[TJ Max]

I currently have a Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Gen and Teac HA-501. The HA-501 is rated 135mW at 600ohm. Some people have said that its still not powerful enough to power the T1. So I was wondering how does the HA-501 compare to the A20?

 

[plakat]

  I currently have a Beyerdynamic T1 2nd Gen and Teac HA-501. The HA-501 is rated 135mW at 600ohm. Some people have said that its still not powerful enough to power the T1. So I was wondering how does the HA-501 compare to the A20?

Don't overestimate power requirements... T1.2 is stated as '300mW nominal power input', 135mW therefore is about 3dB less SPL -- nothing to care about as the T1 outputs 126dB with 300mW input at 500Hz, giving you permanent hearing damage. So no need to upgrade purely from a technical standpoint.
 
Soundwise I can't say anything about the HA-501, but looking through the product description it looks like a competent amp with a nice internal design (they even have a picture with a T1 in there...) and its switchable damping factor makes it more versatile than the A20 with fixed 100Ohm output impedance.
 
http://www.teac.com/product/ha-501/

 

[mkrzych]

 
Don't overestimate power requirements... T1.2 is stated as '300mW nominal power input', 135mW therefore is about 3dB less SPL -- nothing to care about as the T1 outputs 126dB with 300mW input at 500Hz, giving you permanent hearing damage. So no need to upgrade purely from a technical standpoint.
 
Soundwise I can't say anything about the HA-501, but looking through the product description it looks like a competent amp with a nice internal design (they even have a picture with a T1 in there...) and its switchable damping factor makes it more versatile than the A20 with fixed 100Ohm output impedance.
 
http://www.teac.com/product/ha-501/

Hello plakat,
Slightly off topic, do you still have G103? I've paired it with my T90 recently with very pleasant result.

 

[plakat]

  Hello plakat,
Slightly off topic, do you still have G103? I've paired it with my T90 recently with very pleasant result.

I once owned the G109, its bigger brother. But that was quite some time ago... still I can imagine it pairing well with the T90 as all Lake People amps I've heard so far (including the models sold under the Violectric brand) have a slight warmness to them. I guess the G103 is no exception to that, and should complement the T90 nicely.

 

[cheznous]

I am currently listening to my ZX2 digital out to Chord Hugo and line out to the A20 and it sounds mighty fine.
The ZX2 line out to A20 sounds pretty good but is a little underpowered at times.
Listening is mainly with Audeze LCD X.

 

[breizh]

Hi,
 
I also own the Teac and the T1 (1st gen).
While the Teac can drive it to sufficient level (sometimes you need to turn the volume quite high), I feel that it struggles to give size and dynamics to the sound.
The Teac is very good with other cans I own, such as Philips fidelio X2, AKG K550 and Beyer DT880, but with the T1 I don't think it's the best pairing.
 
Now I also own a tube amp (Icon audio hp8 mkII) which is much much easier with the T1, delivering much more power for its 600 ohms, and making it sing a lot more. I have really discovered the skills of the T1 with this amp.
 
So, always a matter of headphones / amp synergy...
 
hope this helps.

 

[cheznous]

  Hi,
 
I also own the Teac and the T1 (1st gen).
While the Teac can drive it to sufficient level (sometimes you need to turn the volume quite high), I feel that it struggles to give size and dynamics to the sound.
The Teac is very good with other cans I own, such as Philips fidelio X2, AKG K550 and Beyer DT880, but with the T1 I don't think it's the best pairing.
 
Now I also own a tube amp (Icon audio hp8 mkII) which is much much easier with the T1, delivering much more power for its 600 ohms, and making it sing a lot more. I have really discovered the skills of the T1 with this amp.
 
So, always a matter of headphones / amp synergy...
 
hope this helps.

Interesting that I also bought the Icon HP8 mk II just last week and it does have a lot more power than the A20.
Though the A20 sounds very good it is a little underpowered in some cases.

 

[plakat]

  Though the A20 sounds very good it is a little underpowered in some cases.

 
For the T1? I don't think so... does your source deliver enough input level?

 

[cheznous]

For the T1? I don't think so... does your source deliver enough input level?

No for Audeze not T1.
I really like the amp and note your comment on source but it is lacking in power at times.

 

[plakat]

No for Audeze not T1.
I really like the amp and note your comment on source but it is lacking in power at times.

OK, thats a whole other story... the A20 is definitely not built for rather power hungry planars. Plus its 100Ohm output impedance might not play well with 50Ohm headphones, too much of its output power gets lost that way.

 

[elfkerben]

If you pair the A20 with the Fostex TH600 you have the bass-feeling from the TH900. Normaly i only use the T1 (1st) with it, but sometimes the TH600 gives the right feeling. In the night my wife doesn't like open or half-open HPs, so this is the time for closed ones.

 

[TJ Max]

  Hi,
 
I also own the Teac and the T1 (1st gen).
While the Teac can drive it to sufficient level (sometimes you need to turn the volume quite high), I feel that it struggles to give size and dynamics to the sound.
The Teac is very good with other cans I own, such as Philips fidelio X2, AKG K550 and Beyer DT880, but with the T1 I don't think it's the best pairing.
 
Now I also own a tube amp (Icon audio hp8 mkII) which is much much easier with the T1, delivering much more power for its 600 ohms, and making it sing a lot more. I have really discovered the skills of the T1 with this amp.
 
So, always a matter of headphones / amp synergy...
 
hope this helps.

 
 
Have you had a chance to compare 2nd Gen T1 with the Teac amp?

 

[breizh]

   
 
Have you had a chance to compare 2nd Gen T1 with the Teac amp?

Unfortunately not - I would love to try sooooo many headphones with my amps

 

[OctavianH]

Has anyone tried the A20 with Beyerdynamic T5p? (32Ohm portable version of T1). How is the sound signature? I am thinking to pair an audio-gd NFB-11 with this amp for those headphones and I am curios about other's opinion about this.

 

[Synthax]

What do you think about using two outputs simultanously to make a headphones balanced? I mean each jack output to each cup of headphones?