The HE-6 now has the fuzzor and the grill mod. I'm awaiting for the aluminum rings to come in before I proceed with better sealing the pads and cups.
The HE-6 with the grill mod sounded and looked so nice, that I dug out my HE-560 and did the same. That was wow too, but maybe further discussion for the 560 mod thread.
(Dr Fang, if you're reading this--I'm totally sold on Hifimans, especially once they're modded.)
In the meantime, the sound is excellent from the mod and I was grinning when I first head the modded pair through my balanced headphone amp.
Having said that, I was curious just how much the HE-6 can scale with proper juice, so recently I ordered the Hifiman Adapter for speaker amps to try out.
:-DD I'm keeping this thing.
Not because it makes the Hifimans sound better by itself, but it's just a neat, convenient box that I can use with other headphones. With the HE-6, it's a really good accessory. But I can see myself using it also with a HD-650, modded T50RP, etc--any set of headphones that will scale with more power.
For the HE-6, the sound is so so so much more detailed and layered with some serious juice flowing through the cables.
The sound from an "adequate" headphone amp was several steps above after the HE-6 was modded, but it's a new level when paired with a speaker amp.
The adapter may be optional, but for those who are brave and in quest of more, you will definitely want to tap into your speaker amp.
I'll be looking into getting a mini speaker amp.
@Armaegis, I now can truly empathize with you about your broken amp...
PROs:
$99 -- cheap in the audiophile world
not having to DIY
can use other XLR terminated cables (especially with expensive cables you already own, and for other headphones)
attenuated (less likely you'll blow your headphones)
pretty sturdy
convenience: no cables snaking to the back, easy to unplug your headphones
CONs:
$99 -- it's not rocket science, and you can connect directly to the amp with just your cable in reality
sturdy, but it looks a bit DIY
you have to get your own speaker wires to connect (4 pieces total) to your amp
where are the instructions?
Hifiman doesn't recommend it with sensitive headphones. Well, yeah....
The Hifiman Adapter is actually quite nice and sounds good. The look is a bit better than DIY, but it's sturdy. I had thought about going with direct headphones to cables tap to the amp, as well as doing a DIY. The parts for a DIY would probably set me back $50-60 but then I could have picked out components I wanted (e.g., possibly better resistors, a cooler looking box). However, these days I don't really have time to mess with projects, nor wanting any risk of burning my fingers if not my home. The cost savings from the Hifiman Adapter vs direct line to the amp is that I get to use existing cables, rather than reterminating them or buying new ones. Also, this little unit will give me a chance to play with other headphones directly from an amp.
For $99, it's not bad; however, you will have to spend some extra money for some speaker wires ($2-$100, YMMV with how fancy and exotic you want them) and some optional banana/spades ($20-$200, again YMMV). No instructions included, but if you ordered this item you knew exactly what you're doing. Or maybe not--afterall, we are connecting headphones into high powered speaker amps.
I hooked up banana clips to the Hifiman Adapter, and at the other end had spades connecting to sockets that are already used by my speakers (via bananas--had to disconnect the + plugs in the speakers before listening with the Adapter*...until I get an amp or a more powerful headphone amp to drive the HE-6.)
*The reason for unplugging the connection to the speakers for headphone listening is so you don't have both playing while you're using headphones--both the headphones and the speakers are sharing the same music feed. I use spades to the amp because I'm currently having banana plugs from the speakers to the amp--this way, the amp can take both (but can't take 2 sets for bananas). Finally, you can just screw in bare wires.
edits: for clarification