HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing

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Bob2

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #20 on: 27 Oct 2012, 03:29 pm »
Thanks for the input everyone.

saisunil, you are right about the HE's needing some serious power. As the budget allows I will be looking to upgrade.
One of the reasons that I mentioned using a vintage receiver was that there is some talk on the vintage circle about the ability of older equipment to drive headphones.
 
SteveFord, I never gave that a thought! I will send Jack a message and see what he can do if anything..great idea by the way!

raddar, well elevated levels to me means higher than I would normally listen to. I know that previous headphones, Grado 325I's could be very loud and I would not hear what I am calling distortion. I may well be out of my depth here as I'm finding out how little I do know.

G Georgopoulos, thanks also for your input. I asked the question because reading so much of the information on sites such as this I find it difficult to get a consensus of "Proper Equipment Pairing".

hibuck, what you said about good material and poorly recorded music is also what I am experiencing. These headphones really work well on good recordings. I did not realize I had so many poorly recorded tunes!! I believe you will enjoy the WA6, would like to hear your impressions of the amp and tubes when you have had some time on them. Very cool!

Equipment wise, I am certainly not on par with most but I don't feel the need to compete. I cannot find much to fault in the way of equipment I have. Not high end by any stretch but nothing to be ashamed of either.

I am surprised that the audio from my soundcard is not as good as coming from my Oppo. All of my files are ripped as Lossles so I shouldn't be missing anything.
Could this be where I concentrate my efforts? Dacs, preamps, whirligigs?

Feeling like a complete noob in this hobby but I am enjoying the learning/listening/learning process. I will hang on to the 500's and continue using them and will upgrade as I go. I do enjoy them but will probably look for another pair to also use, maybe some DT990's.
Thanks everyone, Bob.

hibuckhobby

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #21 on: 29 Oct 2012, 10:34 pm »
Hi bob....
Listening to my WA6 with the Sophia 274B in place right now and I love it!
I'm using my Senn 650's with Cardas cable and I've also tried my Denon D7000's.
They both sound very liquid and sweet with a wide soundstage.  The Denon's have
deeper bass and the 650's a bit sweeter midrange.

I would imagine the WA6 would sound awesome with the HE500's...at normal listening
levels (for me) but might strain a bit at high volumes.  You have a great setup...enjoy!
Bob aka Hibuck...

Bob2

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #22 on: 30 Oct 2012, 11:32 am »
Hibuck,
good to hear that you have your amp with that awesome looking tube. Will be interested in hearing more as that tube gets some hours on it.
The sophia might be a fun upgrade! Are you using the 6DE7 tubes that come with the amp or have you upgraded?

The WA6 does a respectable job of driving the HE-500's. I find I am actually turning the volume down a bit, so either the tubes or my ears are getting burned in...
Congrats on the new gear! Hope you enjoy it for many years!

HAL

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #23 on: 30 Oct 2012, 11:52 am »
Ok, here is some heresy, but the original Audio Alchemy HPA 1.0 sounds really good with the HE-500's!  No problem with volume level or bass response. 

Using them both in my setup with excellent results.

hibuckhobby

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #24 on: 30 Oct 2012, 01:01 pm »
Hi Bob...
I have tried both the 6DE7's and some 6CY7's.  The latter has more gain and
is a bit more forward sounding.  Since my amp is used, I suspect the factory tubes
have quite a few hours on them.
Bob

Bob2

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #25 on: 30 Oct 2012, 05:34 pm »
Hey Bob,
are you using your PS audio DLIII dac with the woo?

So the tubes are already run in..Nice! All the great sound right from the start!

Audio Alchemy HPA 1.0, will look into that.. thanks Hal..

Bob.

HAL

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #26 on: 30 Oct 2012, 05:36 pm »
The AA HPA 1.0 came out in 1996.  Might be a bit hard to find.

Nice write-up in Stereophile by Wes Philips back in the day.


Bob2

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #27 on: 30 Oct 2012, 11:08 pm »
Hal,
saw that it was an older item but sounds like it might be good if one were to come up for sale..
Thanks

gjclaxton@gmail.com

Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #28 on: 13 Nov 2012, 02:10 am »
Hi.  I notice that the WA6 SE have much more power.  Has anyone tried this amplifier with the HE 500.  I have just ordered the headphones and am looking at amp options.  thanks

gary

Noseyears

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #29 on: 20 Nov 2012, 05:07 am »
Hi.  I notice that the WA6 SE have much more power.  Has anyone tried this amplifier with the HE 500.  I have just ordered the headphones and am looking at amp options.  thanks

gary

It drives them well, but you have to find the right tubes. (some recommend the 6FD7 tubes)

For another suggestion, the Soloist (a SS amp) does really good job with planars. It have tons of power.

gjclaxton@gmail.com

Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #30 on: 21 Nov 2012, 03:45 am »
Thanks for the suggestion.  will take a look at the Soloist.  I have a violectric hpa 200 that i like so far

gary

roscoeiii

Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #31 on: 21 Nov 2012, 04:55 am »
With my HE-5LEs, I have really loved the Little Dot VI. Great balanced amp with the power that these HiFiMan orthos love. Really a stellar combo. The Schiit Moljnir is getting a lot of love as a SS balanced amp, but seems that the LD VI (or VI+, the same amp but with the addition of single-ended inputs and outputs) holds its own with the balanced Schiit. Comes down to SS vs. tube preferences from what I can tell. Though neither is overly tubey or overly SS in sound it appears. More of a signature preference than a matter of the weaknesses associated with each type of amp overall. Hallmark of good components, IMHO.

saisunil

Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #32 on: 21 Nov 2012, 05:04 am »
I urge you all who have HE 500 to try it with a high power amp ...

Cheers

gjclaxton@gmail.com

Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #33 on: 22 Nov 2012, 03:25 am »
The violetric has output power of 2000 mW at 32 ohms.  Are you suggesting higher power than that?  thanks,  gary

saisunil

Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #34 on: 27 Nov 2012, 03:56 pm »
The violetric has output power of 2000 mW at 32 ohms.  Are you suggesting higher power than that?  thanks,  gary
I was referring to the low power WA6 ...
2 Watt  :oops: :lol:

Noseyears

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Re: HE-500 and a WA6 amp pairing
« Reply #35 on: 28 Nov 2012, 02:48 am »
I was referring to the low power WA6 ...
2 Watt  :oops: :lol:

2 watts into 38 ohms and over its the ideal requirement for the HE-5 in my opinion.