[zixor]

Hi Leftside,
 
Yes, my HPA-5000XL has arrived and I've been enjoying them for couple weeks now. Altho there is still a lot of burning to do, as stated during my listening session, the added detail and transparency is quite amazing and I am glad that I have upgraded to the 5000XL. The HPA-3000 is a great amp as well but I fear that with your current WA22 with upgraded tubes, it might sound a bit dull (flat?) in comparison. 5000XL is not yet mass produced from my sources but they are pushing them out to the international market asap, so when you get a chance pls do give it a try.
 
FYI, just got my new Ether C as well and the synergy is fantastic (altho a bit less snappy compared to my HD800s). Hope this helps.
 

 

[leftside]

Not to worry, I got a good deal on the HPA-3000. I've always wanted to try one. I'd also be surprised if it beat my Woo.
 
I'm going to keep an eye on the HPA-5000XL.

 

[leftside]

Great amp! Gave the HPA-3000 a good test this weekend. Amazingly quiet with no music playing - very similar in this regard to my solid state Bryston head amp. Sounds very similar to the Bryston as well (at least to my ears) Also packs a punch! Delivers a lot of power.
 
As I mainly listen to vinyl with a tube phono preamp, I really appreciated the extra power and extra quietness with no music playing that this amp has over the Woo. With a "regular" set of tubes in the Woo, I might prefer this amp over the Woo. But, with a "top end" set of tubes, I have to give my preference to the Woo. There isn't much in it, but the Woo just seemed to make any harshness coming from the music a little smoother.
 
If you are not interested in tube rolling, want a very good head amp with lot's of power and that is very quiet, then I can strongly recommend this amp. Also looks very good.

 

[npdang]

Interesting... I would not describe the sound of the hpa-3000 as Bryston at all... more like Audio Research to my ears.

 

[leftside]

Maybe I should have said sounds more like the Bryston than the Woo (with upgraded tubes). This is certainly not a bad thing.
 
I only have the 3 amps to compare to, but I can very easily and quickly swap between the 3 as my preamp supports 6 amps at once (3 RCA and 3 XLR). Makes for great comparisons - especially if someone else is doing the swapping and you are not looking. I just wish it was more convenient/easier to swap tubes quickly.

 

[npdang]

Sorry, just realized you said Bryston head amp  I've never heard any of their headphone products, but have owned the 4B and 7B long ago.  Great products.  If my praise for the HPA-5000XL is a bit restrained, it's due mostly to the price in comparison to the HPA-3000.

 

[3083joe]

Maybe I should have said sounds more like the Bryston than the Woo (with upgraded tubes). This is certainly not a bad thing.

I only have the 3 amps to compare to, but I can very easily and quickly swap between the 3 as my preamp supports 6 amps at once (3 RCA and 3 XLR). Makes for great comparisons - especially if someone else is doing the swapping and you are not looking. I just wish it was more convenient/easier to swap tubes quickly.

Yep, burnt myself numberous times.

 

[rean1mator]

So I can't seem to find much in the way of reviews for the Allnic HPA-3000 GT. Has anyone heard both this and the Woo WA22. Would be very curious to hear your thoughts. I did an extensive demo with the Woo WA22 and WA6SE over the weekend along with Simaudio 430ha, Ican pro with my Focal Utopia and Hugo 2.

Simaudio sounded horrible, everything sounded compressed and brittle. Ican was ok, it's definitely, a Pro model probably best suited for Mixing/Mastering than daily casual listening. Leans more on the clinical side of things and wasn't very engaging.

WA6SE - with the right headphone this could be a fun headphone amp. The midrange on this thing is too punchy and forward tho' with the utopia's a least, which was surprising since the utopias are so neutral to begin with. I could see how this would get fatiguing after awhile.

The WA22 - Was my favorite out of all of them. It's very sweet sounding, laid back, neutral, super detailed all at the same time. However, it does go a little overboard on the sweet and laid back side of things. It makes for easy, long listening sessions tho'. Would love something in between WA6SE and WA22. While I could probably live with the WA22, I could find my self getting bored with it due to how laid back it is.

Now back to the Allnic. Anyone have experience with this amp? Woud love to hear your thoughts!!

 

[3083joe]

So I can't seem to find much in the way of reviews for the Allnic HPA-3000 GT. Has anyone heard both this and the Woo WA22. Would be very curious to hear your thoughts. I did an extensive demo with the Woo WA22 and WA6SE over the weekend along with Simaudio 430ha, Ican pro with my Focal Utopia and Hugo 2.

Simaudio sounded horrible, everything sounded compressed and brittle. Ican was ok, it's definitely, a Pro model probably best suited for Mixing/Mastering than daily casual listening. Leans more on the clinical side of things and wasn't very engaging.

WA6SE - with the right headphone this could be a fun headphone amp. The midrange on this thing is too punchy and forward tho' with the utopia's a least, which was surprising since the utopias are so neutral to begin with. I could see how this would get fatiguing after awhile.

The WA22 - Was my favorite out of all of them. It's very sweet sounding, laid back, neutral, super detailed all at the same time. However, it does go a little overboard on the sweet and laid back side of things. It makes for easy, long listening sessions tho'. Would love something in between WA6SE and WA22. While I could probably live with the WA22, I could find my self getting bored with it due to how laid back it is.

Now back to the Allnic. Anyone have experience with this amp? Woud love to hear your thoughts!!

My exact thoughts, being that I have owned both.

 

[tholt]

I'm negotiating to demo an HPA-3000 GT. Hopefully will know soon. Will be using it with Abyss Phi CC. I only know of one other person who used the pairing, and he said it was fantastic. Anyone else use with Abyss?

 

[tholt]

Hi guys, if anyone is still on this thread? I took in brand new 3000 GT yesterday and have been playing it since. It's absolutely gorgeous, best looking piece of gear I've owned. Initial SQ is ok but nothing I'd consider a significant cut above what I've had before. So wondering about burn in:

• What is everyone's experience with burn in?
• Does it make a difference?
• If so, what are the differences and how dramatic are they vs right out of the box?
• How long is the burn in process?

Thanks, just trying to get a feel for this amp.

 

[npdang]

I really, really liked the 3000GT. Enough that it made me purchase the 5000 without a demo. In my experience, I found no significant differences with burn-in. If you are not hearing differences between your old amp, based on my own experience I think it's likely that: (1) your previous amps were very good; (2) your headphones and/or other source components do not have sufficient resolution to reveal these differences; (3) your source material is not sufficiently resolving (e.g., low res files, poor quality recordings); (4) your ears are not discerning enough; or (5) poor system synergy.

 

[tholt]

Thanks for your thoughts. I also reached out to the Allnic distributor who sold me the amp, and he said the following:

"Burn in time is extensive due to Nickel core transformers. I would “guess” 350 hours or maybe more depending on how careful a listener you are. The HPA 3000 I had was not thrilling out of the box. Lacked focus and drive and a bit on the dark side. It changed in the first 20 hours and after a few days was nice. Still, the superior bandwidth and detail is slow coming and something to look forward to with time."

^ interesting, right?

My experience with burn in has never been anything dramatic. Maybe most with speakers, but not so much with components. Things might change a little, but not dramatically, so I'm not sure what to do -- other than continuing to play it which of course I will do.

My headphones are Abyss 1266 Phi, so they're not hiding anything. The Allnic seems plenty capable of driving them as well -- I'm running balanced in and balanced out using the 50ohm output.

I don't know what to say about my ears -- they are what they are! But I readily hear differences in other things and I've been at this hobby for many years, so I'm going to assume they're not at issue.

It could be the recordings, but again, not sure that would be the case. I run Roon + Tidal, so nothing below 16/44.1. I listen to a lot of electronica and indie music, singer/songwriter stuff (Melody Gardot, Fink to name two), blues. Nothing I listen to is very poorly recorded, but if it's high-res classical or jazz as a prerequisite (and it really shouldn't be), that's not gonna happen here.

At any rate, I'll continue to listen. Hoping for good things.

 

[woodcans]

I bought mine from another head-fier, so can't comment on break in changes, but it is definitely the best sounding amp I have owned. I find I can easily detect changes to my system using the amp. But, it's also highly musical. I assume you are using a decent dac in such a system? Edit: also trying the 200 ohm output might make a difference...

 

[tholt]

Thanks. I've got nothing to do but put more hours on it, so that's what I'll do. I do appreciate the insights.

DAC -- I believe so. Aqua La Voce S2. The whole chain is:

Dedicated Mac mini > Roon in exclusive mode (local files or Tidal) > ifi micro USB 3.0 (via Curious USB cable) > Aqua La Voce S2 (R-2R DAC) > Allnic (via Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerator XLR) > Abyss 1266 Phi (using balanced output).

I've just powered it down to rest for a few hours. Once I listen again, I'll try the 200 output. I assumed the 50ohm output would be better due to the low sensitivity of the Abyss, but I'm open to experiment.