You're right, I probably do know the answer to this... But my only experience with tubes is so good with my other headphones, and yet so bad with my HD 650 that I halfway wonder. And then when somebody's impressions of the HD 650 are so different from my own, I really wonder if it isn't a case of different strokes for different folks.
The square waves used in testing headphones are not large, Innerfidelity used 1V square waves so fundamental component sine wave would be less than 1V rms, ~3mW for HD650, component 3rd harmonic ~0.3mW, 5th harmonic ~0.1mW etc. not exactly destructive levels even into 30 Ohms (they would be 10 times higher then, of course)
I have happy ears with my HD6XX's and Darkvoice ('54 Sylvania 6SN7GTA and Tung-Sol 7236)*. Interestingly enough, my gf (coming from Beats) prefers my HE-500 + magni 3 over my tube setup ('dat planar bass). Still, I'm glad that she states how both cans outclass her Beats.
I strongly suspect that Tyll was using a SPL reference for square waves(and everything else) into headphones/IEMs instead of a fixed voltage. personally I go just loud enough not to start measuring noise in the room instead of the response.The square waves used in testing headphones are not large, Innerfidelity used 1V square waves so fundamental component sine wave would be less than 1V rms, ~3mW for HD650, component 3rd harmonic ~0.3mW, 5th harmonic ~0.1mW etc. not exactly destructive levels even into 30 Ohms (they would be 10 times higher then, of course)
Avoiding damage by clipping was more important in multi-way speakers as the tweeters didn't necessarily have a high continuous power handling capability.
Some lead ear burnt both tweeters and one mid-range on my pair of 3 way loudspeakers by turning up a 30W amp so they could hear the music down the back of the garden (speakers were upstairs at the front of the house)
. I get annoyed if I get stuff punctually clipping more than 3dB of signal. I'm worried about total SPL and what the driver is rated to handle, not so much about my driver getting destroyed by a clipping low power amp. again, I don't actually have data on this, only anecdotes, so I could be wrong.I strongly suspect that Tyll was using a SPL reference for square waves(and everything else) into headphones/IEMs instead of a fixed voltage. personally I go just loud enough not to start measuring noise in the room instead of the response.
what you say about the tweeters, am I to understand it as the coil getting hot and maybe melting? if so, we're still considering pretty high outputs right? or maybe something really close to full DC signal so the driver wouldn't "fan" itself much to dissipate heat. probably a mix of both. wouldn't all that fall under the big umbrella of "Y U play music so loud?", instead of low power amp clipping and breaking drivers?
beside how I and others have been using square waves without trouble(admittedly at reasonable outputs), there is also the use of "clipped" signal in music. like how many rap albums will have low freq sines that would go over 0dB if they could. they just "cut" the top to take advantage of our brain and let it reconstruct the missing part of the sine to then interpret the signal as being louder than 0dB. so if clipped signals are really bad for a driver, are those songs killing my HD650? I have big doubts about this. most likely the driver is still vibrating for a while around the steady voltage while it's there, and all is good even with a fully clipped signal. and again imagine what fully clipped would sound like
Sigh
you replied to my original doubts about easily damaging drivers with clipping low power amps, but you mention something about tweeters that looks like breaking stuff with raw excess power. so I try to clarify my position(although I don't think my first post was unclear), and try to guess your point. which apparently I failed to do. ^_^
Sound Science?
Are you genuinely misunderstanding what I said, or are you being disingenuous?
Thanks George.
Ah, I see
I am quite sure AMP7 from iBasso drives everything better than AM5 from FiiO tho, no raw power, just the overall sound. It is more expensive as well.
I'd suggest considering:
DX220 + AMP7
If you don't max out the loudness on AM05, then the driving power on AMP7 from iBasso should have no issue with HD6XX. That one can drive HIFIMAN He6SE, quite true, not very loud, but it can drive and control one of the world's hardest to drive headphones...
Why do you think you need a new amp? I'd say AM5 should be enough. You need more volume or different sound signature? It's hard to think you need more volume because I use AM3A balanced with my HD6XX and I never go past 12 o'clock. It would be painful.
I tried with PC sound card (asus U7) and it's bass is a lot controlled than with X7II+AM5 but everything else sound significantly better on X7II though. That's why I started looking for an AMP.
PC sound cards generally have boosted bass. I don't think a portable AMP will give you more "controlled" bass. vs X7II+AM5. Maybe try the hardware bass switch on devices like the FiiO Q5 if you need more oomph. I know I like what it does with the 6XX with some records.
Today I found something with X7II when using as a DAC for my PC, I think it cleared my doubts and X7II+AM5 is more than enough for me now. I already posted this on X7II thread.
