[Menkau-ra]

Any thoughts on mono block LA90 with HE6se? Would that be enough?

 

[gimmeheadroom]

Any thoughts on mono block LA90 with HE6se? Would that be enough?

It's gonna be noisy unless you run it off Eneloops.

 

[ufospls2]

Any thoughts on mono block LA90 with HE6se? Would that be enough?

to be honest, at the cost for two of them, you would probably be off with a different option. With that being said, you might get away with a single LA90.

 

[prozach1576]

These arrived today and wow! Tonal balance out of the box was not quite to my liking, but they sound great with the oratory1990 EQ applied.

I was expecting my Atom to be woefully inadequate to get these to a nice listening level, especially with a -5.5dB preamp gain, but maxed out on high gain is basically satisfactory.

Certainly these deserve a better amp, but I was unsure whether I should be looking at a more powerful headphone amp or to go the speaker amp route. I think I'll be more than fine with a Topping L70 as an upgrade.

 

[TWerk]

These arrived today and wow! Tonal balance out of the box was not quite to my liking, but they sound great with the oratory1990 EQ applied.

I was expecting my Atom to be woefully inadequate to get these to a nice listening level, especially with a -5.5dB preamp gain, but maxed out on high gain is basically satisfactory.

Certainly these deserve a better amp, but I was unsure whether I should be looking at a more powerful headphone amp or to go the speaker amp route. I think I'll be more than fine with a Topping L70 as an upgrade.

And so it begins anew! XD

All joking aside, congrats on your new cans!

 

[bagwell359]

These arrived today and wow! Tonal balance out of the box was not quite to my liking, but they sound great with the oratory1990 EQ applied.

I was expecting my Atom to be woefully inadequate to get these to a nice listening level, especially with a -5.5dB preamp gain, but maxed out on high gain is basically satisfactory.

Certainly these deserve a better amp, but I was unsure whether I should be looking at a more powerful headphone amp or to go the speaker amp route. I think I'll be more than fine with a Topping L70 as an upgrade.

Its not so much a matter of volume on the HE-6 (any) its the dynamic range and the impact/grunt in the bass you lose with low power.

Not sure what music you like or how you like - but for tonal accuracy the Ortatory as usual is way too heavy handed in the bass. Also 6 db at 1.8k is a bit heavy - the Q is right - try about 3.8 db, at 6 sopranos are simply too hot.

Congrats on the purchase - they are great.

 

[Menkau-ra]

It's gonna be noisy unless you run it off Eneloops.

Why noisy?

 

[prozach1576]

Its not so much a matter of volume on the HE-6 (any) its the dynamic range and the impact/grunt in the bass you lose with low power.

Not sure what music you like or how you like - but for tonal accuracy the Ortatory as usual is way too heavy handed in the bass. Also 6 db at 1.8k is a bit heavy - the Q is right - try about 3.8 db, at 6 sopranos are simply too hot.

Congrats on the purchase - they are great.

I'm generally a fan of the Harman target curve, so I'm pretty happy with the bass shelf.

I bought these largely for the bass capabilities, so I hear you on needing some power to get the most out of them. I'm just pleasantly surprised by what the Atom can do; I'd prepared myself for worse performance. Of course that extra bit of SPL is where the real power demand happens...

 

[bagwell359]

I'm generally a fan of the Harman target curve, so I'm pretty happy with the bass shelf.

I bought these largely for the bass capabilities, so I hear you on needing some power to get the most out of them. I'm just pleasantly surprised by what the Atom can do; I'd prepared myself for worse performance. Of course that extra bit of SPL is where the real power demand happens...

Fair enough. The HE-6 SE are full range, all music cans. I hope you give them a shot.

 

[Bonddam]

I'm running them on my BoyuuRange A50 mk3 300b and noise with headphones at 90db. The HE6 se2 has zero hum. The amp is modded and has about 7 watts into 8 ohms. Basically buy Woo 300b that has the current to drive them perfectly. If you don't like tubes you are better off getting high current output amps. Amps that power Magnapans perfectly which are high current design.

 

[bagwell359]

I'm running them on my BoyuuRange A50 mk3 300b and noise with headphones at 90db. The HE6 se2 has zero hum. The amp is modded and has about 7 watts into 8 ohms. Basically buy Woo 300b that has the current to drive them perfectly. If you don't like tubes you are better off getting high current output amps. Amps that power Magnapans perfectly which are high current design.

Magnepans do need lots of current. But battle ship 150+ wpc amps such as Pass, Krell, Boulder, etc, SS's are not needed for these. But if and you have one, use it, just keep the volume at 0 when you fire it up.

The Schiit Jot with no modules at $399 and the Lyr 2+ w/ no tube at $599 (both new) will drive them quite well. A used Rag 1 at about $675 will drive them better.

A used receiver such as the Denon AVR-1603, which could probably be had for $100 (5 chan, two mains are 80 wpc @ 8 ohms) drives them fine off the speaker outs (I did it with mine). It's about 30 years old, so its close to recap time, just toss it when it goes. Its not a match for my Rag 1, but it and another 700 or so receivers will give you good enough to excellent sound for cheap.

 

[ufospls2]

Magnepans do need lots of current. But battle ship 150+ wpc amps such as Pass, Krell, Boulder, etc, SS's are not needed for these. But if and you have one, use it, just keep the volume at 0 when you fire it up.

The Schiit Jot with no modules at $399 and the Lyr 2+ w/ no tube at $599 (both new) will drive them quite well. A used Rag 1 at about $675 will drive them better.

A used receiver such as the Denon AVR-1603, which could probably be had for $100 (5 chan, two mains are 80 wpc @ 8 ohms) drives them fine off the speaker outs (I did it with mine). It's about 30 years old, so its close to recap time, just toss it when it goes. Its not a match for my Rag 1, but it and another 700 or so receivers will give you good enough to excellent sound for cheap.

Ragnarok 1, if you manage to get one at a good price used, definitely has to be up there in terms of best somewhat more affordable options for the HE6seV2.

 

[bagwell359]

Ragnarok 1, if you manage to get one at a good price used, definitely has to be up there in terms of best somewhat more affordable options for the HE6seV2.

The Rag 1 held value for some years, but began slipping the last 18 months and because of the 2 (remote, runs cool, and newer MUST be better) has driven them under $700 and less (one in Canada for $584 US plus ship). Plus the 2 is cheaper list out of the gate and those are starting to show up at/under $1k.

For $584 and the fact its at most 7 years old - much safer than a 30+ year speaker amp/integrated/receiver that hasn't had caps redone. Unless you want to mess up your hearing any HFM HE-6 doesn't even need to be run in gain 3. Gain 2 is by far the best sonic choice for cans or speakers my thousands of hours with it have shown.

 

[ufospls2]

The Rag 1 held value for some years, but began slipping the last 18 months and because of the 2 (remote, runs cool, and newer MUST be better) has driven them under $700 and less (one in Canada for $584 US plus ship). Plus the 2 is cheaper list out of the gate and those are starting to show up at/under $1k.

For $584 and the fact its at most 7 years old - much safer than a 30+ year speaker amp/integrated/receiver that hasn't had caps redone. Unless you want to mess up your hearing any HFM HE-6 doesn't even need to be run in gain 3. Gain 2 is by far the best sonic choice for cans or speakers my thousands of hours with it have shown.

Agreed, I hadn't looked or realized pricing had come down that much. The last time I checked they were $900USD. Thats a heck of a lot of amp for the money then at 600ishUSD, with enough power and gain for any headphones you throw at it. Would seriously recommend it to 6seV2 owners looking for an affordable powerful option.

 

[bagwell359]

Agreed, I hadn't looked or realized pricing had come down that much. The last time I checked they were $900USD. Thats a heck of a lot of amp for the money then at 600ishUSD, with enough power and gain for any headphones you throw at it. Would seriously recommend it to 6seV2 owners looking for an affordable powerful option.

Not including estats which it cannot run directly, there are no headphones I know of that cannot be driven by this amp. There are a few amps with a more ethereal treble, and a bit wider stage - like say a Pass X-150.8 used which is about 11.5x more expensive, but at this used price level - bingo.

Not to mention they are particularly good on KEF LS50, Maggie .7i, Triange, Focus, and a lot of other speakers. They cannot drive low impedance stuff like the Maggie 3.7i, but if you have those, you've got some monster (or two) running them.