[2thfixr]

I was looking for an amp to power a set of HE-6s and realized that I have a Adcom GFA-555 II and Adcom CD player with dual D/A converters.  The amp is MASSIVE and the specs are:
 
200 watts per channel, 8 ohms
300 watts per channel, 4 ohms
600 watts, 8 ohms BRIDGED
Balanced and Single-Ended Inputs
16 discrete output transistors
Custom 700 watt toroidal transformer
60,000uF total storage capacitance
Ultra-Stable Bias Circuitry
Direct-Coupled Input & Output Circuitry
No Current Limiting
No Output Inductor
 
Would this work well for the HE-6?  Natually my next question is... would it be better than getting a regular headphone amp like the EF-6 ot Schiit Lyr?  

 

[Mambosenior]

1. Yes

2. Yes

 

[Velomane]

Well...that settles that. Next question please.

 

[micmacmo]

Careful though. I'd think that that much power could cause your HE-6 to blow a driver (or at least light up the traces on the membrane like a stove element.) You might want to consider a simple L-Pad setup to attenuate the gain. 

 

[2thfixr]

That's power output at the speaker terminals. I'd imagine the phone jack is attenuated substantially.

 

[micmacmo]

Sorry, I didn't realize that the Adcom GFA-555 II had a headphone output.  

 

[wuwhere]

  Sorry, I didn't realize that the Adcom GFA-555 II had a headphone output.  

 
It doesn't http://www.kenrockwell.com/audio/adcom/gfa-555-ii.htm

 

[2thfixr]

Correct it doesn't... Checked when I got home today. The amp has been sitting for years in a closet so didn't even think of that. I have a gtp550 preamp that I used with it which renders the amp useless for headphones. Picked up a sansui au-5900 integrated amp instead, fingers crossed that it sounds good.

 

[gunting]

You may want to check prior threads on this. The Emotiva mini 100 X is a small and inexpensive power amp that does extremely well blending with the HE-6.

 

[Velomane]

You may want to check prior threads on this. The Emotiva mini 100 X is a small and inexpensive power amp that does extremely well blending with the HE-6.

The mini 100 x may have enough power to make the HE-6 sound loud, but the experience is by no means enjoyable. A soulless, screeching cacophony is what emanates with this amp.

 

[gunting]

I am sorry you were disappointed in the sound. I find the synergy between this amp and the HE-6 to be divine. I also own the benchmark HDR and a dynahi which is a very powerful do it yourself head amp originally designed by Kevin Gilmore while he was an engineering graduate student at Northwestern University. I would sugesst to the person who posted this original thread that if given an opportunity take a listen to the pairing of the Emotiva and the Hifi cans for yourself and see what you think. If you look at the threads here on head-fi you'll see that many folks have thought similarly regarding this combination.

 

[Sonic Defender]

@OP, why wouldn't you simply get a speaker tap cable made? If the amp is quiet enough and has enough steps on the volume pot to give you adequate range the results might be epic. My M3 is 180watts into 8ohms and handles my 560s brilliantly. Aren't the headphone circuits in the vast majority of such amps simply fed from the amp section with a bunch of resistors put in between? That is why going from the speaker terminals is best, no resistors causing filtering of frequency response. Or at least that is my understanding of the situation.

 

[Velomane]

Hey gunting,
 
I didn't mean to be provocative, the mini-X simply didn't suit my listening. If you found your ne plus ultra then more power to you. Good listening!

 

[gunting]

Hi-fi man makes a speaker amp accessory that allows you to connect the headphones directly to any speaker amp by using just regular RCA cables connecting from the box to the speaker. Have you seen this?The box has a built-in attenuator so as to protect your cans from exploding

 

[auvgeek]

Hi-fi man makes a speaker amp accessory that allows you to connect the headphones directly to any speaker amp by using just regular RCA cables connecting from the box to the speaker. Have you seen this?The box has a built-in attenuator so as to protect your cans from exploding

Not sure how this compares, but I've seen the Can Opener posted as a solution in other threads. (I have no experience with either.)