[thinker]

Quote:

Can you drive them with either speaker or 1/4" plug from the Moth? My guess would be that a speaker terminated cable would deliver better results due partly to better connectors.

I can drive the phones with 1/4 plug but i run these phones with XLR connection from Moth (special mod) but i can also run these out of Moth speaker terminals no problem. Impedance is a question, does the phone fit or not with speaker terminals i have better results using the XLR output from the original headphone output .I liked the HE-5 from speaker terminals but i am afraid could the LE sound dark.The 2a3 tube is a warm tube and this could be a problem but probably not when running on SS speaker outputs

 

[krmathis]

 
Quote:

I have been driving my LE's directly from the speaker terminals of my Signature 30.2 and Virtue One.  This is now my method of choice. 
I built an adapter with banana plugs on the speaker terminal end and a female 4-pin XLR connector on the headphone end.  Very similar to my K1000 setup.  In fact, I use my K1000 pigtail on the 30.2 and my DIY pigtail on the  Virtue.  It make for a very easy swap between my K1000's and 5LE regardless of which amp I decide to use.
 
Try it..You'll like it!!
 
Ron

A bit tempting I must say! :k1000:
Since I already have a Signature 30.2 for the K1000... Hmmm...

 

[immtbiker]

Hmmmmm...ohm shanti ohm....
 
75 hours, using an EF-5, and the sound changed dramatically for the better.
i removed the "star" foam on the outside facing driver, but left the grill foam alone.

 

[baka1969]

Hi,

A fellow Head-Fi'er Frank l and I met up today and my place and we were listening to each other's rig. He brought his Little Dot Mark II and Matrix amps. He also brought over his newly acquired Denon D7000 with admittedly few hours on them. Sadly I had just sold off my HF-2 so he couldn't listen to that.

Comparing the HE-5LE to the Denon D7000 really made me appreciate the Planar even more. The Denon is an excellent headphone. The looke beautiful. They're a lot lighter than I thought they'd be. But, to me, they're just too bass heavy for me.

I would truly be interested to hear the HE5-LE compared to the HD800. Just to see what I'd be buying for almost twice the price. Straight up even compared to the K-701 the HE5LE is a better headphone. When you factor in the street prices of the 70x cans is where the questions come in as to paying 3 1/2 times more than the price of the AKG.

Let me qualiry my rig while I'm at it. All of what I hear is based on the limitations of my setup of course. .wav>usb>DacMagic>GLite>HE5LE. Although, to me, a very respectable setup, it's not top-tier. The Gilmore Lite does the Planar justice. I've tried them with the Millet SSH Tube and it's pretty decent surprisingly. Works really well with the AKG. It gives the bass some added oomph. However, it's not powerful enough for the HE-5LE

Back to the HE5LE... I want to bring up something that's been mentioned in this thread. Yes, it's true, these aren't really for low volume listening. But for casual listening if you have them at just under moderate volume they still sound great. At moderate volumes they are terrific. Oh yeah, they kick ass when you crank it!

These are really balanced compared to everything I've had to date. This lends them to be extremely versatile. I haven't found anything or any genre that they do poorly. I've done sine sweeps and there just doesn't seem to have and major bumps. Certainly none that would either muddy up or glaze the music.

The sibilance is all but gone. Poorly recorded music it won't cure though. I believe these are a bit more forgiving in that regard than the AKG though. The HE5LE is very refined. I always felt that all the Grados I've heard have a little too much sizzle at the very top. The refinement throughout the spectrum I really like. More refined than the 701. But not by a huge margin.

The mids are sweet. Not too syrupy. Again, because of how balanced they are the mids aren't over emphasized. Nor does anything like the vocals stand out more than the rest.

I think soundstage is a nice balance. I know some prefer the more intimate soundstage of the Grado with bowls. While others enjoy the expansive staging of the K-701. The good thing about the HE5LE is that it splits the difference between the Grado and AKG. Again making them versatile.

The HE5LE's bass is what the AKG's bass should be. It takes the 70x bass, improves it, tightens it up a bit and adds about (my guess) 3-5db to it.

I want to add that I feel there is a similarity to the Senn HD650. I think it's more of a product of how would a headphone sound if an AKG K-70x and the Senn HD650 got married and had kids? I think the HE-5LE is that love child that grew up and turned out better than both parents.

Going back to my original point as to whether these are worth the quite a large premium over the AKG? The answer is that I'm keeping them. And, for now, the 701 as well.

Maybe the HD800 would change that? Or maybe diminishing returns has set in? I have no idea. I'll need to listen to the HD800 to figure that out.


Frank, had also brought some music with him. Krall and SuperTramp and other stuff. But he brought Mozart: Violin Sonata that sounds totally amazing with the HE-5LE. These headphones, the more I listen, are the most balanced I have heard to date. Clarity and ease are excellent. I just am really impressed with them.

That Denon convinced me and the HE-5LE has clinched it. The K-701 will stay with me just because they're a real deal for the price. But if the HD800 is a significant step forward over the HE-5LE, I think I'd have nowhere else to go but with them.

Peace,

Ross

 

[Skylab]

Great post Ross. I agree with much of what you said. The HE-5LE are really very nicely balanced - I think you chose a very good descriptor there.

 

[Frank I]

Ross I agree with you about the he5. I think they are excellent cans. I want to burn in the Denon to see how much better they are but I really do not think they isolate well at all for closed cans. With that said I do believe they are balanced and not what I would consider bass heavy. I do like the slam of drum kits and these do them very well. I think anything more expensive than either the HE5_LE IMHO would only be a very slight improvement and to me not worth it. I also love open cans and to be honest the Shure 840 are very good for isolation and while they don't have the deep bass and more upfront presentation they may fit my needs as I already own them I do like the Planar sound.

 

[Frank I]

Glad you like the Mozart. It is a great recording. Next time I will bring you some more well recorded classical albums.

 

[MichealAngelo]

This seems like an interesting headphone, ho good would it be for portable use with portable headphone amps?

 

[baka1969]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank I  
" Glad you like the Mozart. It is a great recording. Next time I will bring you some more well recorded classical albums."

Thanks Frank. I had fun. One man's bass heavy is another's balanced. That said, the D7000 is an excellent 'phone. My Canadian buddy Peter has them as part of his stable and enjoys them for what they are.

If given the choice though, the HE-5LE gets my nod.

I have a Scheherazade cd that I ordered the other day from Amazon that will hopefully be here tomorrow. I'll see how they sound.

Thanks again Frank!

 

[Frank I]

I do not think portable amps will power them. Ross used my Little Dot MK11 and we had the volume all the way up and they were ok and thats not a portable. I would only use a full size or powerful tube amp or full size amp. Rob maybe able to chime in about portable but I did not think my Little Dot was sufficient for the planars. Happy the Matrix handled them with ease.

 

[baka1969]

Quote:
Originally Posted by MichealAngelo  
" This seems like an interesting headphone, ho good would it be for portable use with portable headphone amps?"

The HE-5LE is not intended for portable use. They need a powerful amp to drive them well and even some desktops would have a peoblem. I have the iBasso D2+ Boa and have had others. None of them would do the job. Plus, the Planar is a heavy-ish can that's not suited for moving around with. PLUS add that bulky adapter that's in the middle of the cable and that kills it for iPod use.

 

[MacedonianHero]

Quote:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank I  


Thanks Frank. I had fun. One man's bass heavy is another's balanced. That said, the D7000 is an excellent 'phone. My Canadian buddy Peter has them as part of his stable and enjoys them for what they are.

Thanks again Frank!

Great write up Ross! It really made me want to get out to a local meet to give the HE-5LEs a try. Just have to convince the wife to let me go on the weekend while she watches the kids....
 
I do really like the D7000s, so much so, I bought them twice

. I think they are pretty far from balanced (like the HD800/T1s), but I do also enjoy fun cans (D7000 / RS1i) from time to time with rock & metal and boy do these fit the bill! Mini subwoofers with good mids and sparkling treble. F-U-N!

 

[Skylab]

I used the HE-5 with the RSA Protector, using a balanced cable. That was a great sounding combo, but hardly "portable". More like "transportable".

 

[Nankai]

For those who plans to drive HE-5LE by speaker amps:
 
Please make sure your tube amp can drive a 38 ohm load. Some tube amp's output transformer only can drive 4 to 8 ohm. A solution is to wire two 8-ohm cement resistance in parallel. Solid state amp do not have such problem.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

Ross I agree with you about the he5. I think they are excellent cans. I want to burn in the Denon to see how much better they are but I really do not think they isolate well at all for closed cans. With that said I do believe they are balanced and not what I would consider bass heavy. I do like the slam of drum kits and these do them very well. I think anything more expensive than either the HE5_LE IMHO would only be a very slight improvement and to me not worth it. I also love open cans and to be honest the Shure 840 are very good for isolation and while they don't have the deep bass and more upfront presentation they may fit my needs as I already own them I do like the Planar sound.

 
The stock D7000 will never be as balanced, transparent or detailed as the HE-5 LE, regardless of burn-in.  The stock D7000 are what I would call a "fun" can and I liked them, but the HE-5 LE are what I would call an "accurate" can.  However, the LA7000 (Lawton Audio modded) sound a lot closer to the HE-5 LE, as their improved cable + wood cups and dampening brings out the D7000 mids and detail better and balances out the overall sound better.