[Skylab]

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Just checked those past posts but why does it have to be a "Vintage" receiver?Could something like a Marantz SR5023 not work as good? My issue is that the problem is only with less than perfect recordings. The LD +HE-6 seems to act as a magnifying glass. I hate exaggerations often found here but music with that combo can just be so incredible with some recordings. I am not giving up on the HE-6, that for sure...

It does not have to be a vintage receiver by definition, BUT, many modern receivers run their headphone out off a very cheap op amp, whereas the vintage receivers run their headphone outs straight off the main power amp.  Many vintage integrated amps and receivers use a padding resistor to drop the voltage down a little from what the amp can deliver, but many of them still have FAR more juice than even the HE-6 can swallow.
 

 

[sillysally]

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 That's interesting SS. I have not made the comparison against my WA5-LE yet but IMO against my T50 the sound of the HE-6 out of the LF sounded leaner and lost some of the "magic" I get out of the T50. To get to my normal listening levels I had to raise hte LF volume knob to almost 2 o'Clock.
 
Don't get me wrong they sound good to me but not at the level of the sound out of a more powerful Class A speaker amplifier. I will compare to the Woo next.
 
I think the LF is a nice design and sounds good. I am impressed with the low floor nosie it has but to be honest for the price I was expecting higher quality in some of the components life the case, wireing and connectors. Just my opinion.
 
BTW, just going from memory in a limited time listening I think I would prefer the HE-6 out of the Dark Star than the LF.

Interesting, yes as I have stated before you need to turn the volume nob between 12 and 3, however as time passes I find my self turning down the volume nob but still getting the volume level I want.
Can you gave a little more detail on what is the "magic" of your T50amp.
 
Yes I can understand from the two amp's (speaker amp T50 and HP amp DS) you are talking about (leaner) why your first impression is what it is with the LF. However by doing a little tube rolling and using a quad set of NOS Siemens tubes 6922 gold pins, imo what you perceive as "leaner" will change. And yes I have commented on a leaner sound when using my old LQ music videos (1.4 mbps for video and audio).
But non the less some folks may like the "leaner" sound of the stock JJ's.
From what I could tell the LF uses silver wire, the case seems to work well and is solid, but is not a Woo like tank case (cheaper to ship and easier on the back), haven't looked into the connectors. Yes the LF is a very quit amp with a very low noise floor.
 
I realize you can't use the high bit-rate of DTS HD MA/ Ture HD/LPCM 5.1 as I can via HDMI, but still a HQ 2CH will give you a good understanding of what I am talking about.
 
Yes the LF is very analytical but smooth amp and doesn't really give you the wall of sound like the RSA house sound will or older and newer speaker amps that I have tried with the HE6's, but for my taste I love the separation, depth, fine detail that the LF gives.
 
Anyway I would like to hear what you have to say about the WA5LE and the LF, that would give me a better idea of what you like in your audio.
 
 

 

[elwappo99]

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just the four power tubes.
i guess finding a driver tube with a darker ss would be nice...
 

 
I've also tried a few tubes in mine. I've found my raytheon's do pretty well in the front as driver tubes. They are a little darker. Super busy, but I'll try to post some comments within a week.
 
 

 

[elwappo99]

 
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I don't know - whatever "edge" elwappo99 hears. I don't think he was saying the treble was "edgy sounding", just that it was brighter than he likes it, which acts as an edge for him. 
 
I'm properly amping my HE-6 so I don't hear an edge either 
 
I'm just tired of always having to tell people that if they want a more balanced sound with HE-6 that they need to upgrade the amp.  Maybe for a change someone would be happy trying an easier to drive HiFiMan phone instead? 
 
Not everyone can afford a ZDT with silver transformers like me, or a Woo WA5 like you.
 
 

Thanks for your helpful comments! 

 

[sachu]

Quote:

 That's interesting SS. I have not made the comparison against my WA5-LE yet but IMO against my T50 the sound of the HE-6 out of the LF sounded leaner and lost some of the "magic" I get out of the T50. To get to my normal listening levels I had to raise hte LF volume knob to almost 2 o'Clock.
 
Don't get me wrong they sound good to me but not at the level of the sound out of a more powerful Class A speaker amplifier. I will compare to the Woo next.
 
I think the LF is a nice design and sounds good. I am impressed with the low floor nosie it has but to be honest for the price I was expecting higher quality in some of the components life the case, wireing and connectors. Just my opinion.
 
BTW, just going from memory in a limited time listening I think I would prefer the HE-6 out of the Dark Star than the LF.

How many hours does your LF have on it?
 
Give it a full 150 hours of burn in.
The siemens add some weight over the JJ tubes and are ultra smooth, delicate and detailed sounding.
 
I prefer the tungsram as they have more weight than the siemens in the Liquid Fire however they sacrifice the delicacy and detail to some degree. IN my speaker rig however where the LIquid Fire does preamp duty, its a sacrifice that's worth it for me.
 
Of course I have never heard a HE-6 out of the liquid fire so can't really equate with your opinions completely. But yeah, if you got something else that works better, awesome.

 

[ardgedee]

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Just checked those past posts but why does it have to be a "Vintage" receiver?

As Skylab says, the main advantage of vintage receivers is not that they're old, but that they drive headphones through the speaker amp stage (with some padding in the way).
 
A few regulars in the vintage receiver thread are HE-6 owners, so it's a good place to ask for recommendations and advice.

 

[ardgedee]

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Parts Express is currently selling refurbished Dayton Audio DTA-100 Class-T 50wpc @ 8ohms for $49.90. I picked one up to have an SS amp for my 6. Also my tube amp generates a lot of heat.
 
PS: I know a $50 amp should not appear in the high-end forum.

I used an 18 WPC T-amp for a while. It didn't really have enough juice to bring the HE-6 to its full potential, but it was sufficiently pleasing to be my primary amp for these phones until I could replace it with something more powerful.
 
Let us know how the DTA-100 works. I have a feeling it'll be pretty okay. Even if it won't be at the performance level of some of the equipment discussed here, it might get you a lot closer than we expect.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

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well, larry.  i've been trying to get that "great match" with the HE-6 since they came out.
5 or 6 amps later, i'm trying to figure out when that treble is going to go away. 

 
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If you have the space, a vintage receiver is certainly one way to go. On basic models you can drive the HE-6 from the speaker taps, or on more mid-to-TOTL models the headphone out should do a very decent job of driving them. Either way, you can get a lot of bang for your buck - and they look pretty cool too 

   
 

Yep, one of my best combos is the Marantz 2240 speaker out > HE-Impedance box > HE-6 and this was cheaper than my EF-5.  My EF-5 has good synergy with HE-6 but it wont play loud.  Not only does the Marantz 2240 have good synergy, but it's got a lot of dynamic headroom and will play louder than I care to listen.  The sound quality is on par with $500 - $800 headphone amps.  Note - the 2240 headphone out is underpowered for HE-6, but is wonderful with the HD800.
 

 

[Frank I]

The higher end Pioneer vintage SX series amps are the ticket for the HE6. My SX980 played out of the headphones jack but sounded better with more power out of the speaker terminal. My SX650 played them well also. If I ever did that HE6 route again it would be with a SX950 . I think the Pioneer to my ears were better than the Marantz 2220B I owned. Much more detail IMO.

 

[wuwhere]

I was just comparing my big rig (Oppo/ARC/HE-6) against my little rig (laptop Foobar 2000/iBasso DB2/TTVJ Portable Hybrid amp/UE10Pro). Big rig is better but little rig is not bad.

 

[sillysally]

Anybody want my Pioneer SX-650, great condition.

 

[Loevhagen]

Nope, but I just bought my first pair of HE-6 to extend my head-fi horizon. Had one pair in the house 1 week. They didn't impress me at that time. Maybe, an integrated stereoamp will alter that ompression. Sure hope so...

 

[sphinxvc]

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Nope, but I just bought my first pair of HE-6 to extend my head-fi horizon. Had one pair in the house 1 week. They didn't impress me at that time. Maybe, an integrated stereoamp will alter that ompression. Sure hope so...

There just aren't enough HE-6 / Rev.2 comparisons, which is strange considering they're the top 2 planar cans -- lookin' forward to reading more.  How are they faring on the V200 for the time being?
 

 

[grokit]

 
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There just aren't enough HE-6 / Rev.2 comparisons, which is strange considering they're the top 2 planar cans -- lookin' forward to reading more.  How are they faring on the V200 for the time being?

They have vastly differing amping requirements, that is one reason that they don't get compared more often.

 

[sunneebear]

I love pretty much everything about the LCD2.  From the looks to the sound.  But once I get the HE6 on my ears, it stays for a long long time. 
 
I just got a new toy today for my HE6.  This thing set me back a whole $36

.

 
I am using it to drive a Onkyo M-504 to power the HE6.

 
To borrow from McDonald's: I'm Lovin it.