That assumes either off and on sound good.
We all have our own path, process, objective.
This quote comes to mind.
He who knows not,
and knows not that he knows not,
is a fool; shun him.
He who knows not,
and knows that he knows not,
is a student; Teach him.
For what can value my experience, fixing turntables for a French hifi shop I believe I’ve heard a lot of strange things happened to various customers but luckily I’ve never heard about headphones burned by an head amp before
Technically I fully get how it can happen and I’m sorry it happened to a member of the forum but it’s really the first time I hear about it.
Which models? Which headphones? Can you actually provide proof of this? I know nothing of Topping and don’t like their products, but I have had or used on extended loan pretty much every Schiit product and have had returns when things didn’t work without a hitch. So with no information other than your single statement, I have a hard time believing you. Also one isolated incident (in terms of Schiit, idk about Topping) shouldn’t make one disregard all amps or products from said company.
You say Schiit and Topping start fires when there is little to no evidence of that from what I can see other than maybe one thread on Topping, but you recommend a DV 336SE which is notoriously known for having smoke come out of its chassis and giving off burning smells and actually could start fires?
I’d investigate whether you have a wiring fault in your home, or whether there’s some common factor that caused two amps to have problems in rapid succession. Short? Grounding issues? Bad cable? Bad DAC? Etc.
I have a recommendation for you, AirPods Max. Self-EQ on the fly, no concern with amps or other crap.
I say this as many have attempted to provide you with good suggestions and alternatives. Each time you shoot it down, and continue down your chosen path and for the reasons stated:
I am not making a suggestion, but a statement. If you want to feedback, guidance, or suggestions please don’t be dismissive each time, we are here as a resource not for any self-validation. We all have differing opinions and approaches, and if one is not open to anything then what are we doing here?
I appreciate the feedback, the overall consensus is the Focal Clear which I may end up getting based on the feedback here.
The problem is, I’m asking a simple question. How can I power the HE 6SE V2 with an amp that is either returnable, or something I already have, to test them as they are on the way to me.
Instead of getting a direct answer for this, all I get is “Topping is Junk”, “Schiit is Junk”, “You’re going to electrocute yourself with a speaker amp”, “You need a speaker amp” ,“Don’t use a speaker amp”.
This headphone is already on the way to me and I want to hear what it sounds like, I’m trying to find a solution to simply do that and see if I want to invest in a high end amp to power it or just return it but don’t think I can make that decision off my current headphone amp which is a JDS Labs Atom Amp which I know is not powerful enough to make a proper decision.
I honestly couldn’t do it any better or worse between the two. It’s always a take them off thing. IEMs make the hearing side much much worse (and are harder to take out and put back in). I joke that if I ever want another open back planar again, I’ll buy the lcd-xc closed back because it leaks that much sound (in and out). But, yes, at lower volumes, open backs are certainly going to give you more environmental awareness.
The headphones I have now are LSA HP-2 Ultra. But I would never recommend them to someone new without them having heard a bunch of things that indicate they are a good fit.
I was between these and splurging on trying to get a ZMF Stabilized set.
I still intend to hear things like the focal and ZMF lines as well as a few planars I haven’t heard yet. Maybe some summit fi stuff eventually. But for now, I have zero desire to listen to anything other than these headphones. And I am working on other sources instead. (Listening to a shiny new m11 plus right now with the jot 2 coming next week).
I think the prevalent point here: You don’t have the experience to know if your source is doing this headphone justice or not. Because you haven’t heard said justice on any level.
I can honestly say, I still don’t know if I ever heard the he6se at its best. And I know that now because I have heard things that are better.
You could hear the worst an he6se has sounded and think it’s amazing.
That is the point.
Bingo. I concur with @Roark: AirPods Max.
So, wait for it to arrive. Then plug it into your stack, see if you like it or you think its being powered enough. If not,
Buy more powerful amp (speaker amp or just a really powerful headphone amp. I suggest lurking here and looking through the threads to learn more about the better amps.) You do not need to be able to return it. In this hobby, when buying things I would suggest buying used if you don’t know what you want, then if you don’t like you can sell on the used market again for near 0 loss. Doesn’t make sense to buy new all this stuff, then try and return it. If anything be a nice part of the community and post it on the used market here. If you just buy all new all the time and return it is, not nice to us (maybe we wanted to buy it from you since we help you out and you ended up not liking it), not nice to the retailer (now they are stuck with an open box that they are losing money now just so you could “try it out” when the return policy isn’t really meant for that type of “trying out”)
Return Headphones. Some people don’t wanna deal with the hassle of the journey. In that case, just return the headphones (or sell here to someone who would actually want it), and move on.
Instead of trying to ask our opinions (which we have given already) how about you just buy the things you are interested in, and see if you like it yourself, start to form your own opinions and expand your knowledge in the hobby, then come back to us with your discovery and what you have learned and experiences you are making in the hobby, instead of trying to ask peoples opinions (which we have alot of, I for one have more headphone/amp/dac experience than the youtuber you hold to such high acclaim) and then disregarding or thinking we aren’t helping. We gave you advice. We do not need to hold your hand through every single purchase you make to validate and make sure you are making the right choices. People make the wrong choices in the hobby, we learn from it and don’t make it again if it doesn’t align with our preferences.
You could hear the worst an he6se has sounded and think it’s amazing.
That would be perfect to be honest. If I think they sound great off my underpowered amp, it would only go up from there as I improved the amp or invested in a higher end one.
To be honest, for me, this sounds like the biggest reason to go with them. If I like them at their worst, they will only get better.
Yessir!
My favorites for driving the HE6
Bingo. I concur with @Roark: AirPods Max.
Lol, this is the pretentious responses that typically keeps me off these forums. Pretty funny coming from the guy who thinks 100 volts is the same as 100 watts and linking electroshock therapy.
I clearly already own an external DAC/AMP, and have tested multiple headphones in the more budget category so I understand the fundamentals. I am now tipping my toes into the higher end gear, but thanks for the “Airpods Max” recommendation, for which does not meet any of my requirements.
Or, in my case, you are hearing them at their best and don’t know it (and still don’t like it). Trap sprung.
See the point?
Thank you! I’ll look into these three.
Here’s a calculator: Volts and amps let you calculate watts…I thought you knew that…
I’ll break this down as you seem confused.
Here’s your comment: " See link for the voltages involved with medical electro convulsive therapy (ECT). It ranges from 100v to 450v at 0.8 to 2.0 amps. This is literally enough to knock people unconscious, involuntarily bite off their own tongues if not restrained, and reset their brains. Shocks are followed by disorientation and long recoveries. [Despite it’s appearance and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest , it is a proven and viable form of treatment for mental illness.]"
Note that its’ 100v to 450v.
The speaker amp in discussion is 100 watts at 4 ohms. At this level, it’s 20 volts, far below the 100-450 you quoted.
At 50 ohms and 20 volts, it’s a mere 8 watts, no where near anything you referenced.
Pretentiousness at it’s finest.
Yea, That’s a very good point.
Either way, I’ll try them out and see how it goes. I do think our needs are different and our preferences are different, but I am very curious to hear the Moondrop Blessing 2 now as it’s been highly praised by many others as well.
Your profile picture is pretentious
Absolutely. I am a weirdo that doesn’t like the arya. Who does that? 
Just find out what your preferences are. (I started on the sundara and ath-r70x which is a dynamic, that in my opinion, is not on the sundara’s level. This lead me down the planar path. Sample sizes of 1 suck. Never doing that again).
And recognize that there is no avoiding the journey. I tried. It didn’t work.