped HE-6 can sound thinner and brighter and not as enjoyable.  The HE-500 with the EF5 is an ideal combo as you surmise (and HE-5 LE with EF5 is great too).  What I was trying to say was that the HE-6 offer a little better micro-detail, micro-dynamics and sub-bass, as long as you don't want the HE-6 to play as loud as the HE-500.  It's a quality vs quantity issue.
 
(snip)
 
I'm going to borrow an EF6 from Fang at some point and report back my findings.

You're right I misunderstood, thanks for clarifying. I really did enjoy the HE-5 with the EF5 myself. Definitely looking forward to your EF6 impressions.
 

 

[fdhfdy]

Seemed fang had started interests gathering for HE6/EF6 loaner program. Soon the ef6 will become available I guess.

 

[dukja]

Thank you for your impression for these class-A amp.  I wonder if Musical Fidelity A1 (2008 version, 36W class A) would be great match for HE-6. 
 
Recently, I swap my Rotel RA-970-BX (60W, integrated) back with HE-6.  To my surprise, I like it quite a bit this time.  The upper bass is more impactful and solid, and the attak on the midrange and treble is harder.   I was pretty happy with it.  And if I want to be picky (like if I spend $1K on it), then I'll say the treblem can be smoother and juicier.  Therefore, I imagine A1 may be a good fit based on what I read.
 
Anyone has comments on this?
 
Quote:

 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.
 

 

 

[immtbiker]

I borrowed one of the new impedance boxes and it's done very nicely. I used it on my Adcom 100 w.p.c. and I still can't decide whether or not I like the warmth of the 300B 13watt Dared Tube amp or the SS with the Impedace box.
 
Probably the tube amp because Orthos go so nicely with quality tubes.

 

[.Sup]

Aaron why is the impedance box needed? I noticed it has resistors, is it recommended for high output amps?

 

[Olias of Sunhillow]

Quote:

I think a vintage amp would be a great way to amp both the HE6 and HE500. Get a quality pigtail and use the speaker out to drive both of the cans. I would say a vintage amp in the 20 to 65 wpc would be fine with either of this cans. I have used a Marantz 2238B with great success also a RWA Signature 30.2 LFPV-Edition. Having said this the HE500 is my favorite since it is easier to use with non-specialized cans. For those who have a K1000 a vintage amp like the 2238B will drive it beautifully as well. Good luck.

 
This is precisely what I intend to investigate over the weekend. My pigtail arrived yesterday, and the HE-6 are due today. I intend to test them first with my Marantz 2215B, which I suspect will sound good but perhaps not great with the HE-6 (but I'm keeping an open mind). Next, I'll move on to the 2238B, which from a pure power perspective should be a better combination. Hopefully, this latter combination sounds good enough that I won't have to go shopping for a 2270 or Pioneer SX-950 or the like just for my HE-6. I'll post some observations here on Sunday.
 

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Thank you for your impression for these class-A amp.  I wonder if Musical Fidelity A1 (2008 version, 36W class A) would be great match for HE-6. 
 
Recently, I swap my Rotel RA-970-BX (60W, integrated) back with HE-6.  To my surprise, I like it quite a bit this time.  The upper bass is more impactful and solid, and the attak on the midrange and treble is harder.   I was pretty happy with it.  And if I want to be picky (like if I spend $1K on it), then I'll say the treblem can be smoother and juicier.  Therefore, I imagine A1 may be a good fit based on what I read.
 
Anyone has comments on this?
 


 

 I am not familiar with the A1 but if it is high current also then it should work just fine. The Aleph 3 has only 30 watts and 8 amps. It was plenty for the HE-6.
 

 

[wotts]

+1
 
I really feel the Aleph 3 is a great mate for the HE-6.

 
Quote:

 I am not familiar with the A1 but if it is high current also then it should work just fine. The Aleph 3 has only 30 watts and 8 amps. It was plenty for the HE-6.
 

 

 

[wuwhere]

The thing about these Pass amps are not only do they sound good but they also retain their value or even appreciate. He doesn't make them any more, I think.

 

[sunneebear]

Quote:

I borrowed one of the new impedance boxes and it's done very nicely. I used it on my Adcom 100 w.p.c. and I still can't decide whether or not I like the warmth of the 300B 13watt Dared Tube amp or the SS with the Impedace box.
 
Probably the tube amp because Orthos go so nicely with quality tubes.

Do you know what it looks like inside? 

 

[hawkhead]

I wish I knew what problem the impedance box solves

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

I wish I knew what problem the impedance box solves

It adds impedance by series resistors or brings it down to 8 ohms in parallel, that's all it does.