Ain’t that the truth!
i have been tempted to purchase the HE6SE V2 at various times because of the sale price. However, I have finally convinced myself the cost is vastly larger than the sale price due to the rabbit hole of amplification. I think a lot of people look at the price and reviews and think “great value! must have!” and do not factor in the time and costs of figuring out your amplification chain. If you have one that works well with the headphone, great. If not, then this post 100%.
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We all have different points of view, needs, and experiences. From mine, I never spend more than $1,200 on one piece of gear. I do not recommend spending $3000 for a HiFiMan HE6se V2 and a Questyle CMA Twelve. I have just purchased a second Questyle CMA Twelve from the used market for $730 and my first one was also purchase used at $1,100. At those prices I have received an amplifier that is capable of running all of my dynamic driver and all of my planar magnetic headphones to what I consider their full potentials. The internal DAC is a freebee (and a curse) that I have grown to love almost as much as my Schiit Bifrost 2 OG.
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The Rebel Audio RebelAmp is another viable option. It excels at running my planar dynamic headphones. My RebelAmp does not place behind the Twelve in terms of performance when driving my planar magnetic headphones. However, it is many steps below the Twelve when driving my dynamic driver headphones. So, since I have many dynamic driver headphones, the Twelve is the better option for me if I were going to chose just one amplifier. For most in this headphone hobby, they too would be running a variety of headphones and would be better served with an amplifier that excels in driving both. However, if you intend on collecting amplifiers as I do, this becomes a moot point.
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My overly subjective recommendation for your particular geographical situation is to not go with the HE6se V2 at all. This opinion is based on my affinity for the ZMF Aeolus. If you are spending $3,000 as you have suggested that amount, one could afford a ZMF headphone and a respectable tube amplifier from the remaining $1,800. Thus, one would have a much superior setup in the end and also have the benefit of not having to deal with the all too common high possibility of receiving a faulty HE6se V2.
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This!
I’m a big fan of driving my HE6SEv2 off an AIYIMA A07 speaker amp. Between the headphones, some Beyerdynamic pads and some custom mesh grilles, I’m probably $800 into it and this is by far the best headphone setup I have. Blows my Audeze LCD2 out of the water. If you can get the heaphones for like $500, you’re looking at about $600 all in, and I can’t think of anything that stands a chance of rivaling that setup.
Might there be even better premium amp pairings for it? Quite likely, but if you’re trying to go for a value play, speaker amp 100%.
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100% agree, that’s the amp I’m using mine with.
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How does the Aiyima A07 compare to a good headphone amp when driving HE6se V2?
I’ve run my HE6se V2 off of that. I especially appreciate how you don’t need adapters like most speaker amps. I didn’t hear any improvement over a THX AAA or a class A 2wpc headphone amp though. In fact the bass got just a touch soft.
Maybe I’m not listening at high enough volume for it to matter, but I’m skeptical that massive power or expensive power is needed to get the most out of these. They still slam better than my OG Clear. I think Hifiman’s recommendation is spot on and these days there are plenty of amps under $1k that can do 2wpc @ 50 ohm.
I have noticed that they are sensitive to the amplifier’s output impedance.
In this thread it is suggested that the HE6se V2 should not be driven directly from speaker taps as one of poster’s drivers died within four months. Higher up in the thread he stated that the drivers are different than in the original HE6, which were okay to drive directly from speaker taps. In the thread they offer suggested resistor values of 25Ω in series and 10Ω in parallel for driver protection and impedance matching to assist in presenting a more balanced load to avoid adverse frequency anomalies. Also, they point out that there is a HiFiMan HE adapter for a quick fix solution.
At the bottom of the thread MrAyrit received a response directly from HiFiMan that the drivers can sustain damage when directly driven from speaker taps.
Here is very good resistor calculator if one wishes to diy a speaker to headphone adapter:
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my guess is that if someone like schiit could make a power amp that they thought was good at that price point or even close to it they would.
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Yeah, running from speaker terminals is not for the faint of heart. I always turn down the volume to 0 before turning on the amp, and I pretty much keep the volume at 9 o clock when listening. I can easily imagine that cranking the volume too high would damage the drivers.
My first set had an issue with a stuck driver which seems to be a common problem. My current set hasn’t had any issues.
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Oh, one other thing to keep in mind - the A07 ships with a power supply that allows it to put 100W into an 8 Ohm load. Assuming it can maintain the same voltage at 50 Ohms, that’s a max power of 16W. That’s a lot, but it’s not crazy overpowered, so I’m not really that much more concerned running the HE6 on an A07 than I am running IEMs on a desktop amp.
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Even though I don’t want to use the Aiyima A07 for headphones, I decided to give it a try with my speakers.
Seems to have great reviews.
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Nice! Love it when I see open minded posts. Are you considering trying it with the HE-Adapter if you like it with speakers?
I’m seriously considering picking up a RebelAmp to see if I can change my mind about powering these bad boys. Partially because it gets great reviews regardless and partially because of your recommendation.
Problem is they are out of the green…
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Just for the record, the Emotiva BasX A100 & A2m put about 8W into 50 Ohms when in direct drive mode.
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No Aiyima A07 with headphones. Just with speakers. I have some other tripath amps that I have had lots of success with powering speakers before. The Aiyima A07 has too many good reviews for me to ignore.
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The Rebel Audio RebelAmp will serve your planar magnetic headphones well. My Schiit Bifrost 2 OG seems to yield great synergy with the RebelAmp too, but that DAC is not a dire necessity in the chain.
I received these open box from Adorama yesterday ($420). First impressions on build quality and aesthetics are about as expected. These are built no better than an HE5XX, which is several steps below an Arya for build. They should not even bother including this cable. Every time I see these medical tubing Hifiman cables, I giggle. As they are so weird and bad. The blue color is interesting and better in person. In pictures it often looks like Smurf blue. But in person under my normal lighting conditions it looks almost purple or violet blue. I like it.
Before acquiring these I made a custom (ugly as hell) quick 4 pin XLR to speaker adapter. This morning I set up my old (2001?) Denon AVR-3802 receiver (150 WPC). I used my RME ADI-2 PRO FS R as DAC. Then I listened to these with and without EQ through the Denon and the RME headphone amp. Without EQ these are too neutral throughout and a bit withdrawn with that upper mid scoop. Just a touch too bright in the 5k area. After EQ with just 4 filters though they are really good. Soundstage seems average but realistic, roughly equivalent to an LCD-X. But soundstage here is more wide than tall. But much better than a Focal Clear or Utopia. Bass is probably the best bass I have heard in an open back, other than the Abyss 1266 TC or Maybe LCD-4. I think because of the better note weight, I prefer the bass on this over the Susvara, though I would have to hear them side by side to be sure. Mids and highs. After EQ they are very good, equal to an LCD-X or any other open back I have heard below about 2k. I would say the Susvara, LCD-5, & HE1000 V2 are all a bit better here. But not dramatically better, maybe just different?
Power. I switched back and forth between the Denon and the RME for a dozen or more of my most well known tracks. Sound wise the only real differences was the RME sounded a bit cleaner/clearer, less colored. The Denon maybe had a wider soundstage, where the RME was maybe taller. That is it. After that I put the Denon back in the garage and continued listening on the RME. Plenty of headroom, slam etc. Seems like the 2.7-2.8 watts and 7.5v +/- that the RME is supplying at 50ohm is more than enough.
Out of the entire Hifiman line (I have heard everything they make) I still like the HE1000 V2 best. Probably the Susvara second. These are a tie with the Arya, which have a better soundstage but lack in the the slam factor. These slam about as good as any open back I have heard, very impressive. I was curious about these for a while, not sure I will keep these, as I still prefer my LCD-XC to these (and everything else). I will give them a few weeks* before I decide.
*Addendum; I will have to return these. Even though I have a large head, I almost never have problems with comfort. This is actually the very first headphone that I have had the “hot spot” on top of my head. I thought I could shift it around and find a spot, but about every 30 minutes I have to shift it again. I tend to wear my headphones for 2-3 hours at a time, so these will have to go. I don’t like returning things but I don’t ‘love’ these enough to spend more on a headband mod etc. My next Hifiman will be an HE1000 V2, since those (and the LCD-5) are the best sounding open backs available, to my ears.
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Great write up! I very much appreciated the comparisons to other headphones. Sorry to hear about the comfort issues.
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For a while I also ran my HE6SE v2 off an old Denon receiver (AVR 2807) as well and it drove them pretty well. I eventually did put together a DIY AMB Labs Beta 22 amp and there was a pretty noticeable improvement in the sound, especially the bass impact and clarity. I also tried it on my Topping L30 v2 for fun and that was just adequate on my quiet listening levels (~65-70 db) and had distortion at higher levels in the bass area. I drove all these with a Topping E50 dac
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