[Xelpud]

Well, hello Head-Fi! Long time lurker, first time poster. More to the point though, I've long been on the fence in regards to picking up a Hifiman HE-6, but the sticky issue of actually driving the thing has thus far kept me from taking the plunge, and there seems to be a lack of concrete, objective information as to just what's needed to get these cans going. On one hand, there seems to be a widely held belief that either you spend more than the cost of the headphone itself on a boutique amplifier/desktop nuclear reactor (Five Watts minimum. Preferably more. Per channel.) or the headphones themselves are reduced to the level of audio fidelity commonly associated with string running through tin cans. On the other hand, I've found a number of people who've tried running the HE-6 through iPhones and entry level solid state amps and have found the sound to be surprisingly good, if not a bit quiet. Confusing things further still are those who claim that driving the headphones through something on the level of the Objective 2 or the Magni 2 powers them perfectly well for all reasonable listening levels, but that connecting them to something of higher power produces fairly massive improvements in the bass region. 
 
Considering the actual specs on the headphones themselves though, while certainly some of the least sensitive headphones presently in production, they don't appear to be so impossibly hard to work with as the rumors make out. At 50 ohms of impedance and a sensitivity of 83.5 db/mW, Given these specs, hitting 110 dbs requires that an amp provide roughly 447mW@50ohms and 4.7V, a feat well within the O2/Magni limits. Hitting 115db does require a fairly hefty current of about 1.4W@50ohms, but even this is nearly (albeit not quite) reached by something of the caliber of the Magni 2 Uber. Given the $1450 gap between the Magni 2 Uber and Hifiman's own EF-6 there seems to be a fair bit of explaining to do should this difference be justified. As amps in the O2/Magni/etc. vein are engineered for transparency and a neutral frequency response, and given that the impedance of planar magnetic headphones remains a constant for all frequencies in its reproduction range, it would seem to me that so long as you can supply a steady current (with proper voltage) at a given db level, that there shouldn't be much if any difference in the overall quality of the headphone's sound. 
 
And yet, despite all this, the overwhelming cry of the masses still seems to be "Dark Star or bust", leaving me considerably perplexed. I'll be honest--I'm still fairly new to the science of audio reproduction, and I wouldn't be surprised if my understanding of the relevant concepts here are deeply, deeply flawed. But if so, I should very much like to know just how I botched things up and why. So pray tell Head-Fi, presuming a transparent SS amp, does a substantial increase in available power actually co-relate to improved sonic qualities when volume matched with an amp of lesser wattage? Far more importantly, if so, why and how?
 
Thank you in advance to anyone willing to lend a hand with this. It means a lot to me.

 

[KG Jag]

The HE-6 needs a powerful planar friendly amp to be properly powered.  The O2 and Magni 2 are not among them.  It's much more than mere volume.  The Lyr 2 and Gustard H 10 are among the lowest priced amps that will.
 
There is at least one very long thread dedicated to what amps properly power it.  Many of us have also used vintage amps and receivers to drive the HE-6.

 

[Xelpud]

  The HE-6 needs a powerful planar friendly amp to be properly powered.  The O2 and Magni 2 are not among them.  It's much more than mere volume.  The Lyr 2 and Gustard H 10 are among the lowest priced amps that will.
 
There is at least one very long thread dedicated to what amps properly power it.  Many of us have also used vintage amps and receivers to drive the HE-6.

 
Aye, I've seen the thread, but from my browsing through it, it's been rather hard to pin down WHY some amps are considered to be better suited to it than others, and that's what I'm trying to figure out. I fully trust that you may well be correct (as much of the anecdotal evidence offered suggests), but as a would-be purchaser on the fence, there's a considerable difference between being told to drop $450+ "because MOAR POWER", and actually being told the specific benefits offered from an engineering perspective and how they affect the HE-6's ability to reproduce sound.

 

[KG Jag]

 

  The HE-6 needs a powerful planar friendly amp to be properly powered.  The O2 and Magni 2 are not among them.  It's much more than mere volume.  The Lyr 2 and Gustard H 10 are among the lowest priced amps that will.
 
There is at least one very long thread dedicated to what amps properly power it.  Many of us have also used vintage amps and receivers to drive the HE-6.

 
Aye, I've seen the thread, but from my browsing through it, it's been rather hard to pin down WHY some amps are considered to be better suited to it than others, and that's what I'm trying to figure out. I fully trust that you may well be correct (as much of the anecdotal evidence offered suggests), but as a would-be purchaser on the fence, there's a considerable difference between being told to drop $450+ "because MOAR POWER", and actually being told the specific benefits offered from an engineering perspective and how they affect the HE-6's ability to reproduce sound.

 
Then of course you will have to talk with an engineer--and I an only the son of an EE.  You may be reinventing the wheel, but you are clearly entitled to do so.
 
In the meantime this may of at least some interest:
 
http://www.head-fi.org/t/634201/battle-of-the-flagships-58-headphones-compared#user_HE6
 
and
 
http://www.audiobot9000.com/