Audiophilepure

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“Putting aside its prime directive as a headphone amp for a moment, the HPA-1 got right into the swing of being a dedicated preamp as it smoothly drove the active ATC SCM19A floorstanding loudspeakers (Issue 272). It exhibited the same lack of artifice, dynamic drive, and resolving power. Differences were subtle, subtractions minor (to some degree reflecting the added acoustic of my listening room); however, low-frequency pitch definition did soften slightly and soundstaging wasn’t as dimensionally immersive as that of my reference electronics. Even as a stand-alone preamp the HPA-1 is immensely competitive in its class, and for driving a powered desktop system (the likely goal) pretty hard to beat.”

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“The HPA-1 sells for $3500 which is on the low-end of the Pass Labs scale, but nonetheless, near the top of the heap in headphone market at large. Yes, I can name a handful of headphone amplifiers with higher prices. That’s akin to pointing out a $150,000 pair of speakers as being more pricey than a set going for $80k. Both are on the extreme upper end of the spectrum, regardless of the difference.”