[kintamusic]

I just bought a pair of the Pioneer SE-500 off Ebay for $50 and would like to know what is the best amp that works well with the Pioneer SE-500?Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[BrownBear]

Haha you bought that pair? I was eyeing that set like crazy. Decided not to do it though, as I don't have any extra cash to burn at the moment. Congrats on getting them, I hope they sound great for you. I love old Pioneer cans, and I'll be in the market for a set like yours pretty soon. Do tell us how they sound.

 

[kintamusic]

Yes, this is the pair that I bought off Ebay. The headphones have been ship to my friend in New York. I am waiting for my friend to ship it to me in Malaysia.I have a Audio-gd C-2 and a Tube Vista Audio headphone amp.Don't know if they will be able to drive the Pioneer SE-500.I will let you know the result when the Pioneer SE-500 arrive in Malaysia.
 
Cheers,
 
Wang
 

 

[takato14]

I just got my own pair of these. I love them.
 
The design aesthetics are simply gorgeous. Plus, they have a good soundstage, fast attack and decay, and great resolution/detail. Their frequency response is a little wonky, however. A good way to fix this is to take the backs off the earcups, and using some electrical tape, convert them to closed back like this:
 

 

 
This brings the bass up a bit, and the soundstage actually improves. It becomes clearer and less whispery. It also significantly increases the isolation, and drops the sound leakage a lot too. They are still a little bit middy, but its much closer to neutral than they are stock. 
 
And, something you should know about the piezoelectric principle: The headphones don't gain much of anything but volume when amped because of how piezoelectric drivers work; the whole driver moves like with electrostats, and no magnets are involved. Their impedance is technically infinite. However, my iPhone does a fine job of driving them; it's just quiet, which is fine with the closed-back mod I've done as mentioned above. 
 
The amp you have should be fine, but it might not give you as much volume as you'd want to have. These headphones were designed to be driven from a speaker amp. If you have a good speaker amp or an old stereo receiver, try plugging them into that. However, if your headphone amp drives them to listenable volumes, then don't bother with buying a speaker amp.
 
Stock, the SE-500s are weird. With that simple modification I mentioned they become a great headphone. They beat everything else I currently have.

 

[dwayniac]

I have a very beat up but intact pair of se-500's.I just don't have anything to give them the power that they need. I can see myself putting some different drivers in them to make them more useful instead of buying an old amp for them.

 

[Negative818]

  I just got my own pair of these. I love them.
 
The design aesthetics are simply gorgeous. Plus, they have a good soundstage, fast attack and decay, and great resolution/detail. Their frequency response is a little wonky, however. A good way to fix this is to take the backs off the earcups, and using some electrical tape, convert them to closed back like this:
 

 

 
This brings the bass up a bit, and the soundstage actually improves. It becomes clearer and less whispery. It also significantly increases the isolation, and drops the sound leakage a lot too. They are still a little bit middy, but its much closer to neutral than they are stock. 
 
And, something you should know about the piezoelectric principle: The headphones don't gain much of anything but volume when amped because of how piezoelectric drivers work; the whole driver moves like with electrostats, and no magnets are involved. Their impedance is technically infinite. However, my iPhone does a fine job of driving them; it's just quiet, which is fine with the closed-back mod I've done as mentioned above. 
 
The amp you have should be fine, but it might not give you as much volume as you'd want to have. These headphones were designed to be driven from a speaker amp. If you have a good speaker amp or an old stereo receiver, try plugging them into that. However, if your headphone amp drives them to listenable volumes, then don't bother with buying a speaker amp.
 
Stock, the SE-500s are weird. With that simple modification I mentioned they become a great headphone. They beat everything else I currently have.

 
So I know this is an old thread, but I have a question for those of you who own the SE-500. I just received a pair and I can't seem to drive them with any of my amps.
 
When I use them with my Oppo HA-2SE I don't even get any audio, just some odd popping noises. When I use my C&C BH2 I do get audio from both sides, but the left speaker starts to distort before it even get remotely close to the listening volume I typically listen at. Then, when I drive them via my Schiit Lyr (which I assume would have plenty of power to drive them) I have to turn the volume up to about 3:00 on the dial to get even close to acceptable listening volume, albeit there is no distortion like there is with the C&C BH2. 
 
So, my question is, am I not using the right equipment to drive them or is something wrong with them? From reading the above post it would seem that if an iPhone can somewhat drive them then my headphones amps should be able to as well.

 

[Tony Ng]

the max input of se500 is 30v..output of objective 2 (high gain) is 7v...if ha2se's output is less than 2v..the big gap might give you problem...having said that, i plug mine into pono player, theres decent sound, a little lack of bass, but overall very decent.

 

[aptr91]

I just got my own pair of these. I love them.

The design aesthetics are simply gorgeous. Plus, they have a good soundstage, fast attack and decay, and great resolution/detail. Their frequency response is a little wonky, however. A good way to fix this is to take the backs off the earcups, and using some electrical tape, convert them to closed back like this:





This brings the bass up a bit, and the soundstage actually improves. It becomes clearer and less whispery. It also significantly increases the isolation, and drops the sound leakage a lot too. They are still a little bit middy, but its much closer to neutral than they are stock.

And, something you should know about the piezoelectric principle: The headphones don't gain much of anything but volume when amped because of how piezoelectric drivers work; the whole driver moves like with electrostats, and no magnets are involved. Their impedance is technically infinite. However, my iPhone does a fine job of driving them; it's just quiet, which is fine with the closed-back mod I've done as mentioned above.

The amp you have should be fine, but it might not give you as much volume as you'd want to have. These headphones were designed to be driven from a speaker amp. If you have a good speaker amp or an old stereo receiver, try plugging them into that. However, if your headphone amp drives them to listenable volumes, then don't bother with buying a speaker amp.

Stock, the SE-500s are weird. With that simple modification I mentioned they become a great headphone. They beat everything else I currently have.

wouldn't infinite impedance make them impossible to drive?

 

[Tony Ng]

electrostatic, electrett and peizo electric use similar technology. Their impedance is often very very high. Say N6326 of philips is rated at 1,000 Ohms at 500Hz. To driver them properly, you need good voltage supply, demand for current is not high.

 

[craoul]

does anyone know if there is a good replacement for the ear pads? I just bought a pair for 12 $ and the ear pads are in a very bad condition. My kenwood ka-v6000 receiver drives them quite well from the headphones output.

 

[Philimon]

No bass from Schiit Vali2. Will try takato mod.

 

[stetteldorf]

You can use the Marshall:
Ersatz-Ohrpolster passend für Marshall Mid Bluetooth On-Ear Kopfhörer, 1 Paar Schwarzes Ersatzkissen https://amzn.eu/d/chWKYxu