>The other part of why it happens is that proper speaker amps have a huge amount of power reserve in their capacitance and dumping the amount of power needed doesn't come close to their maximum power so you're never starving the capacitors and losing dynamics because of it.

This doesn't follow though. If the headphone amp is attenuated to a specific voltage output, the part that gets to the headphone is the same. Voltage at amplitude and frequency oscillates the driver to make a certain sound by causing the driver to move at a specific speed to a certain point of excursion. The amount the capacitors are being utilized would affect the amps ability to handle the current/the voltage it provides, but if that were an issue, you'd have less power or the power would clip/distort severely. Speaker amps, at a given voltage, are almost always less clean power than a headphone amp.

>The HE6 is incredibly high on current demand for a headphone and that drains capacitors really fast, fast enough that it severely gimps the amount of dynamic range due to the voltage swings being lower because of the capacitors never being fully charged and ready to discharge on headphone amps.

This also doesn't follow. If an amp is able to provide equal voltage at a given frequency, it won't have this issue you are describing. Add on that DR is a function of signal and noise so the thing that determines that will be the amount of voltage the amp can provide. If both can provide the same voltage, and the device isn't also outputting a lot of noise, the dynamic range would be the same at a given voltage. Also, capacitors don't have to be fully charged. The prevent fluctuations in voltage delivery due to inconsistent flow of electricity. See this video. If this were an issue, your amp would cut out intermittently. Also, voltage swings being limited is the same as voltage out being limited and is the same as the clipping issue I addressed earlier.

>I didn't spend $50k on speaker amps and another $50k on headphone amps only to settle on the Parasound because I'm imagining shit. I sold off every one of the amps I tried because they didn't do anything special, it's not about amount of power, it's about the ability to sustain it without keeping the capacitors in a constant scavenge stage where they're trying to recharge and never delivering their full voltage swings.

It is about being able to supply power. That is what amplifiers do, they amplify the power given to them by the DAC. They should do so completely transparently. I believe you hear the difference you think you hear, but I don't agree that it is because of the amp. That is touched on in this video. You like what you like, you can't argue preference, but proper testing needs to be done to see if what you are hearing is due to the reason you think you are hearing it. Currently, I would argue that it is not.

>I know how to test gear, I understand volume matching and have decibel meters and even a measurement head to measure volume with a pad seal.

This isn't how to match volume. Use a multimeter that is accurate in the audible range or an oscilloscope. This is especially true if the headphone is the same and being A/B tested through a transparent switcher. Since you are using the same headphone, what matters is the voltage out.

>The problem is making a blanket statement that they need a speaker amp, but that is only half of it, they need a GOOD speaker amp and several speaker amps I tried even over $2000 MSRP absolutely sucked and provided nothing over a run of the mill powerful headphone amp.

I disagree. There are a lot of cheaper speaker amps that are better than the touted audiophile gear.

>It was also immediately noticeable on the Parasound that the Hifiman HE-adapter was lowering the quality over plugging directly into the speaker taps. I have spent more time trying to perfect an HE6 chain than most people spend nitpicking audio gear in their lifetime and I don't even feel like I'm close to the end but I do know for certain that if all I had was the 789 and A90 I originally had when I first purchased the HE6, I would get rid of the HE6 because without being driven well, they aren't anything special, but when they are, I prefer them over basically every single TOTL headphone, including the 1266 TC, Utopia, D8000 Pro, Empyrean Elite, haven't owned the Susvara but have demoed then at shops on my own gear and they are incredible and I'll eventually buy a pair but they aren't the dynamics kings like the HE6, and several others in the summit-fi realm.

And it is perfectly fine that you feel that way and I wish you luck in finding your perfect setup but none of what you have shown is an objective thing you can say other people should follow because it hasn't been properly tested. If getting that set up makes you happy, then go for it.

>A lot of people don't understand that they have the thickest planar diaphragm in existence and all that mass is really hard to push and even harder to push to full excursion, it takes a very fast slew rate and and capacitance to dump power fast enough to make them worth owning. The diaphragm mass is why they can slam so hard.

I do understand how thick their diaphragm is, but that is also why their sensitivity numbers are what they are, which is ridiculously low. But that is already taken into account when you refer to the loudness that the amp can push the headphone to.

>I have done significantly more testing than your skepticism would ever allow you to believe, all volume matched and tested properly.

This is incorrect. Your testing was not proper.

Did you not read my previous components? I tried. It doesn't make a difference at equal SPL. Which is in line with how amps and headphones work. Have you properly tested to make sure you are hearing what you think?

>First, dismissing someone’s auditory perception in a hobby that is literally all about auditory perception is pretty silly.

I didn't dismiss it. If you read further down, I explicitly say I believe they hear what they think, I just don't agree with what they think their reason for it is.

>But second, higher powered amps make a huge difference to demanding headphones.

Any two amps that are not super flawed that are able to produce a set voltage without audible distortion, noise, or clipping, will be the same. Having more to turn on the volume knob remaining doesn't increase the sound quality. Why would it?

>Amps that don’t have enough power just can’t keep up with high current demands — bass doesn’t decay right, very dynamic passages sound congested, and yeah, you can’t get as loud.

Not being able to keep up with current demands but being able to keep up with voltage results in clipping. I have addressed that below.

>Honestly if you can’t tell the difference between a powerful amp and a run-of-the-mill chifi while driving a demanding headphone, I’m not sure what you’re doing even commenting on gear

Not being an elitist to others, that's what. I literally made a meme about people with your attitude and it was one of my most upvoted things.

Nothing in your post explains why it would make it sound better, it only shows that you need to look into how amps work.