[darkfireblade25]

I sure hope this can drive HE-6's well. I can cancel around $4000 off my budget if it does, and I REALLY hope it does.

 

[45longcolt]

Quote:

More audiophile mumbo jumbo?

 
"Audiophile mumbo jumbo" is redundant...

 

[Argo Duck]

 

[DefQon]

You

I sure hope this can drive HE-6's well. I can cancel around $4000 off my budget if it does, and I REALLY hope it does.

You don't need a 4k amp to drive the HE-6 properly.

 

[Greed]

Just get a cheap speaker amp and that should do you fine. Obviously, finesse comes in to play for increased SQ. 

 

[wuwhere]

Like this cheap.
 
http://app.audiogon.com/listings/solid-state-mark-levinson-ml-2-just-mark-levinson-serviced-2013-05-29-amplifiers-90274-palos-verdes-est-ca

 

[SoupRKnowva]

Quote:

Like this cheap.
 
http://app.audiogon.com/listings/solid-state-mark-levinson-ml-2-just-mark-levinson-serviced-2013-05-29-amplifiers-90274-palos-verdes-est-ca

 
Pretty sure that would be an amazing option for the he-6s, or you can always go find a used Firstwatt amp, i know from experience that the F1/J works very well and theres plenty of impressions of people using the others ones to general acclaim as well.

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

 
Pretty sure that would be an amazing option for the he-6s, or you can always go find a used Firstwatt amp, i know from experience that the F1/J works very well and theres plenty of impressions of people using the others ones to general acclaim as well.

 
Yea it was sitting there for over 2 weeks, a pair of legendary ML2 monos for only $500. I thought about snagging it.

 

[kevin gilmore]

I had a pair of those levinson monoblocks for a short while driving the quad esl56's.  Great amps.
Room heaters too.  If you look at the schematics you might notice how little has changed in the
last 35 years.  A bit silly for headphone amps, and due to possible grounding issues, you might
want to wire them as 4 wire, but should work just great. Balance input too. At 120 lbs for the pair
this is my style of overkill. Not really as much power as you might think, rated at 18 watts rms of
pure class A per channel, typically about 25 watts into 8 ohms, so just about right for he6.
 
But if the input section ever blows up, the jfets are impossible to replace these days.

 

[wuwhere]

Yup, I was going to use it for my HE-6, wish I still have my 1 ohm Scintilla.

 

[wuwhere]

Quote:

But if the input section ever blows up, the jfets are impossible to replace these days.

 
That's the wonderful thing about tube amps, I bet 50 years from now they would still be found. I have some CBS 12AX7 made in the late 50's in my tube amp sounding wonderful.

 

[spritzer]

That is true about the ECC83 as the current production globally is rumored to be 2 million units and not slowing down.  There is a flip side and that's the multitude of tubes that haven't been made since the 70's and will never be brought back.  Sennheiser has already issued a service memo about the HEV90/Orpheus amps as the stock output tubes are impossible to get in any quantity. 
 
Quote:

Run on the edge of what?
That's really vague.
You can't just increase bias current up and up and up.
Technically, it's impossible, there is always a law of diminishing returns, an optimum point bias point (depending on what you are aiming for, of course).
More audiophile mumbo jumbo?

 
Edge of it's max specs, usually power but sometimes voltage with tubes.  You wouldn't run an 845 at 700V would you? 

 

[Uncle00Jesse]

obviously theres no way to tell now without hearing it, but do you suspect the amp will carry the same signature of the mjolnir? i find the mj too precise and dry at times, causing some fatigue. i wonder if the new amp will give the existing design a hint of warmth and a more full bodied sound. 

 

[kevin gilmore]

I think the larger fets running at higher currents and voltages will give a more relaxed and less forced sound signature.
Should be lots of fun.
 
I would definitely run an 845 at at least 800 volts!

 

[Kim Kiddo]

Perhaps I missed it being said, but I can't help wondering if these two new gizmos are really the "Statement" equipment that keeps getting mentioned. Has anyone considered that these new models really aren't the "Statement" folks seem to be waiting for, but another intermediate model?