I actually agree with this. I bought the 2021 revision a month ago from Headphones.com and returned them because they sounded so flat and dull. I even used Resolves EQ and it didn’t help.
I may have had the 2021 edition already. I had them a little after they started producing the change. But, I didn’t know about that change until months later and never checked the serial. For the XC I had 2021 model.
Either way, I think the lcd-xc are way better for the money. I struggle with recessions in the 1-4k range. (at least, that’s what seems to drive me bat crap crazy on the headphones I don’t like). Something about it makes me feel suffocated. I am not 100% sure that was the cause, but lcd-x definitely did that for me. Quad era-1 as well. XC came off a bit shouty at times (exact opposite problem!), but otherwise very good.
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I always like context. Flat and dull compared to what?
To the HE-6seV2 and even compared to the HE-4X. It was well made and has a great warranty but it just sounds awful compared to the He6. I may have had a bad unit as most reviewers love them.
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Oh, I totally agree. I’ll take airpods over an lcd-x personally. 
I just wanted your context.
Completely disagree. HE6se are great from Monoprice THX 887 ($399), Emotiva Bas-X A-100 ($229), and Schiit Jotenheim 2 ($399) IMHO. It may have been true a few years ago but there are a lot of good powerful amps out there for less than $700 now.
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I had an sp200 at the time. And while it drove it ok, it just didn’t do it justice. And it certainly hit its power limits. Jot 2 wasn’t out yet. I was going to get the Bas X a-100 but went with a bigger better speaker amp to use for other things as well. That was where the he6se clearly had enough power. (I would assume the bas-x would as well). And honestly, the a90 was doing well purely from a power perspective, but the right cup died shortly after connecting it to the a90. So, I never really got to dig in there.
Jot 2 is probably what I would try today for “budget” options.
I don’t have much to compare it to, but I bought a Denon PMA 600NE amp to use with the 6SE and it definitely does the job @ 45 watts/channel. Though @Dynamic has got me worried a bit now that I’m not realizing their full potential, lol. But they still run circles around my Arya and LCD-X and are the best I’ve ever heard
[EDIT] the price of the Denon amp was ~$400
This is exactly what I want to avoid! My guess is power wise you are probably completely there. The problem is it’s power and pairing. The a90 had the power, but frankly, I liked it more off the xduoo ta-30. But, I liked basically everything better off the ta-30.
The paranoia about “did I get there?” should be avoided by anyone who isn’t sure they have heard headphones that “got there”. I include myself. I am not sure I heard the he6se at their best.
For me, it was a stroke of luck that they died. Because I would have kept going. And I likely never would have fully answered it for myself. Cause I can’t leave that kind of stuff alone.
So, when I say: Ananda, it is to save someone’s sanity, not necessarily give the best sounding advice ever. 
Seriously though, if you enjoy the chase and have the resources to reasonably do it, it’s fun.
That’s because the a90 is one of the worst sounding amps on the planet!
I am having fun with the “chase” as you call it, and since this is still the best sounding setup I’ve owned thus far, even if I am missing out on a stray percent or 2 of performance or synergy, I’m still quite happy (for now).
Funny how active you are on this thread for a dude who doesn’t even own the 6SE anymore, lol! But I do appreciate all your contributions
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Note that the SMSL SP200 has 1/2 the power of the Monoprice THX 887. The Topping A90 should have been fine tho. Sorry you didn’t get a chance to find out.
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That would do it. I simply stopped paying attention to thx options. The three I tried were all meh. Sp200 was close in power, just not quite there.
I just think people don’t get enough warning on this headphone. It’s great when you know the flaws. There is still a voice in my head that wants it back.
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Curious if any of you ACTUALLY tried running this through an iphone dongle? I know everyone says its hard to drive but like…it sounds pretty good from iphone dongle lol…like it definitely scales and sounds better through smsl su-9 and a90 but is it the headphone thats hard to drive, or people just being picky and goal post shifting. Refer to resolve review of he6 where he summarizes the power requirements pretty well
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I did, when the right cup died to check that it wasn’t something else. So it wasn’t a good test.
I did use my macbook jack and that just couldn’t get beyond a low volume. But then I was testing a cable. The quad cable simply didn’t work with other things. And I couldn’t figure out why. I wasn’t really trying to listen to the he6se.
Even the Asgard 3 wasn’t bad in my experience. Definitely not as good as the FA-10 which is what I have now, but when I paired it with the HE6se v2 it did fine.
Enough to where I’d even pick up over the Sundaras, which I’ve also previously owned.
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Well you got me so excited I spent 10 mins finding my iPhone dongle before realizing I don’t have the proper adapter to hook up the HE6se. 10 mins after that I have confirmed that indeed I do not have the proper adapter anywhere. 
Even the Magni 3+ isn’t bad in my experience. The HE6se lose the slam but it’s not like they suddenly sound bad. Just not particularly good and certainly not good enough to justify their price - not that you were implying otherwise.
I still think their reputation of being difficult to drive is exaggerated and the truth lies in the middle. Yes you need a good, powerful amp to get the most out of the HE6se. But most enthusiasts already do. I suspect most amps rated for 2+ watts at 50 ohm would be fine. Whether they continue to scale with “mo betta powa”, I’m still trying to determine myself but after comparison with my Focal Arche and Emotiva Bas-X A-100 I’m skeptical. OTOH the Arche isn’t particularly powerful and the A-100 isn’t particularly better. So if anyone wants to donate $700+ to my Patreon to fund my research, let me know. 
I’m curious to see what they sound like out of a digital speaker amp, but not curious enough to buy the amp and adapters - yet.
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Would recommend trying them on iphone dongle for fun it’s a fun experience just seeing how much you can get out of a $6 dongle, i’m using 4.4 pentacon to 3.5mm adapter. I actually tried to run he6se through my PC motherboard that has a ridiculously high output impedance of 70+ and the bass got really sloppy but had more quantity and was still kinda fun to listen to surprisingly. what’s hilarious is apple dongle performs significantly better than a $150 aorus gaming motherboard lol….
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The apple dongle is a surprisingly capable bit of kit. Especially for 9 dollars or however much it costs?
All the HE6sev2 talk has me wanting a pair…don’t tempt me satan! haha.
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I have been using he6se v2 for 2month now, and have a trick to use it to pull out its potentials.
I’ve learned from when I was struggle in first time, especially suffer from sibilant.
If headphone’s ear-cup doesn’t sealed properly, it should sound bass much lighter, strident on highs.
So solution is using finger or palm, grip the ear-cup’s edge, push toward your head, so it gets proper sealed state.
It works for me.
- This was made on just my own experiences.
Amplifier match story would be…a few but i will tell:
Now I mainly use it with emotiva a-150(w/ HE adapter), it sounds better than phonitor E(which i recently sold) and kinki THR-1(old one).
Preamplifier is intact audio custom built AVC attenuator, and holo audio.
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The real question is if you have a susvara, do you need a he6sev2?