[mrAdrian]

339 has enough power to drive a pair of he6, so the he5LE you have should be of no problem.

 

[vc1187]

When I had the LF339, I found that it drove the HE6 to loud enough listening levels but at those levels there was noticeable clipping/distortion. For me, it was certainly not a reccomeded pairing even with the Tung Sol 5998s as my power tubes.

I can't comment on the HE-5LE though.

 

[Ultrainferno]

LCD-2 is just ok. HE-500 is a good match with the more gain tubes. I however doubt the HE-6 will be a good match

 

[mrAdrian]

Ah sorry guys I was strictly talking about power~volume levels, not pairing.
 
Thanks for the clarifications.

 

[hifimanrookie]

LCD-2 is just ok. HE-500 is a good match with the more gain tubes. I however doubt the HE-6 will be a good match

The new owner of my 337(modded) uses his he6 on the 337 i understand..so if u guys own a modded (bigger caps?) 339 i am guessing u can drive it normally as the 339 is the sister of the 337... Or it has to be that the 339 now has a completely different output/caps with less output the the 337.. I dont know that

 

[sluker]

I have the 339 with upgraded tubes and it definitely does not drive the HE-6. I can't imagine any tube combo will do the HE-6 justice, it's just a matter of watts, it can not produce enough of them.
However, it is quite good with the LCD-2 (and I have heard them at their best with my sx-1250). In fact I find I almost exclusively listen to the LCD-2 with the 339 although they are more "open" with the sx-1250, the midrange is liquid smooth.  

 

[hifimanrookie]

 I have the 339 with upgraded tubes and it definitely does not drive the HE-6. I can't imagine any tube combo will do the HE-6 justice, it's just a matter of watts, it can not produce enough of them.
However, it is quite good with the LCD-2 (and I have heard them at their best with my sx-1250). In fact I find I almost exclusively listen to the LCD-2 with the 339 although they are more "open" with the sx-1250, the midrange is liquid smooth.  

my 337 is probably upgraded with more powerful components then (or ur 339 is not the lastest model? as earlier models, pre 2011, are very bad in driving planars to their fullest capacity i understand)... maybe with stronger and better quality transformers and capacitors then the standard version.... i used it on my he500 and i never used the volume over 21:00..max 22:00 on very VERY quiet passages... more would get to loud..it was clean though on higher volume..i know..as i have a metallica headbanger as a friend who normally listens to music on levels u can start a tremor with on his speakers..and he listened through my he500's to Within Temptation with volume on 14:00 

and he said it was very clean sounding..no clipping or distortion... but as i said before..my 337 was modified....
 
but u dont have to forget also..whats good for one..is sometimes by far not enough for others, as i didnt like the pairing with the lcd 2.2 at all when i tried it with my 337. best pairing was with he500 and hd650.

 

[sluker]

Totally agree that everything I said is IMO.
While I have not heard the HE-500, I do own the HE-6 and the LCD-2 (rev1) and used to own the the HE-5LE. I have heard all of them out of the 339 and the sx-1250 (1976 pioneer TOTL receiver with 125w/ch and a straight wire from speaker taps to HO).
 
From everything I have read I do not think the HE-500 requires quite near the power to drive to their best level that the HE-6 does and neither does the LCD-2. I am not talking about volume levels either as both headphones get plenty loud without clipping. What is missing with the HE-6 on the 339 is bass presence and soundstage width and depth as well as all the detail that goes with this.
In fact, I also own the Hifi-M8 which in balanced mode does much more for the HE-6 than the 339 (but still not near the sx-1250).
 
As a result, I object to recommending a 339 for someone with an HE-6 based on your experience with the HE-500 as the HE-500 is not the HE-6 (but they do look similar) and there are very few dedicated headphone amps I am aware of, capable of driving them to their potential. But don't take my word for it, just read the HE-6 thread and you will get a sense of what people are using to drive their HE-6's.

 

[hifimanrookie]

  Totally agree that everything I said is IMO.
While I have not heard the HE-500, I do own the HE-6 and the LCD-2 (rev1) and used to own the the HE-5LE. I have heard all of them out of the 339 and the sx-1250 (1976 pioneer TOTL receiver with 125w/ch and a straight wire from speaker taps to HO).
 
From everything I have read I do not think the HE-500 requires quite near the power to drive to their best level that the HE-6 does and neither does the LCD-2. I am not talking about volume levels either as both headphones get plenty loud without clipping. What is missing with the HE-6 on the 339 is bass presence and soundstage width and depth as well as all the detail that goes with this.
In fact, I also own the Hifi-M8 which in balanced mode does much more for the HE-6 than the 339 (but still not near the sx-1250).
 
As a result, I object to recommending a 339 for someone with an HE-6 based on your experience with the HE-500 as the HE-500 is not the HE-6 (but they do look similar) and there are very few dedicated headphone amps I am aware of, capable of driving them to their potential. But don't take my word for it, just read the HE-6 thread and you will get a sense of what people are using to drive their HE-6's.

i know the he6 thread as i was in the proces of buying one as last info before buying one for my new amp that hopefully comes in 1.5 weeks time... its not my experience that u can use my 337 with a he6..its the new owner who bought it from me (also fellow headfi'er) who almost by accident connected his he6 to the 337 and loved the sound so much he no longer has his violectric v200 as his main amp for his he6 anymore (as also for his hd800 and he500)..being driven by a v800 dac.... so its not my experience... and i was surprised also..as i also believed my 337 wasnt capable to drive a he6 to it best potential..but somehow according to him..it does...but he also states that the this particular 337 sounds more powerfull then his v200 (not the lightest amps in the power department).. well at least i know that my new amp with 5,28w into 50 ohm with 650.000uF powersupply capacity would do the trick..but i went for a Code-X instead..a custommade HE-5 which is believed to be better then the he6..well...compared to the he500 its a mile above that already good phone..
 
but i believe u that if u say the standard 339 cant drive a he6....

 

[sluker]

I would love to hear what you think of the Code-X. I used to own the HE5-LE and I though it was a capable headphone which had a lot of potential if modded. However, I only started modding headphones after I sold it. The HE-6 is still my favorite headphone and I am enjoying it much more since I got the Hifi-m8 and the sony HAP-S1 although neither of them compare to the sx-1250 but that is busy in the living room driving speakers so not something I can use everyday with the HE-6.

 

[hifimanrookie]

  I would love to hear what you think of the Code-X. I used to own the HE5-LE and I though it was a capable headphone which had a lot of potential if modded. However, I only started modding headphones after I sold it. The HE-6 is still my favorite headphone and I am enjoying it much more since I got the Hifi-m8 and the sony HAP-S1 although neither of them compare to the sx-1250 but that is busy in the living room driving speakers so not something I can use everyday with the HE-6.

i only have it 3 weeks now..driving it out of a cheap usb amp as i sold my 337 in december..hope to have my new amp at the end of this month... and then i will do a little review about the amp and the code-x..

 

[Xenophon]

I'm the guy who took over HifiManrookie's 337.  And I do use it to drive my HE-6 and it sounds like it delivers more power than my V200 (no slouch itself).  What can I say except that no one was more amazed than I when I tried it, didn't expect an acceptable, let alone a good result in a million years.
 
One caveat:  I haven't opened it up yet, I know it was heavily customised by the first owner and that the power supply, caps etc were modded but didn't check out the details yet.  So to be perfectly clear:  I'm saying that this particular 337 drives the HE-6 satisfactorily and at least as good as my 2750 mW into 50 Ohm Violectric. Does run hot though

 
I am not issuing some blanket statement that all 337/339 DV's can drive the HE-6, matter of fact, I personally don't think they can. I have a FirstWatt F3 (speaker amp) on the way for my HE-6, will compare with my 337 and Vio once I've gained some experience with it.  

 

[sluker]

 

[White Lotus]

Very excited to be joining the 339 fan club soon, to pair with my HD600.

 

[hifimanrookie]

  Very excited to be joining the 339 fan club soon, to pair with my HD600.

u will love it with ur hd600...try some premium tubes out..it will certainly improve ur listening experience..congrats!