Hifiearspeakers
Headphoneus Supremus
Audio46 is awesome. I’ve bought a lot of gear from them. They’re top notch on quality and customer service.
Hifiman HE6-SE
- Thread starter ufospls2
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Audio46 is awesome. I’ve bought a lot of gear from them. They’re top notch on quality and customer service.
Audio46 is the best place in NYC for headphones from my experience. I also get my Chord DACs from there, but they don't have much else of note to me (e.g. not a rich cable, speaker, or amp inventory). Very good customer service and no hassle auditions too.
bagwell359
Headphoneus Supremus
Apogee had 3 products selling when ML came out with its first really solid product the CLS IIz. Easier to drive than the Apogee's for sure, but no ML has a treble to match the Duetta, and the bass cancellation panel issue is worse for the CLS IIz's. Still though, I left Apogee's for ML's after I left Maggies for the Apogee, to come back again.
These days the lowest price to get into the land of panels:
Maggie 1.7i (short on the bass) but very much a unified sound, and more transparent than earlier Maggies (meaning the models without true ribbon tweeters)
used ML Vantage - got the bass, need 150 wpc and a room 14 x 17 ish or bigger
bagwell359
Headphoneus Supremus
Cool. Worth calling up front to carve out time?
They don't get too much volume, and they are not much of a book in advance type of store like others, so no need. All my auditions were just walk ins, though it can't hurt to call ahead.
Had a pair of Duettas, sold them for Scintillas, the 2 ohms. I like the Divas though.
bagwell359
Headphoneus Supremus
I sold a few 1 ohm Scintillas, certainly listened to them a lot, that Krell KSA-100 running at about 170F and that slightly more aggressive treble made the Duetta my choice. I went to the CLS IIz's after that, then the juicy Gradient subs to go with them.
astrostar59
BannedMember of the Trade: Aries Cerat Espana, Auriculares High-EndAKA Headstage, headphoneweekend
Going back to the HE6, my main bug bear with it is the pathetic efficiency specs. It is nonsense to have to consider a speaker sized output from any amp to drive any headphone. It is simple poor design by HFM. No excuses Fang, get you efficiency up, and see more of a market for this model.
But I guess he sees a 'niche' in the old HE6 crowd, cash in on that? But to me the goal posts have moved, the world has moved on, so this is IMO a cash call, not any kind of realistic offer to compete with the better HPs out there today. Unless I am proved wrong and it does indeed sound amazing? Not holding my breath.
But I guess he sees a 'niche' in the old HE6 crowd, cash in on that? But to me the goal posts have moved, the world has moved on, so this is IMO a cash call, not any kind of realistic offer to compete with the better HPs out there today. Unless I am proved wrong and it does indeed sound amazing? Not holding my breath.
Yeah, makes me wonder if they purposely tried to achieve 83 dB/mW efficiency on the Susvara.
astrostar59
BannedMember of the Trade: Aries Cerat Espana, Auriculares High-EndAKA Headstage, headphoneweekend
What is the true efficiency figure on the Susvara? I know some guys on here running it straight out of the DAVE, so it must be higher than the old HE6.
HiFiMan claims the same 83 dB/mW figure. I suspect a DAVE can get the HE-6 loud enough too, and it's just that DAVE owners use higher end headphones than the HE-6. Also, this may be a stretch, but it seems only HE-6 fans (and AKG K1000 fans) want to use power amps for the headphones while the Susvara has attracted a different crowd that does not share that mindset. With that being said, if I were to use a Susvara as my primary headphone, I'd want to use a Super Symmetry Dynahi as my amp.
astrostar59
BannedMember of the Trade: Aries Cerat Espana, Auriculares High-EndAKA Headstage, headphoneweekend
I would go for a top tube amp myself with enough juice, get those organic sounds going. I didn't love the GSX MK2 so much, bit too analytical / etched in the treble for my ears.
But there again I wouldn't spend 5K+ on the Susvara, it just doesn't feel good enough build quality at that level. The cable, oh my.... another Fang boobie. At least send it out with a decent cable.
On that note, I'd actually like more brands to release high end headphones with a no cable option to save money. Though this is not so applicable to HiFiMan headphones since their cables are so cheap that they can't add to the cost much. Since if I were still using non-electrostatic headphones, I'd be using Cardas Clear or similar headphone cables for everything and I know I wouldn't be alone.
I feel like I'm the only one on the planet that has absolutely no issues with inefficient headphones that require speaker amp levels of power. One reason is probably because my system is built around a speaker amp
The other reason is that I don't care much to have a price increase just so headphones can sound slightly more than abysmal from my phone. Most people who are into hi-fi (particularly headphones) have dedicated home systems built around a stationary setup; making things more efficient for the sake of portability is purely a marketing thing that I consider nonsensical.
For those who are upset about amping needs I understand to a degree, but big boy headphones tend to be notoriously power hungry or amp; those qualities are almost the mode de rigour of summit fi.
Electrostatics are the most obvious and arguably the worst of this trend .
If Fang had chosen to make the HE6SE less power hungry it may have changed the sound signature and definitely wouldn't have been the "slightly improved rerelease" he seems to be going for. It would have at that been pretty much a new headphone.
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