[musicman59]

Quote:

Used quality speaker amps are not cheap, specially the known brands like Threshold, Pass, Krell, etc...

You can get some of them for less than the HiFiMan EF-6. A Pass Aleph 3 goes for anout $1,000. Same for a Threshold T50 or similar. A Forte (made by Threshold) will be beterrn$400-$600. So there are option of very good speaker amps with 30 to 100 watts/Ch in 8 Ohms cheaper than a decent high power headphone amp.

 

[gurus]

Quote:

Last night I was listening to the album 'Night Song' by Michael Brook & Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan.
I could actually hear THE LATE Nusrat breathing in my ears. It was scary good. 

I got a cheapo portable system and I can hear Nusrat Fateh breathe all over the place in this song. That is not resolving as the song is closely miked and it is pretty evident on the recording. All Nusrat Sahib is doing is Alaap which in Indian/Pakistani music is a prelude.
 
Nusrat is known for being/singing just  the opposite of this recording- the very expressive emotive words in his songs with a five/six octave range in full tilt. You really need to know (understand) Punjabi/Hindi/Urdu to fully appreciate his singing, without understanding the play and massaging of the words in his lyrics  almost all is lost,  more so if Nusrat Sahib is singing in Punjabi.

 

[Skylab]

You can get some of them for less than the HiFiMan EF-6. A Pass Aleph 3 goes for anout $1,000. Same for a Threshold T50 or similar. A Forte (made by Threshold) will be beterrn$400-$600. So there are option of very good speaker amps with 30 to 100 watts/Ch in 8 Ohms cheaper than a decent high power headphone amp.

This is my main issue with the EF-6, and even more so the Dark Star. Both of those amps are great with the HE-6. But frankly, neither is really better than my Pioneer SX-1980, which cost me just a little more than an EF-6 and way less than the Dark Star, and the Pioneer does much, much more that just drive the HE-6 well.

 

[Face]

Although the EF-6 is supposed to be a good match for the HE-6, IMO, it's barely adequate for the job.
 
A good SS or tube power amp with at least 100 watts will do a better job.  I'm more than happy with the speaker output of a Wyred 4 Sound mINT powering HE-6's, but I wouldn't mind hearing them on one of Wyred's more powerful amps or a Pass amp.

 

[sluker]

Hey Rob,
Have you tried any of the Pioneers with the speaker taps? I keep going back and forth between the HO and the speaker taps on the sx1250 and after volume matching it sounds like the taps have more impact in the lows but also less soundstage. the instruments seem closer together and the image is not as coherent. Any idea what could be causing this? The lows are addicting though, great punch.

 

[Skylab]

I have not used the speaker taps of my Pioneers, no. The headphone outs are plenty powerful (almost 30 wpc into 50 ohms from the 1980!) and so I've never felt the need, given its a much bigger hassle.

 

[musicman59]

Quote:

Although the EF-6 is supposed to be a good match for the HE-6, IMO, it's barely adequate for the job.
 
A good SS or tube power amp with at least 100 watts will do a better job.  I'm more than happy with the speaker output of a Wyred 4 Sound mINT powering HE-6's, but I wouldn't mind hearing them on one of Wyred's more powerful amps or a Pass amp.

 
I personally don't think a 100 watts are needed. I am running them with a Threshold T50 which is 50 watts/ch at 8 ohms class A and it does an awesome job. Even when I had the Aleph 3 with 30 watts/ch class A was more than adequate. With class A/B and lower current amps you might need the 100 watt/Ch but not with Class A high current amps.

 

[Elysian]

100 watts aren't needed.  My J2 is 25 watts at 8ohms, and it does a remarkable job driving the HE-6s.  The Trends TA-10.2SE does a great job and it's only 10wpc.  Even Justin said earlier that people are barking up the wrong tree by thinking the HE-6 is only a power proposition.

 

[SHAHZADA123]

Quote:

I got a cheapo portable system and I can hear Nusrat Fateh breathe all over the place in this song. That is not resolving as the song is closely miked and it is pretty evident on the recording. All Nusrat Sahib is doing is Alaap which in Indian/Pakistani music is a prelude.
 
Nusrat is known for being/singing just  the opposite of this recording- the very expressive emotive words in his songs with a five/six octave range in full tilt. You really need to know (understand) Punjabi/Hindi/Urdu to fully appreciate his singing, without understanding the play and massaging of the words in his lyrics  almost all is lost,  more so if Nusrat Sahib is singing in Punjabi.

With all due respect, I dont think it's only alaap in all the songs. As an example refer to the second song 'Intoxication'. 
I come from Mumbai, India and am therefore quite familiar with Hind/Urdu and having lived in Dubai for 20 years, have gained a fair understanding of Punjabi.
Having said that, I absolutely disagree that one needs to know the language to enjoy music.
I don't understand a word of Latin but thoroughly enjoy Stan Getz. 
 
I do however agree that the recording is such that the vocalist is very close to the mike, but thats what makes it very special, at least to me.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

I hope your preamp has a VERY sensitive volume knob!

  At 45wpc the volume's kind of twitchy for me!

 
 
How does this one look.  It works darn good for me..
 
http://www.goldpt.com/sa1x.html

 

[SHAHZADA123]

This afternoon I received the cables to connect the Volcano to the Peak.
Todd had shipped the amp a few days ago but without the cables.
Initially I was a little disappointed with the sharp treble and poor synergy with my high sensitive cans.
Then I took the pre outs to the Densen Power amp to see how it would drive the HE-6.
Wow! This setup is driving the HE-6 beautifully and me crazy.
I think I've hit pay dirt!
Well, at least till Skylab reviews the EF-6.

 

[IEMCrazy]

How does this one look.  It works darn good for me..

http://www.goldpt.com/sa1x.html

Pretty slick. How sensitive is it if you're feeding it a strong signal ? I could use something like that between my DAC and amp (since the DAC seems to be working at pre-amp levels thanks to Squeezebox ) On the other hand, for the money, that could be DAC or amp upgrades later on (though this amp is quite clean...I suspect amp upgrades from here would be deep into diminishing returns. DAC is a waiting game for Schiit's statement DAC Bifrost is darned good, so I want to see if Mike can best himself.)

 

[Happy Camper]

How does this one look.  It works darn good for me..

http://www.goldpt.com/sa1x.html

Looks like a nice find. I would have to hear it but it might just be the fix for a speaker amp system and the 6s with an older dac with a lesser/no volume control.

 

[Shahrose]

Quote:

This afternoon I received the cables to connect the Volcano to the Peak.
Todd had shipped the amp a few days ago but without the cables.
Initially I was a little disappointed with the sharp treble and poor synergy with my high sensitive cans.
Then I took the pre outs to the Densen Power amp to see how it would drive the HE-6.
Wow! This setup is driving the HE-6 beautifully and me crazy.
I think I've hit pay dirt!
Well, at least till Skylab reviews the EF-6.

Wait till you get rid of the garbage stock tube on the Peak.

 

[gurus]

Quote:

With all due respect, I don't think it's only alaap in all the songs. As an example refer to the second song 'Intoxication'. 
I come from Mumbai, India and am therefore quite familiar with Hind/Urdu and having lived in Dubai for 20 years, have gained a fair understanding of Punjabi.
Having said that, I absolutely disagree that one needs to know the language to enjoy music.
I don't understand a word of Latin but thoroughly enjoy Stan Getz. 
 
I do however agree that the recording is such that the vocalist is very close to the mike, but thats what makes it very special, at least to me.

 
I listen to a lot of Stan Getz . I  have a dozen of his CDs if not more. Also I listen to lot of South American/Latin jazz that has a lot of vocals I don't understand. To make a point, I absolutely love Flora Purim (and Ana Caram)  when she sings in Spanish. One can always make a connection to good music. All I am saying is if there are lyrics in the song and if  you understand the language you make a better connection.
 
I am glad that you agree that the song was closely miked. Does not say much for the HE-6 (which I love) resolving prowess in this case if you can hear the breathing in any half decent system which is the main point I was trying to make.