[SilverEars]

In my experience, the HE-6SE sounds best with as low preamp gain as possible, and as high power amp power as possible.

If you have to set your preamp gain to high, I think the HE-6SE is going to sound a little too hard to be enjoyable. Set to low gain (or perhaps medium), whole new ballgame. So you need to feed it a lot of power to get that low gain signal to an proper listening volume.

I do find it mega annoying that we only have theories on the secret sauce of HE-6 amp pairing, given how many measurements we blather in about, especially the whole "not enough current" thing. Surely we can figure this out.

But hey, I can't figure it out either. Hah.

Yeah, we only get useless science like ASR that ranks devices by SINAD no matter how crappy they sound. That's not real science in audio. Real science is what explains such phenomena you describe. That's what science is suppose to do, not what goes on in audio science section telling you everything should sound the same.

Thing about this 'bad' science is cause false assumptions that leads buyers astray to crappy products like THX789 and cheaply made Toppings to go overpriced.

 

[NickMimi]

In my experience, the HE-6SE sounds best with as low preamp gain as possible, and as high power amp power as possible.

If you have to set your preamp gain to high, I think the HE-6SE is going to sound a little too hard to be enjoyable. Set to low gain (or perhaps medium), whole new ballgame. So you need to feed it a lot of power to get that low gain signal to an proper listening volume.

I do find it mega annoying that we only have theories on the secret sauce of HE-6 amp pairing, given how many measurements we blather in about, especially the whole "not enough current" thing. Surely we can figure this out.

But hey, I can't figure it out either. Hah.

Good post, i have experienced what i believe you are talking about and have found it one of the most synergistic combinations. Line magnetic Lm-32DAC> Decware CSP2 pre-amp (fully adjustable individual channel gain)>ADCOM GFA-555 II >HE6se. The Decware allows me very precise and extreme range of gain adjustment which in my system gives me the cleanest, most powerful and overall pleasing sound from the HE6se’s i own. The details are in the fine areas with this HP and uou can spend weeks listening to them over differnt combinations of equipment before you have your own “Ah-Ha!” Moment and understand the hype or better yet, their ability. Folks seem to habe their prefernces over which version of this HP is better but the one thing in common is that this HP will and does scale w/ quality amplification and anon-traditional set-up.

 

[bagwell359]

Just want to add my experience to the amp discussion. Quality is subjective, so excuse me if my perception is different from yours.

I recently tried the BasX A-100, Adcom 545, and Marantz MM7025. Source is SMSL M9, a dual AK4490 dac from Tidal master.

-- All three are better than the other headphone amps I have (smsl sp200, Figaro 339i for example).
-- A-100 is not as impressive as a 30 years old Adcom 545. Both have 100 wpc, so again power is not the only thing that matters.
-- Adcom 545 is close to the Marantz MM 7025, so probably we don't need more power than 100wpc.
-- Maybe Adcom 545 has passed its prime age, it sounds narrower (in orchestra), slightly dryer (solo, jazz) than the MM 7025. Bass is not as strong (tight, I don't mean booming), and it is less clear. But could this be the 140 wpc vs 100 wpc? I think a Adcom 555 can give a better conclusion.

MM7025 is one of the recent amps that are still powerful and 2 channel. There are some other "current production" options within $1k ranges. I believe you need to go for Macintosh to go to the next level.

So if you can get a vintage 2-channel speaker amp at a reasonable price, it is already good enough for you to enjoy the HE6SE at about $800 cost.

Generally fine advice - however two points:

1. If we are talking upper mid-fi or better Class AB or A amps - the sweet spot of available units is probably 1980 thru 2010.

2. I'm a risk taker, but I wouldn't plug an amp over 30 years old into my system without recapping the input and PS caps, and take a good long look at the coupling caps, not to mention the switches. You do that or have it done, you can safely go back to before 1990 for all this juicy stuff: Ampzilla, Belles, Boulder, Bryston 3B, Dyna 416, Hafler DH-200, Van Alstine mods, Threshold Stasis 3, several Yamahas, Accuphase, Luxmans, H-K Citation 16, Krell KSA 50 & 100, ARC 52, various Levinsons, Kenwood L07, McIntosh (several), Jadis (several), Rotel (several), Naim, Bel Canto, Holman, etc.

 

[bagwell359]

I have the 6se v1 and Rag and borrowed @SilverEars HE-6 6 screw, and I was at max volume for me at about 3:45 in Gain 2, which I figure to be at most 4-6 wpc. Max output in Gain 3 (max), and 50 ohms is 15 wpc in balanced. The amount of times my eyes slammed shut with the 6 screw convinces me the quality and quantity of the bass in the Rag 1 is sufficient. As for other headphone amps by Schiit: The Lyr 3 and Mjolnir I think have the most gas besides the Rag 1 & 2, but they are probably marginal. Fine with the HE-500 however.

 

[Happy Camper]

Certainly not restricted to any one maker but some have laid claim of making the perfect HE planar amp every time they come up with a new one.

 

[patatchod]

Hello,

Sorry to ask such a question, but how can I see if my HE6SE is a V1 or a V2 ?

 

[sennfan83261]

Hello,

Sorry to ask such a question, but how can I see if my HE6SE is a V1 or a V2 ?

Their stock headbands are the same the Ananda's and the new HE-400i's (2020 edition) respectively. Also, the colorway of the cups for HE6se v1 and v2 is black and bluish respectively.

 

[patatchod]

Thank's a lot!

 

[YtseJamer]

The HE-6SE V2 are back on sale at $699.

https://www.adorama.com/hmhe6sev2.html?emailprice=t&sterm=2oEyF12NZxyLR7F0TWXZ0S3wUkEUcTyd32Sj0k0

 

[hp4fun]

Generally fine advice - however two points:

1. If we are talking upper mid-fi or better Class AB or A amps - the sweet spot of available units is probably 1980 thru 2010.

2. I'm a risk taker, but I wouldn't plug an amp over 30 years old into my system without recapping the input and PS caps, and take a good long look at the coupling caps, not to mention the switches. You do that or have it done, you can safely go back to before 1990 for all this juicy stuff: Ampzilla, Belles, Boulder, Bryston 3B, Dyna 416, Hafler DH-200, Van Alstine mods, Threshold Stasis 3, several Yamahas, Accuphase, Luxmans, H-K Citation 16, Krell KSA 50 & 100, ARC 52, various Levinsons, Kenwood L07, McIntosh (several), Jadis (several), Rotel (several), Naim, Bel Canto, Holman, etc.

Agreed! That's why I don't believe adcom is much worse than the current production of Marantz. And what I really missed in my comparison is the preamp!

I did some digging into the past conversations in other threads, and it appears that some of the adcom (or other mid-fi) has the preamp. I decided to give it a second go.

I picked up most of my current gears in the past 10 yrs so I did not buy a preamp because it might be a bit "obsolete" in 2020. I was wrong. At least I was wrong in the adcom setup. For the record, I had one long time ago, to switch phono, fm, and CDs.

I did have a headphone tube amp (integrated, SMSL T1) that has the preamp option. Not idea, but let's give it a try.

Wow, He6se's previous narrow soundstage from adcom became much wider, the bass is solid and deep, vocal is sexy.

I then tried two more setups

1) preamp -> Marantz MM 7025. Not good at all! Hard to describe but a bit blurry to me, and everything is off a bit.
2) DAC -> MM 7025. It is ok, but the preamp->adcom is definitely more attractive, for example, in Du Pre's cello in the Haydn Cello concerto, and Paray's hot Symphonie Fantastique.

I did one more experiment. I have another tube amp that has the preamp output. I hooked up everything but did not even try it because the noise floor is too high. Possibly because the gain is too high.

After reading some impressions from Violetric V281, seems the proper gain setting is the key to make He6 sing.

Hope it is useful for some folks that use mid-fi or high-end headphone amp.

 

[antdroid]

Has anyone tried these new Schiit Jotunheim 2 yet? On paper it seems pretty powerful with 4W @ 50 ohms

I thought I had posted comments here on Jot 2 but if not... well, it works fine. Sounds great to be honest. I listen at 12 noon on the dial on high gain and am quite satisfied. Using fully balanced with Bifrost 2.

 

[bagwell359]

The HE-6SE V2 are back on sale at $699.

https://www.adorama.com/hmhe6sev2.h...XZ0S3wUkEUcTyd32Sj0k0&utm_source=rflaid912571

If as some say the v2 has a better sound stage then the v1, the the v2 is by far the best headphone deal at double that price. I think the v1 outpoints the Arya by a bit, and the the weak point of the v1 is the sound stage. Some could prefer the HD-800S, Clear, E2, and a few others but at the price - if you have the watts - there is no argument.

 

[YtseJamer]

I thought I had posted comments here on Jot 2 but if not... well, it works fine. Sounds great to be honest. I listen at 12 noon on the dial on high gain and am quite satisfied. Using fully balanced with Bifrost 2.

I have ordered the Jot 2 last week, but I'm still waiting for the tracking number. Can't wait to try the Jot 2 with the HE-6SE and the Verite Closed.

 

[zima500]

Anyone else have this issue with a recessed 3.5mm socket on the earcups? Someone posted these photos showing this issue on another thread. It is on the left side which is the same as my set. It prevents me from using my custom cables on this.

 

[hp4fun]

Anyone else have this issue with a recessed 3.5mm socket on the earcups? Someone posted these photos showing this issue on another thread. It is on the left side which is the same as my set. It prevents me from using my custom cables on this.

Yes. It is a common issue of HFM. The connectors need to be narrow enough.

It is so annoying because the recess is just little but you cannot plug the cables in (unlike Beyerdynamic or Meze, which you already give up without trying).