^ yes a back and forth with no resolution is tiresome at the very least, but I agree let the other folks take on the topic if they like.
There needs no resolution, because to me there was no conflict...at least until I felt your tone getting somewhat impatient. I don't know why you think that I was trying to persuade you into thinking one way or another about either the Sundara, or the HE-6se. I was just giving my opinions of both headphones, and how they compare.
I added comments to a post you put up about the HE-6 SE (positive) about a year ago in the Summit thread, and also somewhat negative comments you put up about the Sundara before you had the Crown 1502. So, why the reaction to my reaction on the Sundara without a Crown 1502 available to me?
I don’t need a reply, you have already supplied the answers with clarity.
I'm not so sure that I've been thorough enough. No one ever
needs a reply. I'm not going to bounce this discussion over to another thread. It stays here. You were the one who came here to defend (quite passionately I may add) the HE-6se against the Sundara, so moving the discussion over to the 6se seems confusing to me, and pointless.
So let's address
your post just now over in the 6se thread.
"Also, we see that you really liked the HE-6 SE until you blew it up."
Let's be clear, before the HE-6se blew up, I had already gotten to enjoy it for about a couple weeks, listening at moderate to moderately-high volumes. During that entire period, I spent very, very little time with the Sundara, and in fact, I can't recall right now whether I was comparing the 6se v1 to the Sundara during that window. Let's also be clear: I did really like it. I
still really like it.
I don't think it's $500-worthy. Hence, I said that it's overrated. I didn't say that it's bad. It was only after the v1 blew up that I got to spend quality time with the Sundara + XLS combo, and I really, really loved it. However, audio memory being somewhat poor, I wanted to compare it very badly with the 6se, so I went ahead and bought the v2 to replace the v1. Then, I got to sit for days with both headphones, to compare them. Frankly, the difference was clear in the first few hours, and the difference was major.
If you want to know why the bass on the 6se with the XLS blew me away, there's two reasons:
1. The THX789 I had been using to power the 6se was frickin underwhelming. It simply hasn't enough power. I also thought the THX789's power rating may be skewed, because it didn't feel to me that it delivered the 3.7W into the 6se in BAL mode that it should've been able to do. The extra power from the XLS was immediately noticeable.
2. The XLS gave the 6se slightly more body throughout the entire frequency spectrum, and soundstage, which was a nice cherry on top, over the added power headroom.
However, after spending more time with Sundara (edit: in combination with the XLS)*, it was clear to me which has the better bass, both in terms of quality and quantity, when EQ is used.