[eugene2]

I purchased a Woo amp at the NY show, probably the last show before the covid pause. Also Burson is doing some nice deals on their website...

 

[Basil65]

Hi everyone, just gathering some thoughts here as I'm in a position to buy an amp for my HE1000SEs.
I have made a shortlist and have also listened to a few now but I thought I'd just throw it out there:

For around £1,000 ($1,300) and of course, ideally less!, what amps would you recommend I ensure are on my shortlist?
My DAC is, and will probably remain, the Chord Mojo 2 so single-ended input is fine.
I am looking for 'musicality', a touch of warmth but not too much. Realism, good timbre and good dynamics.
Music genres are a bit of everything, mostly jazz, no EDM, heavy rock, metal or rap.

My current shortlist of SS and Hybrid amps is:
*Addition* HiFiMan EF600
Violectric HPA V-222
Aune S17 Pro
Burson Audio Soloist 3XP
Xduoo TA-20 Plus
Schiit Lyr+

Your thoughts would be much appreciated

I just love my HEKSE with the Schiit Mjolnir 3. You should add it to your list. They're a great match.

 

[andrewchoppa]

I purchased a Woo amp at the NY show, probably the last show before the covid pause. Also Burson is doing some nice deals on their website...

Burson = magnificent (and I've just come off a Sparkos Aries which was amazing!!!). Burson - next level imo. ANd yes - some ripper deals on site!!

 

[andrewchoppa]

I just love my HEKSE with the Schiit Mjolnir 3. You should add it to your list. They're a great match.

Heard some amazingly good things about the MJ3!!!

 

[davehutch]

I just love my HEKSE with the Schiit Mjolnir 3. You should add it to your list. They're a great match.

Doesn't show up on the .co.uk website. Bit on the large side also but thanks. I did watch some reviews on that one.

 

[adydula]

Lately I finished building a DIY set of SEAS A26 speakers, which are the modern day equivalent's of the famous Dynaco A25's with over a million sold.
Seas, a Norwegian company known for excellent drivers who made the drivers in the original A25's updated these with the latest excellent drivers and crossover.

For midrange, high end, tonality they IMO are very similar to the SE's...in that they do most everything right...live performances and mid to high end content are so well done.

But for once I actually prefer the same music with the SE's over the 2 ch setup...amazing to me...now the 2 ch has the more realistic soundstage for sure but the closer (lol) more intimate experience with the SE's are really very very good...

We all here differently but the SE's are really special for sure...

Alex

 

[adydula]

I just love my HEKSE with the Schiit Mjolnir 3. You should add it to your list. They're a great match.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/schiit-mjolnir-3-desktop-class-a-headphone-amp.26696/

Alex

 

[SemiAudiophile]

Hi everyone, just gathering some thoughts here as I'm in a position to buy an amp for my HE1000SEs.
I have made a shortlist and have also listened to a few now but I thought I'd just throw it out there:

For around £1,000 ($1,300) and of course, ideally less!, what amps would you recommend I ensure are on my shortlist?
My DAC is, and will probably remain, the Chord Mojo 2 so single-ended input is fine.
I am looking for 'musicality', a touch of warmth but not too much. Realism, good timbre and good dynamics.
Music genres are a bit of everything, mostly jazz, no EDM, heavy rock, metal or rap.

My current shortlist of SS and Hybrid amps is:
*Addition* HiFiMan EF600
Violectric HPA V-222
Aune S17 Pro
Burson Audio Soloist 3XP
Xduoo TA-20 Plus
Schiit Lyr+

Your thoughts would be much appreciated

For jazz, definitely tube or hybrid. I'd go for a used Cayin HA-3A or C9.

YMMV with TA-20, I have a TA-22 and it does not pair well.

 

[andrewchoppa]

For jazz, definitely tube or hybrid. I'd go for a used Cayin HA-3A or C9.

YMMV with TA-20, I have a TA-22 and it does not pair well.

Hybrid definitely. My otcs pair perfectly with my stealths. The crackatwoa otl sucks with it!!

 

[davehutch]

For jazz, definitely tube or hybrid. I'd go for a used Cayin HA-3A or C9.

YMMV with TA-20, I have a TA-22 and it does not pair well.

@WaveTheory's comment definitely connected with what I'd like to achieve in the final part of his review, as have other reviewers who've used the HEKSE with this amp. Price dropped today as well to £347

 

[andrewchoppa]

@WaveTheory's comment definitely connected with what I'd like to achieve in the final part of his review, as have other reviewers who've used the HEKSE with this amp. Price dropped today as well to £347

Sorry-which amp dropped to $347?

 

[SemiAudiophile]

@WaveTheory's comment definitely connected with what I'd like to achieve in the final part of his review, as have other reviewers who've used the HEKSE with this amp. Price dropped today as well to £347

Sounds like you have your answer then. Let me know how it goes, I might get one myself. If only it wasn't so huge, I have limited desk space. The TA-22 is excellent with the HD8xx, great sounding hybrid.

 

[davehutch]

Sorry-which amp dropped to $347?

The TA-20 Plus on Amazon. It's usually £409 but it seems to have been reduced everywhere. I wonder if the TA-32 is coming out soon? I've only seen one image of that but it's the same shape as the TA-22 but with a rectifier tube like the TA-20 Plus.

 

[andrewchoppa]

The TA-20 Plus on Amazon. It's usually £409 but it seems to have been reduced everywhere. I wonder if the TA-32 is coming out soon? I've only seen one image of that but it's the same shape as the TA-22 but with a rectifier tube like the TA-20 Plus.

Ah thanks for that!! I love XDuoo stuff!!!!

 

[sendler2112]

I'm starting to work through a comparison of the Nanos with the HE100SE. I had compared them briefly at CanJam NYC and at that time with the same source, amp, cables, everything the same, the HE100SE blew me away with how much more expansive and epic the sound stage was. To the point that even though they are ridiculously more expensive, The set a hook in me and wouldn't let go. Then a week later, HiFiMan listed some refurbs on the site for $1700 so I bought them. I also got talked into carrying home the demo VMV D2R and VMV P2 DAC and amp that the SMSL booth had discounted so they didn't have to drag them home to China.

Now that I have both headphones home and can hear them without the noisy room, and with the immensely powerful amp, I would say the Nanos are really good. I had also compared them carefully to the Meze 109 (the Nanos are more transparent and revealing, the Meze are more sonically comfortable and romantic) and the Audeze M500 (both have a nice transparent sound as much as I could tell but their music file was lacking). I noticed that the Nano can really sound better on a powerful amp. ifi had their flagship $3500 amp which takes an accurate grip of the Nanos and makes them sound their best. Which is maybe what I am hearing at home now with the VMV stack. The HE1000SE no longer has a night and day advantage over the Nanos that I heard at the show through the HiFiMan amp. Or maybe the refurb HE100SE that I have is somehow a little tired already.

The HE still presents with a wider stage, both are fairly deep and high. The Nanos don't have quite as natural a timbre and don't flesh out the instruments quite as well. They are well placed and black in between but smaller in their image size within the stage. And somewhat less real sounding, having less body. The Nanos have a slight rise in the upper midrange which gives a slight coloration that the HEs don't have. But for 1/4 the price are very good. I would think that at the new price of $500, their is nothing that comes close at twice the price. I would easily choose the Nanos over the Arya Organics which were more neutral but smaller and more condensed in a tighter stage.

I'm going to spend some more time going back and forth with my slightly thinner and more crystalline Burson electronics to get a better idea but in this VMV system the Nano and The HE1000 SE are closer than i would have thought.