smoothb0re
100+ Head-Fier
So far the TA-20 with RCA 5963 black plates seems to be a perfect match to the HE5XX. The combination definitely punches way above its price - my first impression was that I was listening to $1000 planars on a high-end amp.
I've found the HE5XX to be quite amp dependent - depending on the amp they can be anything from borderline endgame to mediocre. Even just changing the tubes on the TA-20 to RCA 12au7 cleartop side d getters had a pretty significant effect on the sound, and not a great one - though it was still better than any other amp I tried them on. On Vincent KHV-111 tube hybrid, Parasound Zdac's headphone amp, Schiit Magni, JDS O2 & Atom, drop 789, and SMSL SP200 the 5XX wasn't great. Only on the TA-20 and Topping NX4DSD the headphones really came alive. Huge recommendation to any 5XX owners - get a TA-20 with decent tubes.
I've found the HE5XX to be quite amp dependent - depending on the amp they can be anything from borderline endgame to mediocre. Even just changing the tubes on the TA-20 to RCA 12au7 cleartop side d getters had a pretty significant effect on the sound, and not a great one - though it was still better than any other amp I tried them on. On Vincent KHV-111 tube hybrid, Parasound Zdac's headphone amp, Schiit Magni, JDS O2 & Atom, drop 789, and SMSL SP200 the 5XX wasn't great. Only on the TA-20 and Topping NX4DSD the headphones really came alive. Huge recommendation to any 5XX owners - get a TA-20 with decent tubes.