jivetrain
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2007
- Posts
- 47
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- 0
i had a hard time finding information on this amp and i know there are others who are curious about it, so i hope this quick overview will be useful to someone.
to start, the build quality of the amp is great. it's made from a very sturdy feeling metal and there are no loose parts or poorly joined pieces. the volume knob feels great and works perfectly. the blue led on the power unit is way absurdly bright but that's no problem. every part of the amp feels well put together... disregard the fact that it says 'hybird' on the front.
as far as noise goes there's a lot of tube rush, but i found that it disappears when the amp is tilted; i now keep the amp propped up at a 45 degree angle and there is near silence. i don't know why this happens or if this is typical of every hb-1, but regardless it's a problem that i've managed to solve easily and i'm happy with that. the only remaining noise is a low, faint hum that never bothers me when listening. you can't hear it while music is playing nor when there's silence between tracks; i only seem to notice it when i've finished listening and am turning the amp off for some reason.
the sound of the amp is very fluid and smooth; the highs are articulated crisply and are never harsh, and the bass, though a little underpowered, is rich without any muddiness. it's the mids that are the strength of the amp; incredibly pure and liquid sounding. overall it sounds very pleasant and is easy to listen to for hours on end, my only complaint is that the amp is not particularly capable of revealing detail. even with my grado 225's i have to listen very carefully to hear small nuances, which i assume is the cost you have to pay for the smoothness of the sound. still, the edges of the music sound clearly defined even if the lowest level details of the music are not.
i've heard that the amp has little power and needs to be turned up high to reach a decent volume, but i've found that to be false. it could be my grados or my sound system, but i have never had to turn the knob near even 1/4 of the way up to get the right volume. i assume anyone turning it up past that either has inefficient headphones or terrible hearing.
that's about all i have to say, i'm impressed with the amp and it definitely was the best choice for me at the entry level. it obviously surpassed the pro-ject head box i was using before in every regard, although with the $100 price difference between those amps that's to be expected. i admit that i still regret buying the HB-1 and wish that i had saved up a little and gotten the mg head instead, which isn't too much more and would probably yield a much better sound, but the hb-1 is still a formidable and enjoyable amp and i don't mind listening to it for a little while more.
to start, the build quality of the amp is great. it's made from a very sturdy feeling metal and there are no loose parts or poorly joined pieces. the volume knob feels great and works perfectly. the blue led on the power unit is way absurdly bright but that's no problem. every part of the amp feels well put together... disregard the fact that it says 'hybird' on the front.
as far as noise goes there's a lot of tube rush, but i found that it disappears when the amp is tilted; i now keep the amp propped up at a 45 degree angle and there is near silence. i don't know why this happens or if this is typical of every hb-1, but regardless it's a problem that i've managed to solve easily and i'm happy with that. the only remaining noise is a low, faint hum that never bothers me when listening. you can't hear it while music is playing nor when there's silence between tracks; i only seem to notice it when i've finished listening and am turning the amp off for some reason.
the sound of the amp is very fluid and smooth; the highs are articulated crisply and are never harsh, and the bass, though a little underpowered, is rich without any muddiness. it's the mids that are the strength of the amp; incredibly pure and liquid sounding. overall it sounds very pleasant and is easy to listen to for hours on end, my only complaint is that the amp is not particularly capable of revealing detail. even with my grado 225's i have to listen very carefully to hear small nuances, which i assume is the cost you have to pay for the smoothness of the sound. still, the edges of the music sound clearly defined even if the lowest level details of the music are not.
i've heard that the amp has little power and needs to be turned up high to reach a decent volume, but i've found that to be false. it could be my grados or my sound system, but i have never had to turn the knob near even 1/4 of the way up to get the right volume. i assume anyone turning it up past that either has inefficient headphones or terrible hearing.
that's about all i have to say, i'm impressed with the amp and it definitely was the best choice for me at the entry level. it obviously surpassed the pro-ject head box i was using before in every regard, although with the $100 price difference between those amps that's to be expected. i admit that i still regret buying the HB-1 and wish that i had saved up a little and gotten the mg head instead, which isn't too much more and would probably yield a much better sound, but the hb-1 is still a formidable and enjoyable amp and i don't mind listening to it for a little while more.
