I have been using a Parasound Zamp v3, which is a 60wpc at 4 ohms stereo amp. It sounds better with the HE6 than the Liquid Gold X. There is a small noise floor but I have a second one coming and I should be able to run them in a low enough gain to get rid of it. I got both of them for under $180 total, used off of ebay and reddit.
Alright, last sprint for me before I give up on the He6se. What's a good used non-headphone amp I should look out for I can find used for < $500. I have the BasX from Emotiva and use it through speaker taps but it doesn't sound as good as just using the A90. I am currently only aware of the Adcom 545 I usually see on craigslist for around $200 but not sure if that's the one I should aim for.
For $500ish you can find a great vintage speaker amp that will drive the HE-6SE well....................and being in SoCal you should be able to find one easily.
I have been using a Parasound Zamp v3, which is a 60wpc at 4 ohms stereo amp. It sounds better with the HE6 than the Liquid Gold X. There is a small noise floor but I have a second one coming and I should be able to run them in a low enough gain to get rid of it. I got both of them for under $180 total, used off of ebay and reddit.
For $500ish you can find a great vintage speaker amp that will drive the HE-6SE well....................and being in SoCal you should be able to find one easily.
Though “vintage amp” is too broad of a term to search for and I’m not sure if I am overpaying for old junk or something good. Currently I only see a 2535 adcom for $225 and the 545 which are $300+ which seems a lot higher than what I saw a few months ago.
I popped the grills off of my he6se v2 and I could swear I heard more bass. Not sure if it was because I was looking for it, or if it was real. I ordered a pair of honeycomb replacement grills of eBay to try more long term, since I'm nervous about running grill-less. I'm curious, is there any consensus on whether removing the grill cloth or going with a less restrictive grill (or no grill) affects the lifespan of the driver? Surely it's subjected to more dust, and accidental touches in the case of no grill?
I popped the grills off of my he6se v2 and I could swear I heard more bass. Not sure if it was because I was looking for it, or if it was real. I ordered a pair of honeycomb replacement grills of eBay to try more long term, since I'm nervous about running grill-less. I'm curious, is there any consensus on whether removing the grill cloth or going with a less restrictive grill (or no grill) affects the lifespan of the driver? Surely it's subjected to more dust, and accidental touches in the case of no grill?
That may be true but I don't think I will find anything that sounds better at $200, which will be 90wpc at 8ohm, or under for the HE6. When I feel like I can trust international shipping more, I think I will get a Flux FA-10.
Though “vintage amp” is too broad of a term to search for and I’m not sure if I am overpaying for old junk or something good. Currently I only see a 2535 adcom for $225 and the 545 which are $300+ which seems a lot higher than what I saw a few months ago.
Hopefully you are fortunate enough to have a vintage store that specializes in stereo equipment like I have up here in the Portland metro area - we have at least 3 stores that I can visit to see their inventory (which changes weekly) and purchase from. Two of them also do repairs and recapping and are quite expert at the older stuff, as it is the entirety of their business. I've also purchases a number of units off craigslist and had them checked/serviced by these guys.
Buddy of mine is also running his he6se v2 off a 40w stereo tube amp and mogwai se, and the current belief is that the he6se loves large transformers and scales accordingly.
That may be true but I don't think I will find anything that sounds better at $200, which will be 90wpc at 8ohm, or under for the HE6. When I feel like I can trust international shipping more, I think I will get a Flux FA-10.
I popped the grills off of my he6se v2 and I could swear I heard more bass. Not sure if it was because I was looking for it, or if it was real. I ordered a pair of honeycomb replacement grills of eBay to try more long term, since I'm nervous about running grill-less. I'm curious, is there any consensus on whether removing the grill cloth or going with a less restrictive grill (or no grill) affects the lifespan of the driver? Surely it's subjected to more dust, and accidental touches in the case of no grill?
Is there any sort of dampening material behind the grille? Or is it just grille and thin foam for dust protection?
Definitely post some pics once you get them, I'd be curious to see your results, I was eyeing the same honeycomb grilles on ebay for my HE-560, but never pulled the trigger.
Is there any sort of dampening material behind the grille? Or is it just grille and thin foam for dust protection?
Definitely post some pics once you get them, I'd be curious to see your results, I was eyeing the same honeycomb grilles on ebay for my HE-560, but never pulled the trigger.
The stock grills have a thin cloth attached with adhesive on the back side. There's no foam. When I first removed the stock grill it snapped back to the driver. I didn't realize the magnet in the driver would attract the metal grill. I took a look and I don't think I damaged the driver, but I was definitely a bit nervous about that. knowing that there is nothing but the grill protecting the driver with a grill as minimal as the honeycomb grill makes me nervous, but a pretty easy swap out to see if the sound is worth it.
The stock grills have a thin cloth attached with adhesive on the back side. There's no foam. When I first removed the stock grill it snapped back to the driver. I didn't realize the magnet in the driver would attract the metal grill. I took a look and I don't think I damaged the driver, but I was definitely a bit nervous about that. knowing that there is nothing but the grill protecting the driver with a grill as minimal as the honeycomb grill makes me nervous, but a pretty easy swap out to see if the sound is worth it.
Haha, I can definitely relate. I did the same thing on my HE-560. I was honestly shocked at how strong the magnets were and how hard the attraction force was to the metal grille. Like you I was worried about damage, but the bars of the magnets themselves definitely protect the membrane to a good extent. It was a good reminder to be conscious of what I have near it without the grille for protection.
Phil Chang did a nice looking mod with just some transparent fabric for dust on his HE-560, so I may give that a shot. Of course that still could allow a piece of metal to get sucked right through the fabric if too close to something small and metallic. Getting my HE-6se from Adorama tomorrow though, so looking forward to experimenting with it. http://philchang.me/portfolio/images/hifiman/hifiman-4.jpg
So, I got the new cable I ordered in (on HE6-SE V2). It's a fairly basic one off of Amazon (KK cable) that I ordered because I really disliked the feel of the stock cable. The feel itself is really nice, but I was really surprised to also hear a noticeable sound improvement. I'm usually not one to advocate unnecessary cable swaps (especially pricey ones), but maybe there's some wonky impedance or too-thin wire used on the stock cable. The new cable fixed a lot of my treble-fatigue annoyances and made the imaging a little more focused. It's finally sounding like the flagship-level headphone that I had expected. I'm wondering if the stock cable was literally bottlenecking the power-delivery of the amp, or just had poor solder joints or something. That stock cable is just garbage all around. I highly recommend ditching it for just about anything else, if feasible.
Very worth the $60 I paid (I consider myself kind of a cheapskate). Can't wait until I get the Bifrost 2 back from warranty exchange; it's making me anxious.
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