[sluker]

I have to agree that the HE-6 only come into their own if provided sufficient clean power. I keep going back and forth between my Sansui AU717(85w into 8 ohm) and the Pioneer SX1250 (165w into 8 ohm) both with the HO and depending on the music and my mood I change my mind as to which is better. The Sansui gives them an added warmth and deeper sound stage, while the pioneer gives them punchier bass and a wider sound stage. I have heard these with newer ss and tube amps under meet conditions (the last LA meet) and the only combo that came close to my vintage rigs was the tube amp in the corner, near the Vmoda table (sorry I forget whose/what it was). I would love to hear the HE-6 with the Dark Star just to compare my set up, I hope someone will bring one to the LAX meet in August.
 
However, since I got the Sylvania 7236's for my La Figaro 339, I do find I use the LCD-2's just as much especially with mediocre recordings or mp3's. There is just something very pleasing with this combo for heavy guitar and punchy bass music. By the way the La Figaro can't come even close to extracting anything decent out of the HE-6's

 

[Happy Camper]

Running a tube dac with two 125 watt Rotel monoblocks have me living happily ever after with the HE-6. I am using a passive volume control. The fullness of sound and bass is as good as I've heard in a headphone.

 

[moodyrn]

I can't believe after all this time, and all the impressions and comparisons of people who have owned or spent significant time with it, that you have some who still doesn't get it when it comes to these cans. And even then, some will tell you it's too much of a hassle going from amp to amp to get the right senergy. And now that's not an issue since us early adopters have already gone through the fire with these. It's actually pretty simple.

For purests who only believe in pairing headphones with only dedicated headphone amps, then yes it can be dIfficult getting the most out of them since there's only one dedicated headphone amp I've listened to that can do that, and that's the darkstar. There may be a couple of others, but I have not listened to those. If all you want is to get the best out of them no matter what, then there are probably thousands of choices that won't cost any more than what a good headphone amp cost, and if you go vintage, it could be much cheaper than a good headphone amp. All it takes is a good, high quality decent powered speaker amp. It really couldn't be much simpler that that.

With that said, for someone who already owns something like a liquid fire, then the lcd3 will be a better bet since that's more than enough for those.

 

[purrin]

I'm thinking a Super7, which can double as a low powered speaker amp, may be able to do it with the right tubes. The EF5 wasn't bad with the HM801 as the source. Of course the source plays a large part. I can't see a Benchmark DAC helping the HE6. Others have had success with the Woo WA5. I don't think it's that hard, just that people haven't tried enough.
 

Originally Posted by sluker /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I have heard these with newer ss and tube amps under meet conditions (the last LA meet) and the only combo that came close to my vintage rigs was the tube amp in the corner, near the Vmoda table (sorry I forget whose/what it was).

 
That was Mr. Rogers Minute EL34. That worked well.
 
In the end, it may just be a matter of people not likely the HE6's sonic signature, as there are plenty of people who don't like Audeze's as well.

 

[preproman]

A good balanced DAC is very important as well.
 
Solid State:
http://nekoaudio.com/
 
Tube stage DAC:
http://dhost.info/mhdtlab/stockholm%20balanced.htm

 

[Jdevesa]

Well, I have to say that after several weeks of comparing high end equipment (PS Audio Perfectwave +Flac+ Cavalli LF) the Audeze LCD-3 respond better than HIFIMAN, JH Audio , Sennheiser to every amp and DAC I have.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

Well, I have to say that after several weeks of comparing high end equipment (PS Audio Perfectwave +Flac+ Cavalli LF) the Audeze LCD-3 respond better than HIFIMAN, JH Audio , Sennheiser to every amp and DAC you can choose.

 
Your statement seems to be a contradiction.  Assuming I know what you are trying to say I'd disagree.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

Well, I have to say that after several weeks of comparing high end equipment (PS Audio Perfectwave +Flac+ Cavalli LF) the Audeze LCD-3 respond better than HIFIMAN, JH Audio , Sennheiser to every amp and DAC you can choose.

 
 
Are we talking about an HE-6 here and are you driving the HE-6 with the LF?  If so I would say that is not a fair comparisons.  I'm really not sure the LF has enough "juice"  Although I could be wrong.

 

[wuwhere]

Well, he did say  "...every amp and DAC you can choose."
 
So, he must have had many amps and DACs that he listened to but he only mentioned 1 DAC and 1 amp.

 

[Face]

Quote:

 
 
 I'm really not sure the LF has enough "juice"  Although I could be wrong.

It doesn't. 

 

[moodyrn]

No it doesn't. It's a wonderful sounding amp, but it just don't have enough muscle for the he6. So no, it wasn't a fair comparison. Like I said so many times, no matter how many testimonials we have about people who have "properly" driven an he6, you still going to have many with the "no way is a headphone that hard to drive concept" and will post how the shortcomings of them without ever hearing them properly driven.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

No it doesn't. It's a wonderful sounding amp, but it just don't have enough muscle for the he6. So no, it wasn't a fair comparison. Like I said so many times, no matter how many testimonials we have about people who have "properly" driven an he6, you still going to have many with the "no way is a headphone that hard to drive concept" and will post how the shortcomings of them without ever hearing them properly driven.

 
Justin from Headamp had this to say about the HE-6 in post #285
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/112029/the-gs-1-thread/285
 
 
 
 
 
As I said a few posts back, the GS-X is still a headphone amp/pre-amp.  It is not a speaker amplifier, or a speaker amp pretending to be a headphone amp, or a headphone amp pretending to be a speaker amp.  It will not be the most powerful headphone amp in existence, but it could certainly drive the HE-6 especially in balanced mode.
 
If you really want a lot of power, I would suggest: http://www.firstwatt.com/
 
Notice the name and the philosophy: "The first watt is the most important watt".  High power chip amps tend to have high distortion at low levels, as well as high noise.  Even though some headphones like the HE-6 may be very inefficient people would be surprised to know that they are probably only averaging a few milliwatts of power at normal listening level.  no different from the philosophy of these amplifiers for powering speakers.
 
 
if you still want something that can blow up your phones, for something vintage and cheap try a Hafler DH200 or similar speaker amp.  Still beats the crap out of most modern stuff.

 

[moodyrn]

I never said no headphone amp can drive the he6. I was speaking about the liquid fire that I've heard for myself. I haven't heard the amp you are referring to and I doubt you have either. But if it doesn't put out the necessary requirements to drive the he6 properly, it will also fall short. If it does, then I'm sure it will sound amazing driving it. But anyway, my comments were about the lf, and not all headphone amps. I'm aware of a couple that can properly drive it. In fact, the best I ever heard them was from a darkstar(a dedicated headphone amp). Although there are a couple of amps that can drive it, that only accounts for about 95% of amps out there(probably a bigger percentage than that) which is why many use speaker amps, and I'm not aware of many cases of people blowing up their he6 either.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

I never said no headphone amp can drive the he6. I was speaking about the liquid fire that I've heard for myself. I haven't heard the amp you are referring to and I doubt you have either. But if it doesn't put out the necessary requirements to drive the he6 properly, it will also fall short. If it does, then I'm sure it will sound amazing driving it. But anyway, my comments were about the lf, and not all headphone amps. I'm aware of a couple that can properly drive it. In fact, the best I ever heard them was from a darkstar(a dedicated headphone amp). Although there are a couple of amps that can drive it, that only accounts for about 95% of amps out there(probably a bigger percentage than that) which is why many use speaker amps, and I'm not aware of many cases of people blowing up their he6 either.

 
 
No moodym, I'm not saying you said anything.  I'm just contributing to the discussion - that's it.  The amp is not even out yet.

 

[moodyrn]

Well you did quote me, and made contradictory responses to my quote. If you were merely making a contribution to the thread and not responding to my quote then why quote me.