Nothing unexpected with the LO, in this case, off the balanced 4.4mm port. Worked flawlessly, and as expected the HM1K needed the extra juice to scale up wonderfully. My intention was to amp the HM1K on the go, which makes the size an important point. I considered many amps at an acceptable form factor and didn’t find any balanced option available. The A100TB easily passed the form factor criterion, as you can see below.
The light, compact and versatile HM1K is my travel DAP; I could stream using my iphone/ipod, which also controls the music playback off the SD card. To justify the extra mass of the A100TB was not too difficult -- a credit to the vast SQ improvement. But stacking the PS100 too would be a brick too far for on-the-move listening within reason or sanity. Although, I will likely bring the PS100 along to listen in the hotel room, well, at least on the next trip I will.
The Phatlab Chimera is quite similar to the Cayin C9 in almost every way. They are both very good and ladened with many cool features but unfortunately, neither amp fits what I was looking for to pair the HM1K with. Right away, the form factor was out -- it's a complete mismatch and ruins the elegance and portability of the HM1K altogether. Plus I didn't need or want the DAC and the dual timbre option (SS and Tube) was a novelty that I also didn't need so before the listening even begun, it had already lost many points.
When I did finally listen, I was relieved that the synergy just wasn't there. Yes, I heard the extra power but for some reason, the HM1K lost some of that special refinement that R2R DACs were known for and with that, so went the musicality and I did not enjoy it at all. I must admit that my assessment could very possibly have been skewed by the poor physical match, but fact is, it certainly did not impress me enough to overcome any bias I may have harbored.
With the A100TB, the revelation was quite serendipitous. I was so intent on listening to the Jewel that I forgot I even had it amping the HM1K throughout the audition. It was when I unplugged that A100TB at the end, then wanted to listen to another track I missed that I realised how much the HM1K was missing the A100TB! Ok ok, granted that the HM1K was never going to be able to drive the Jewel on its own, but I can say the difference was quite night and day. Additionally, as a bonus, the PS100 added even more enhancement, though incremental, to the experience.
If you didn't already know, both the Chimera and C9 cost more than double that of the A100TB. And even with the PS100 and the Aroma OCC Litz 4.4-to-4.4 interconnect thrown in, the package still cost less. All in all, to say I am very pleased is an understatement.
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