Marv will you also be measuring the THD for stock form and updating post #1, just for completion's sake?

Measurements pretty much like expected. Great THD. I am personally not bothered by the treble. I am going to cross check this against the HD800 measurements if I can find those, in regards to treble, for my own interest.

The HE-9 may not be the best amp there is, but it's one of the best solid states I've heard. When it doesn't fry DACs, it's not bugged like crap as my sample was, it was better sounding than the Ragnarok or that Moon 430HA. The latter of which is a good but very boring solid state that does a lot well and nothing outstanding.

The TP mod was in and back out today. Not for me. Or I need better 2 ply. Creative minds: Would love some mod that make these more engaging, with better leading edges and attack. More like HE-6s or HD800s for me.

Does the TP veil things or are we all good there? Measurements indicate lack of high treble which I know is just a measurement artifact. Are you getting good air up top w/ and w/o TP?

Is the stage depth on this guy filled in? As opposed to the one we heard at CanJam which was super-stereo.

Resorted to 1-ply where I don't notice anything in the way. Getting good air.

Stage depth is better than CJ version which was strange with zero depth and super wide. Staging is not the best quality. Depth and layering not as strong as HD800 (obviously) or Abyss, but decent / good a la HD600/650. Left right localization is precise. YMMV.


EDIT: Now I remember. At CJ, there was a hole in the middle - things were split wide. No such problem. Center fill is good and stable.

I'd like to hear how the HE9 is better than the Ragnarok, maybe in the Rag thread or somewhere else. It's still one the most clear and resolving SS amps I've ever heard. Maybe this was using the HE6 to compare or using the Rag's SE output?

For HD800 measurements you need to use the search box. A lot of the original CSD's haven't been linked or updated on the front page.