Listened to LCD-2 and HE-6....sounded bad...bad setup or just me?
Dec 18, 2012 at 8:16 AM Thread Starter Post #1 of 12
joeq70

joeq70

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Hey all. I recently had an opportunity to audition some headphones at a local hi-fi store.  I'm beginning to understand more what people mean now when they say a headphone is power hungry, but....I recently listened to both the LCD-2 and HE-6 and found that they sounded pretty awful when powered by a Ray Samuels "The Raptor." That's an expensive amp and what I thought to be a pretty beefy! They just sounded meh and sounded worse and worse the louder I tried to crank the volume. Big time bummer! On the other hand, the HE-5LE sounded absolutely delicious, even out of my modest Aune T1. So what gives? Is "The Raptor" a bad match for the LCD-2 and HE-6 or am I expecting too much? BY the way, the source was a Sony SACD player. Thanks all for your input!
 
P.S. I loved the He-5LE so much I bought the demo pair from the store on the spot. Awesome headphones!
 
Dec 18, 2012 at 9:18 AM Post #2 of 12
Quote:
joeq70 said:
Hey all. I recently had an opportunity to audition some headphones at a local hi-fi store.  I'm beginning to understand more what people mean now when they say a headphone is power hungry, but....I recently listened to both the LCD-2 and HE-6 and found that they sounded pretty awful when powered by a Ray Samuels "The Raptor." That's an expensive amp and what I thought to be a pretty beefy! They just sounded meh and sounded worse and worse the louder I tried to crank the volume. Big time bummer! On the other hand, the HE-5LE sounded absolutely delicious, even out of my modest Aune T1. So what gives? Is "The Raptor" a bad match for the LCD-2 and HE-6 or am I expecting too much? BY the way, the source was a Sony SACD player. Thanks all for your input!
 
P.S. I loved the He-5LE so much I bought the demo pair from the store on the spot. Awesome headphones!
Click to expand...

 
Heya,
 
You connected some low impedance, insensitive, high-current demanding headphones to an OTL tube amp that is better at generating high voltage for high impedance headphones. You probably heard a thin sound with clipping as your turned it up.
 
Not a good match of headphone to amp, because whoever put those together pretty much had no idea what they were doing.
 
Being expensive and the idea that it must also be super powerful are not something that go hand in hand. It's simple technology.
 
Very best,
 
Dec 18, 2012 at 9:18 AM Post #3 of 12
The Raptor does not have anywhere near the power for the HE6's but I would of thought would do a much better job with the LCD's.
 
Maybe it was just a bad match, with the tubes used, for the LCD's.
 
Dec 18, 2012 at 9:48 AM Post #5 of 12
The only problem is that the 5LE is just like the other two planar magnetics you talked about, in that it requires a monstrous amount of current, way more than LCD-2.  I say it's just a preference of sound signature.
 
Dec 18, 2012 at 9:52 AM Post #6 of 12
you heard the HE-5LE off the raptor as well or no? if you did, you'd probably hear the same thing as with the LCD-2 and HE-5.
 
the raptor is an OTL amp, means its not suited for power hungry low impedance planars. it would pair better with 600 ohm beyers and 300 ohm senns.
 
Dec 18, 2012 at 10:16 AM Post #7 of 12
I should have specified. I did not hear the He-5le on the raptor. I heard it on my Aune T1 (tube dac plus an amp section). I did not like the Lcd-2 on the T1...thin sounding.
 
Dec 18, 2012 at 10:20 AM Post #9 of 12
Quote:
joeq70 said:
To be fair to the raptor, the hd800 sounded great with it!
Click to expand...

 
i was gonna mention that in my reply, but i decided not to since it wasn't related. the raptor is supposed to be one of the best amps for the he-800 in this price range.
 
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