[adiebear]

That's a crazy price swing! And at that price I would shop around, brand-wise.
I hear you about customs. I have speaker cables stuck there and, cos the the seller didn't specify "2nd hand", had to pay £57.17 on a £190 (incl courier) item.
It's the devil or the deep blue sea in South Africa as a lot of gear just isn't available here so, if you want it you have to import from somewhere- or often pay for huge markups. One can understand some of those markups, though the Oppo brand nearly died here as a result of dubious retailing.

 

[adiebear]

I should add there there's no consistency. Wharfedales were cheaper here than "at home" and I hear Scots buy Scottish whisky here to take home. Sorry for derailing this thread...

 

[plakat]

  About 10 minutes after I placed my order I thought to myself lets see if there's any reviews from other buyers. When I clicked "My Orders" and then clicked on the link to the HP-A8, I was shocked! Within like minutes of placing my order the price shot up to $1,404.35. That's over $500 compared to what I paid.
 
Talk about wild price swings!
 

 
Congratulations on your purchase, even more so in this case! Thats an amazing discount... and perfect timing

 

[HotHead]

Thanks, I was very surprised to see it had gone up that much after I placed my order. Glad I didn't hesitate when I found it at Amazon for that price. Funny thing, I almost ordered it through a Japan 3rd party seller on the Amazon.com USA site. For some reason the buy direct from Amazon option didn't show up at first. But then when I seen how long it would take to ship from Japan I highlighted the name of the item and right-clicked to search Google. Then, that's when I seen the Amazon link where it was being shipped and sold by Amazon (USA).
 
Online shopping, you've just gota embrace it and try to learn some tricks. Speaking of tricks, there was mention in this thread (Page 15, Post # 223) of how to save money by buying it from the actual Japan Amazon store. Going that route, I see I could have actually got this cheaper. But once you factor in shipping ($109 EMS was the estimate) and fees for the website that does the forwarding, and also possibly having to pay Customs/USPS fees when the package enters the USA, I figured after all said and done I'd have saved about $100 going that route. But buying it the Amazon Japan store way is a lot more complicated and takes much longer to ship vs. just ordering from the USA Amazon store. Just don't understand the huge price jump at the USA store so now it makes a lot more sense to go the Japan route. 
 
With my Prime member ship it's scheduled to be delivered tomorrow. And the best part? I have 30 days to try it out and if I don't want to keep it all I pay is return shipping back to Amazon (USA).
 
Here's the link to the info about how to buy it on Amazon.co.jp  http://www.head-fi.org/t/578167/fostex-hp-a8-dac-amp-and-other-fostex-gear/210#post_10332935
Oh, and by the way, you also have to take it apart and change the voltage if you order from Amazon.co.jp but it doesn't seem to be hard to do. Search this thread and you can find out how to change it.

 

[adiebear]

It's very easy.

 

[A_Man_Eating_Duck]

Actually the hardest part in changing the voltage is finding the correct security torx screwdriver to open the case.

 

[Robert777]

Audio heaven awaits.
I am considering connecting an old CD player rather than having to play through my computer.
 

 

[Whazzzup]

  Audio heaven awaits.
I am considering connecting an old CD player rather than having to play through my computer.
 

Enjoy, i use the a8 and chord hugo for my th900, the a8 brings out the V a bit in the 900, IMO. the 192 fr and 32 bit usb are just fine using 340 apple lossless. oops supposing you run Imac.

 

[Robert777]

  Enjoy, i use the a8 and chord hugo for my th900, the a8 brings out the V a bit in the 900, IMO. the 192 fr and 32 bit usb are just fine using 340 apple lossless. oops supposing you run Imac.

Thanks. This is my first desktop amp and the TH900's are my first top of the line headphones. I decided to dive right in to high end audio and I am loving what I am hearing so far.
I figured the HP-A8 had to be the best amp to pair with the TH900's but I am now curious about different pairings.

 

[Whazzzup]

 
Enjoy, i use the a8 and chord hugo for my th900, the a8 brings out the V a bit in the 900, IMO. the 192 fr and 32 bit usb are just fine using 340 apple lossless. oops supposing you run Imac.

Thanks. This is my first desktop amp and the TH900's are my first top of the line headphones. I decided to dive right in to high end audio and I am loving what I am hearing so far.
I figured the HP-A8 had to be the best amp to pair with the TH900's but I am now curious about different pairings.

Thus it starts, head Fi can be so good that it's so bad. You can try a local maker to you called chord....
I do understand though as this was my first pairing as well, you don't realize how good you did till you buy more...

 

[Robert777]

Thus it starts, head Fi can be so good that it's so bad. You can try a local maker to you called chord....
I do understand though as this was my first pairing as well, you don't realize how good you did till you buy more...

I am starting to understand that head-fi may be amazing for music enjoyment, but not so kind to your wallet.
The new Chord Hugo TT looks amazing but way out of my price range at the moment. My wife is already a little mad at me for spending as much as I did on the Fostex pairing.
I think I am going to lay low for a little while, enjoy listening to my music and try not to be tempted by anything.
I do have my eye on the HE-6 and may start to consider how well that will pair with the HP-A8.

 

[Whazzzup]

Thus it starts, head Fi can be so good that it's so bad. You can try a local maker to you called chord....

I do understand though as this was my first pairing as well, you don't realize how good you did till you buy more...

I am starting to understand that head-fi may be amazing for music enjoyment, but not so kind to your wallet.
The new Chord Hugo TT looks amazing but way out of my price range at the moment. My wife is already a little mad at me for spending as much as I did on the Fostex pairing.
I think I am going to lay low for a little while, enjoy listening to my music and try not to be tempted by anything.
I do have my eye on the HE-6 and may start to consider how well that will pair with the HP-A8.

One draw back to the a8 is power ratting of 700 mw granted the rating is not everything, there are considerations of power supply etc... But the he6 is one of those high watt 2-4 output demand cans. I have been told that lcd3, h800 etc are ok. But baby steps....

 

[Robert777]

One draw back to the a8 is power ratting of 700 mw granted the rating is not everything, there are considerations of power supply etc... But the he6 is one of those high watt 2-4 output demand cans. I have been told that lcd3, h800 etc are ok. But baby steps....

That's good to know, thank you. Baby steps indeed.

 

[mariowar]

My HP-A8 and TH900 has been my dream combo, to the point that I am not interested in trying anything else.
 
They were designed as a system, therefore, you can rest assure that they are indeed an excellent match.
 
Obviously, other amps and DAC would make the TH900s sound different, but not necessarily better. 
 
Everything that I throw at them even mp3 (320kbps)  sounds terrific (jazz, rock, classical).
 
Again, the HP-A8, might not be the best fit for other headphones, but with the amazing TH900, is a match hard to beat.

 

[Robert777]

  My HP-A8 and TH900 has been my dream combo, to the point that I am not interested in trying anything else.
 
They were designed as a system, therefore, you can rest assure that they are indeed an excellent match.
 
Obviously, other amps and DAC would make the TH900s sound different, but not necessarily better. 
 
Everything that I throw at them even mp3 (320kbps)  sounds terrific (jazz, rock, classical).
 
Again, the HP-A8, might not be the best fit for other headphones, but with the amazing TH900, is a match hard to beat.

I have been listening to this combo all day and I completely agree with you. Everything I throw at them, including low quality mp3's, sounds amazing.
Like it was mentioned earlier, I can't understand how good this sounds as I have nothing to compare it to.
I have been experimenting with different settings and I am currently using x4 up-sampling (I have a lot of mp3s from before I discovered head-fi), and I am using the minimum phase filter. I am using the XTAL internal clock setting but, according to the manual, is you listen via a USB input the internal clock is used regardless of the setting.