[captouch]

spkr taps = speaker outputs of amp/receiver.

e.g. 2nd pic of post #1781  :  http://www.head-fi.org/t/551345/hifiman-he-500-he-as-in-high-end-please-post-your-impressions-loan-pair-for-uk-pg-28/1770#post_8598942

here, the original headphone plug (4-pin xlr?) has been reterminated to bananas (you need + and - for each driver) and inserted into appropriate spkr tap.

I would just make a 1-2 foot female 4 pin XLR (about $5-7 on eBay) to bare wire or banana plug (depending on your speaker output) speaker tap, which will allow you to use the stock cable which terminates in a male XLR. This way you can use the provided adaptor (XLR to 1/4" TRS plug) to plug into standard headphone jacks when you don't want to listen via speaker outputs. If you have some spare wire, solder, and a soldering iron, it's a 15min job.

I was able to get the 10ft silver braided cable that normally comes with the new HE-500 from Hifiman for $20 (mine came with the thick Canare). I cut that into 2 lengths of 8ft and 2 ft and reterminated the headphone side (8ft length) to male XLR and 2ft side to female XLR and cut off the 1/4" TRS plug and stripped the wires and tinned the leads. So the 2ft length is my speaker tap and now I have two balanced cable options for listening to my cans via speaker taps. If you don't want to make your own, there are Head-Fi'ers that will make them as cheaply as $15-20. Cantsleep did another one for me using Mogami wire before I built my own.

 

[palmfish]

OK, thanks guys, that makes sense.
 
I like the idea of using an XLR plug tp banana adapter, but how do you know which wire goes where? I see two wires go to each channel, but how do you tell them apart (R+/R-/L+/L-)?

 

[captouch]

OK, thanks guys, that makes sense.

I like the idea of using an XLR plug tp banana adapter, but how do you know which wire goes where? I see two wires go to each channel, but how do you tell them apart (R+/R-/L+/L-)?

Good question - it follow the K1000 XLR pinout:

1 - left channel +

2 - left channel -

3 - right channel +

4 - right channel -

 

[palmfish]

Thanks, this is going to be fun.

 

[.Sup]

Here is the one I made.

If anything listening with headphones through speaker terminals made me evaluate my speaker amp easier. My Wharfedale speakers aren't transparent enough.

 

[palmfish]

Perfect, you answered my next question about whether the headphone cable terminates with a male or female plug.
 
I'll order the female plug and some cable.
 
Edit: So I have found the Neutric plug, but where do I go to find cable? cheap cable - maybe like the stuff that comes with the headphones...

 

[.Sup]

Perfect, you answered my next question about whether the headphone cable terminates with a male or female plug.

I'll order the female plug and some cable.

I used ViaBlu bananas and Canare Starquad cable

 

[palmfish]

Thanks again for the help! I searched the DIY forums here but found frustratingly little info on what to buy and where to buy it.
 
Found a link to Redco Audio and ordered all the parts. Canare Star Quad, Neutrik connector, and some cheap gold plated banana plugs (screw type). I'll listen with the headphone jack until my parts arrive sometime early next week.

 

[preproman]

Quote:

Thanks again for the help! I searched the DIY forums here but found frustratingly little info on what to buy and where to buy it.
 
Found a link to Redco Audio and ordered all the parts. Canare Star Quad, Neutrik connector, and some cheap gold plated banana plugs (screw type). I'll listen with the headphone jack until my parts arrive sometime early next week.

 
 
palmfish,
 
You should have ordered the HE-6s..  Anyway:
 
You're on your way to big things.  Watch out for that snake oil...
 

 

[palmfish]

palmfish,

You should have ordered the HE-6s..  Anyway:

You're on your way to big things.  Watch out for that snake oil...

Funny, and possibly prophetic...

One year ago when I first discovered this wonderful hobby with a pair of HD 598's (my first high quality headphone), someone in another forum told me that based on my comments about what i was looking for, I should just get the HE-6 and Liquid Fire and be done with it.

 

[Terja]

Quote:

... I'm hearing terrific balance.. bass is muscular, neutral, & precise.. treble is very clear, possesses excellent detail & presence.  The midrange is amazingly lively... This is how to experience the famed ortho midrange & liquidity.  The HE-500 is slightly midforward by design.. which is how I hear it.
 
... Nothing feels missing or enhanced.. certainly not the bass...

 
Just a 2+ to underscore how the HE-500 sounds via speaker terminals. I am using a Pioneer SA-7500II integrated amp that has a warm tube-like sound. The SQ is full and lush and plays really well to the HE-500s signature. These are speaker-phones people; at least at some point when you have such a world-class HP you have to find out for yourself what all the fuss is about. Yes, the amp you match them with via speaker terminals does come into play - they are not all made the same, but as a general rule the HE-500s sound so much better via speaker terminals than any headphone out. My range of power to feed the HPs is anywhere between 25 to 60 watts @ 8 ohms, roughly 5.3 to 12.6 watts @ the Hifiman's 38ohms. I converted my stock silver cable to 4-pin XLR and haven't looked back. I just feel like I've opened a hidden door on the HE-500 landscape and walked into a sunny, lush-green, flower-strewn hidden valley ... here be the sound of life ... finally!

 

[palmfish]

Thanks for the info. I have an SA-5800 - rated at 25 WPC and also on the warm side.
 
I'll have to bring it home and make those flouroscan meters dance!

 

[DannyBai]

I'll be venturing into FlySweep's set up in the next week as I also converted my silver cable into speaker taps and ordered the DTA.  I've only been using the HE-500 with the DX100 + MK3 or the E10 + E9 combo so I should be in for a nice awakening.  

 

[FlySweep]

Just a 2+ to underscore how the HE-500 sounds via speaker terminals. I am using a Pioneer SA-7500II integrated amp that has a warm tube-like sound. The SQ is full and lush and plays really well to the HE-500s signature. These are speaker-phones people; at least at some point when you have such a world-class HP you have to find out for yourself what all the fuss is about. Yes, the amp you match them with via speaker terminals does come into play - they are not all made the same, but as a general rule the HE-500s sound so much better via speaker terminals than any headphone out.

 
Nice!  The Yammy HTR I used was pretty neutral, but also a touch warm/natural sounding.  Not quite 'tube' like (in the stereotypical sense), but it was very smooth.  I love the DTA I'm driving it with now leaps and bounds more.  And as you said, it's isn't all about just pumping as many watts as you can find into the HE-500.  Based on calculations, the Yammy was pumping almost 18 WPC into the HE-500.  The DTA is pushing closer to 5 WPC.  In terms of drivability, I don't sense a difference... but the DTA sounds cleaner, more vibrant, neutral, and spacious.  Note weight is simply perfect.. not too thin, or thick.. bass, midrange, and treble are all very even.. and only the HE-500's inherent coloration seems to shine through.
 
I'm listening to the immensely talented Matthew Halsall's soothing jazz album, "Sending My Love" with the DTA-100a/HE-500.. and it has never sounded so beautiful (even trumping how it sounded on a well amped/sourced UM Miracle).  The upright bass is so natural & controlled.. but fantastically full bodied and delicate.  The compositions are well thought out and the space between instruments and passages is very natural.. the DTA-100a/HE-500 makes that all the more apparent.  Again, for $90, this combo has no business sounding as good as it does.
 

Originally Posted by Terja /img/forum/go_quote.gif
 
I just feel like I've opened a hidden door on the HE-500 landscape and walked into a sunny, lush-green, flower-strewn hidden valley.

 
No kidding.. it is truly an eye-opening step up in hearing what the HE-500 is capable of with a well matched speaker amp.  Listening to the HE-500 with many traditional HP amps, it felt like driving a Ferrari at 30 mph everywhere.  Sure you just get a taste of what the car is capable of.  Driving the HE-500's from speaker taps is like unleashing that Ferrari on some windy backroads road (without a cop for a hundred miles.. lol).  It truly sounds like the 'entire driver' is being utilized as the sound is so much more multidimensional, layered, and robust.
 
In terms of resolution, I didn't hear a million mile leap in improvement going from a traditional headphone amp to a speaker amp.  This probably has more to do with the quality of the DAC used.  The most significant difference was the depth, power, clarity, and separation with which the music was presented.  It was simply in another world.  While remaining very balanced and never overpowering, bass gained a very noticeable amount of dynamic presence, control, and texture.  Most anything prior to the speaker amp made the HE-500 sound thin, compressed, and 2D in comparison.
 
Next up, I'm going to pair the DTA-100a with the TubeDAC-11 to see what kind of magic the HE-500 will will work with some tubes!

 

[Terja]

One of the most enjoyable things with this kind of set-up is listening to music I am very familiar with and essentially rediscovering it simply due to how brilliant it is sounding when compared to how it sounded before. I guess that is the true statement about the success of a set-up. The HE-500s are more than capable of such repeated 'wow' moments. These phones are not dainty or delicate - they are muscular and they love power, they simply lap it up and serve it back to you in dishes of pure pleasure -- they are that good.