[rydenfan]

I'm afraid its specs will discourage you. Taurus was not designed to drive HE-6 but ... Audeze may be?

I plan to demo LCD-X but very curious about the HE-6

 

[brunk]

So, I played Kodo's O-Daiko (Big Drum) track just through my TV speakers to observe it on the JRiver analyzer. I see fundamentals at approx 60hz for 2/3 of the song, then they drop down to approx 45hz at the last third of the song 

 The harmonics look beautiful too, can't wait to try this on the HE-6 and home theater rigs soon. There are only a few albums where I can reliably trip the breakers in the house, and this might be one of them! The Prodigy: World's on Fire BluRay is the most abusive on those poor breakers by far lol. Might have some competition 

 

 

[Silent One]

   
That's funny I sometimes get something called jasmin black pearl at the coffee bean. I wonder if they're the same thing.
 
I prefer earl grey as my go to tea.

 
Same one - I get my tins (loose leaf) either from the Marina or Westwood store.

 

[gjc11028]

10W, right on the money just like I've found. :wink_face:

Does the f5 do 10 watts at 60 ohm?

 

[Steve Eddy]

Does the f5 do 10 watts at 60 ohm?

Into 60 ohms, it'll do about 3 watts or so.

se

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Have you removed the pre and EF-6 from the circuit and use just your DAC volume to your amp? That dynamic aggressiveness is what attracts me to this headphone and I've not heard many pre's that stay out of the way.

The issue is that if I have the EF-6 volume control all the way up so that my speaker amp gets full voltage, and I control it with the DAC, then if I want to hook up another analog input (phono) to the EF-6 then the simple push of an input button on the EF-6 could blow out a headphone. So I guess my big complaint is not so much the three volume knobs, as it is not wanting the EF-6 RCA output to be tied to the EF-6 volume knob.

The combination of the mellow headphone out from the DAC-100, plus the energetic headphone out from the EF-6, does somewhat negate the need to use the HAP-100 as a preamp. But the HAP-100 headphone out is better with in ear monitors than the other two amps. Also, by running my phono into the HAP-100 preamp along with the DAC, everything going into the EF-6 amplifier is at the same volume level. I made a mistake before, and I actually leave the DAC volume at 100% and I've been controlling the volume with the preamp.

 

[Silent One]

 

   
 
You're finally 27 posts ahead of me, with a nicer tea set than my Teavanna Dragonfly 

 
Back on topic, it's been a while since I spent time in the basement to listen to my HE-6 and EF6 amp, but I did last night and it still surprises me.  I'm still concerned that although I can't actually stand to listen to it at full-volume that I wish that I had about 2-3 dB more headroom for "just in case".
 
I also wish that the EF6 RCA outputs on the back would bypass the volume pot.  I'm feeding the EF6 with a Macbook and Apple TV as transports > Nuforce DAC-100 > HAP-100 preamp, where I have the STA-100 speaker amp plugged into the back of the EF6 since the preamp only has one output.  
 
So, I have too many volume pots in the loop now, with one on the DAC + one on the preamp + one on the EF6. I like to leave the EF6 volume at 2-3 o'clock so it's not high enough to damage headphones if the DAC or preamp get cranked up to max by accident.  But then this limits the speaker amp output.  I may have to just add an RCA splitter to feed the preamp into the EF6 and speaker amp separately.
 
Other than that, I still think the EF6 is quite optimal for the HE-6, and it's one of my favorites with the HD800 (giving them energy, punch and excitement even for classic rock).

 

 It has been quite some time since we've crossed paths. Always great to see you, my friend. I may not be there in your basement but from where I'm sitting I too, think you could stand to lose a pot or two in the chain. What other gears are you hiding meticulously storing down in the basement? 

 
I tend to drink delicate green teas warm. A winter visit to the Rockies would see me drink a much hotter bowl!

 

[sluker]

The man is back.
How are things going with the amp Mr. Eddy? How many watts will it do into 60 ohms? Will it be a contender for the HE-6?

 

[Steve Eddy]

The man is back.
How are things going with the amp Mr. Eddy? How many watts will it do into 60 ohms? Will it be a contender for the HE-6?

Not being a paid sponsor, I can't really say much without risk of being banned. I will say though that it's not suitable for the HE-6.

se

 

[gjc11028]

Into 60 ohms, it'll do about 3 watts or so.

se

This is where I get confused. If one poses the question in this thread about how much juice an amp needs to get the best out of the he6, people seem to say 10w or a bit more into 60 ohms. If one asks what amps are recommended, the first watt amps seem to always be mentioned. Seems a little inconsistent to me. There probably is a more refined answer possible? Or are people learning that the first watts really are not enough? Just curious.

Edit. Should have started with thanks.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

 It has been quite some time since we've crossed paths. Always great to see you, my friend. I may not be there in your basement but from where I'm sitting I too, think you could stand to lose a pot or two in the chain. What other gears are you hiding meticulously storing down in the basement? 

I tend to drink delicate green teas warm. A winter visit to the Rockies would see me drink a much hotter bowl!

Well, it's complicated. I moved the Perfectwave DACMk2 upstairs, with the Nuforce CDP-8 as transport, and the ZDT, KGBH, and KGSS amps.

That left the Nuforce stack for the basement rig, with the DAC-100, HAP-100 Preamp, and STA-100 Speaker amp, plus EF-6 which I had to insert between the preamp and speaker amp since speaker amp lacks a loop out. I'm using an Apple TV, Samsung DVD, and MacBook Pro as transport down there.

My issue is mostly with the EF-6 volume pot controlling the RCA out which limits the signal into the speaker amp. No way am I setting the EF-6 volume to max - that could be a disaster if someone else tries to use the rig. EDIT - maybe I'll just add a solid RCA output splitter to the back of the DAC-100, and feed one output to the EF-6 and then other output to the Nuforce stack.

I considered moving the Stello DA-100 DAC from the bedroom to basement, which removes a volume pot but doesn't solve the other issue - what if a headphone is accidentally still plugged in while turning up the volume to the speaker amp? The EF-6 is not immune to clipping if the input level is high enough, and that can destroy even an HE-6, so 2-3 o'clock is as high as I feel safe with the EF-6 volume.

One advantage to the Stello is that it's got RCA and XLR output, and I have an ISOmax transformer box to allow the balanced out to drive a single ended amp. So, I could feed the Stello into the EF-6 with one output, and into the HAP-100 and STA-100 with the other output. But then I lose the mellow headphone amp of the DAC-100, and the 3-piece stack belongs together.

 

[StryGR]

It's simple gjc11028. You get technical-wise and subjective-wise answers. You choose the risk. I prefer the former as I proved to myself in practice that voltage headroom is very important.

 

[gjc11028]

It's simple gjc11028. You get technical-wise and subjective-wise answers. You choose the risk. I prefer the former as I proved to myself in practice that voltage headroom is very important.

Fair enough, although both answers come from some of the same folks, who I feel are the most helpful and experienced participants here. That is why I raised it.

I have listened quite a bit , both to lower-power tube amp with good transformer and to 150 watt power amp. I can be happy with either, but I am not listening to the most demanding music. They both beat the hell out of the violectric v200 i had.

 

[Steve Eddy]

This is where I get confused. If one poses the question in this thread about how much juice an amp needs to get the best out of the he6, people seem to say 10w or a bit more into 60 ohms. If one asks what amps are recommended, the first watt amps seem to always be mentioned. Seems a little inconsistent to me. There probably is a more refined answer possible? Or are people learning that the first watts really are not enough? Just curious.

I certainly understand your confusion. Answers are all over the road, and not having any experience with the HE-6s, I'm afraid I can't offer you anything more definitive.

Suffice to say that if you want 10 watts into 60 ohms, you need an amp that will push about 75 watts into 8 ohms. On the other hand, if the F5 will drive the HE-6 to sufficient levels, then all that's really needed is a few watts into 60 ohms in which case you're talking about an amp that'll do about 25 watts into 8 ohms.

And of course a given person's estimation of what's needed can depend a lot on what kind of music they listen to. If they're listening to music that's had a lot of compression applied during recording leaving little in terms of dynamic range, they would likely tend to be ok with less power. But those who listen to music with fairly high dynamic range, they may call for more power.

se

 

[Armaegis]

I on the other hand am perfectly happy with two watts into my HE-6, with enough headroom and no clipping.
 
The tricky thing with looking at power ratings is just how quickly it escalates though. A doubling of power is only 3dB difference. Ten times the power is roughly 10dB increase.