Sorry but that depends on the headphone amp and speaker amp in question, it's not a gimme.
I have heard a number of typical amps from Rotal, Nad, Cambridge Audio, Yamaha, Marantz etc up to £600 and none have been better than my Master-6 driving the HE-6's.
I fully expect better speaker amps to be better with the HE6, if synergy is good, but to say that the HE-6's are going to sound better just because it's being used on a speaker amp is just wrong.
I had excellent luck with my Bryston BHA-1 and the HE-6. really blew away my former pairing with the Burson Soloist.
Dam, sounds quite excellent out of dual Questyle CMA800 balanced setup as well.
Xenophon and vc1187: Thanks for both your inputs. First of all, I should mention that I took the LCD-2 off the list, and I have placed the He-6 on top of the list of priorities. Your inputs have helped a lot, but what other thing that has made a huge difference in tipping my hand is the He-500. The funny thing is that I have not even tried the speaker amps on them yet... I have just been listening to them straight from Macbook pro, and I already like them better than my previous favorites, the Sennheiser hd600 and hd598... I wonder what's going to happen when I have them properly amped, which will happen soon enough... Oh, and the more I listen to them, the better they get... Okay, full disclosure: I replaced the stock He-500 cable with another one from furutech 1, and that has made an immediate significant difference... But I still think some kind of "break-in" is going on, as the thing keeps opening up as I listen to it...And it is not just psychoacoustic or some kind of placebo... More about this when I have set up the Sherbourn amp and tried the cans on them... Can't wait!
I can't tell how soon that is going to happen, but my next upgrade will definitely be the He-6
Well, what do you know? Just when I decided I have found a stable answer, I begin to read about the up and coming He-560... And what I read sounds pretty intriguing... besides which the He-560 is cheaper... Decisions, decisions....
I might still just go for the He-6, so that I do not end up with the 560, only to wonder "what could have been." Unless the 560 is going to blow the He-6 out of the water... but I doubt that very much... I guess we'll have to wait and see
Well, what do you know? Just when I decided I have found a stable answer, I begin to read about the up and coming He-560... And what I read sounds pretty intriguing... besides which the He-560 is cheaper... Decisions, decisions....
I might still just go for the He-6, so that I do not end up with the 560, only to wonder "what could have been." Unless the 560 is going to blow the He-6 out of the water... but I doubt that very much... I guess we'll have to wait and see
An important thing you might not realize is the new Hifiman is incomparably more comfortable compared to the old design (especially HE6 which is by far the heaviest out of the old planars), due to the combination of weight reduction, new ergonomic headband, and earpads.
I didn't think it'd matter much to me, but after using the test sample HE560 for the past month I dread going back to the feel and weight of my HE500s or even the HE400s. HE560s feel like a dream when worn, and I'd bet HE400i's will be moreso because that will be even lighter.
Well, what do you know? Just when I decided I have found a stable answer, I begin to read about the up and coming He-560... And what I read sounds pretty intriguing... besides which the He-560 is cheaper... Decisions, decisions....
I might still just go for the He-6, so that I do not end up with the 560, only to wonder "what could have been." Unless the 560 is going to blow the He-6 out of the water... but I doubt that very much... I guess we'll have to wait and see
By all means, try the 560. But it would greatly surprise me if it were a serious challenger to the HE-6, going by the way it's positioned in the lineup. Although I can't really tell without having heard them of course. In the end you'll need to decide if that last merciless push into the final 10% or so performance is worth the expense of dedicated amping with the HE-6 as well as, as Jerg remarked, the comfort factor (which to me is less relevant, even when going from my HD-800 back to my HE-6).
The funny thing is that the HE-560 presented by Hifiman as much much better something than the old model is still priced much lower than the HE-6. so Hifiman things that even though improved HE -500 version is inferior to the old flagship. that says all.
I have had both cans for well over a year now and I kept both cans in stock trims with no mods and stock cable. in that configuration, the he-6 was clearly the better pair of cans to my ear. now that I have modded both cans to the max and have added a silver dragon v3 cable, things have changed quite a bit. I d'ont see the he-6 now as the better cans. fully modded,I prefer the he-500 with the silver dragon cable. soundstage has increased dramatically and bass has tightened to the point of being as good as he-6. treble is better too.
my findings is that I prefer he-6 in stock trim with a good copper cable like the stock cable or a black dragon cable. the only mod I like on he-6 is removing the cotton dampening.
he-500 I prefer it fully modded with silver dragon cable. in that configuration, it manages to reach he-6 levels.
thanks jerg for the mods. I will definitely get an he-560. c'ant wait to compare it to he-500 and he-6.
ah yes and I also removed the liners from the earpads. I keep the cans into their box when I d'ont use them and I use computer cleaning can that shoots pressurized air to clean them from dust.
I'm not a cable believer -nor a modder- but I keep both the 500 and the 6, they have distinct strong and weaker point and depending on my mood/type of music and the amp I have available I listen to one rather than the other. Overall there's no doubt that the HE-6 is technically stronger -if you have the right amp for it- but the 500's midrange is just so good that I can't sell it. My HD-800 would go before the 500 or the 6.
Now I only have the HE-6 and the HD800s. Very hard to say which is best. However, I will give the nod to the HE-6 for Best all rounder.
I owned the HE-500 as well, It was very, very hard to sell them. I also loved the midrange. But the HE-6 beat it out in every other catagory - Oh yeah, the mids on the HE-6s are no slouch and much better than the HD800 for vocals. IMO..
Now I only have the HE-6 and the HD800s. Very hard to say which is best. However, I will give the nod to the HE-6 for Best all rounder.
I owned the HE-500 as well, It was very, very hard to sell them. I also loved the midrange. But the HE-6 beat it out in every other catagory - Oh yeah, the mids on the HE-6s are no slouch and much better than the HD800 for vocals. IMO..
as far as cables go it is not a question of believing if the cable make a difference or not, but if you ,yourself, you truly hear a difference. and as far as I am concerned I do hear a difference, and not a small one. cables are a personal thing. some people hear a difference and some d'ont. i have never heard a difference with power cables or rca cables. but with headphones cables i hear it every time. if you cannot hear a difference, consider yourself lucky. you save 300 to 600 dollars per headphones. me i have to buy cables. if i did not hear a difference i would save a lot of money. i would never buy a cable for esthetic reasons.
it has been said a thousand times here. we all hear different. that is why i am very happy that i am able to manage sound as good as he-6 with my he-500. cause frankly, they are much easier to drive than my he-6 and that is a big plus. and a bit lighter. he-500 have a lot of potential. but you have to do some work to unleash it fully.
as far as cables go it is not a question of believing if the cable make a difference or not, but if you ,yourself, you truly hear a difference. and as far as I am concerned I do hear a difference, and not a small one. cables are a personal thing. some people hear a difference and some d'ont. i have never heard a difference with power cables or rca cables. but with headphones cables i hear it every time. if you cannot hear a difference, consider yourself lucky. you save 300 to 600 dollars per headphones. me i have to buy cables. if i did not hear a difference i would save a lot of money. i would never buy a cable for esthetic reasons.
it has been said a thousand times here. we all hear different. that is why i am very happy that i am able to manage sound as good as he-6 with my he-500. cause frankly, they are much easier to drive than my he-6 and that is a big plus. and a bit lighter. he-500 have a lot of potential. but you have to do some work to unleash it fully.
Oh is that why HiFiman keeps bringing out the HE-5xx series and never a HE-6 successor, because they have a lot of potential? Just kidding.
However, the real work is getting the HE-6 to live up to it's potential. Yeah I've had after market cables on all my Hifimans (Hardwired) Still non of the HE-5?? could not pass the HE-6 in SQ - no where close.
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