Whenesday
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2008
- Posts
- 35
- Likes
- 13
Review of the Head-Direct EF1
Do note that this is my first review in Head-fi, originally posted in Jaben Forums here: Head Direct EF1 [Review]
I've been lusting for my very own tube amplifier after hearing other people's, like the Yamamoto HA-02 and the Little Dot MKIV SE. After much consideration and the tempting price of the sale at Head-Direct, I've finally brought the EF1 home, potentially the first to arrive in Singapore!
I've received my EF1 5 days after ordering. The components inside the parcel are very tightly wrapped individually with layers of thin foam.
The three components consists of the 220v AC Adaptor, the Conn-branded Sylvania tube, and the unit itself.
The EF1 is a small hybrid amp, utilizing both 12AU7 tube and op-amp. The chassis is thick dark-coloured metal, with a matching volume knob. The size of the knob is ideal, but the lack of contrasting colour in the indentation of the knob ‘pointer’ means you have to strain your eyes to visually know how high the volume is. A future fix for this is to manually apply white paint into the indentation.
It has a blue LED inside as the power indicator, but its stuffed all the way in the interior near to the front panel and not underneath the clear top cover, hence you can’t see it directly from the top, but only from the reflection from the heat sink from an angle. Too bad the interior is not illuminiated by the blue LED like the Audio Technica HA20, which emits a cool blue glow of the interior.
It uses RCA inputs, and a ¼ inch headphone jack for output. A pity it doesn’t have a output RCA like my Audio Technica HA20, which allows me to connect to my speakers and listen to speakers without swapping cables and switching on the HA20 amp.
The whole chassis gets very hot to touch after running it for a couple of hours, halfway towards scalding. And yes, it includes the volume knob.
With my Denon stock D5000 and the default Sylvania tube, I can’t hear the noise floor, no tube hum as well. Sound-wise, it couldn’t be better. EF1 is MADE for the Denons to my ears. The clarity is so clean and clear, providing so many details not heard before. Plenty of deep, yet tight bass and full-bodied sound. All of these which what I’ve been looking for exactly, as Novo is being too neutral and clean for my taste.
It performs very well with my other headphones like the JVC RX700 and the Audio Technica ES7. Noteworthy is that the ES7 gets very aggressive-sounding with it, totally surprised me when I heard heavy rock with it.
The bottom line: It works fabulously well with low-impedance headphones, especially with the Denons. At this price point, its stunningly good.
Will update my review when my Mullard ships here as well (Seems that dwong has let it go after winning the bid) and hopefully winning the Amperex Bugle Boy as well.
EF1 Setup for reference is: PC -> Zero Dac -> EF1
Do note that this is my first review in Head-fi, originally posted in Jaben Forums here: Head Direct EF1 [Review]
I've been lusting for my very own tube amplifier after hearing other people's, like the Yamamoto HA-02 and the Little Dot MKIV SE. After much consideration and the tempting price of the sale at Head-Direct, I've finally brought the EF1 home, potentially the first to arrive in Singapore!
I've received my EF1 5 days after ordering. The components inside the parcel are very tightly wrapped individually with layers of thin foam.
The three components consists of the 220v AC Adaptor, the Conn-branded Sylvania tube, and the unit itself.
The EF1 is a small hybrid amp, utilizing both 12AU7 tube and op-amp. The chassis is thick dark-coloured metal, with a matching volume knob. The size of the knob is ideal, but the lack of contrasting colour in the indentation of the knob ‘pointer’ means you have to strain your eyes to visually know how high the volume is. A future fix for this is to manually apply white paint into the indentation.
It has a blue LED inside as the power indicator, but its stuffed all the way in the interior near to the front panel and not underneath the clear top cover, hence you can’t see it directly from the top, but only from the reflection from the heat sink from an angle. Too bad the interior is not illuminiated by the blue LED like the Audio Technica HA20, which emits a cool blue glow of the interior.
It uses RCA inputs, and a ¼ inch headphone jack for output. A pity it doesn’t have a output RCA like my Audio Technica HA20, which allows me to connect to my speakers and listen to speakers without swapping cables and switching on the HA20 amp.
The whole chassis gets very hot to touch after running it for a couple of hours, halfway towards scalding. And yes, it includes the volume knob.
With my Denon stock D5000 and the default Sylvania tube, I can’t hear the noise floor, no tube hum as well. Sound-wise, it couldn’t be better. EF1 is MADE for the Denons to my ears. The clarity is so clean and clear, providing so many details not heard before. Plenty of deep, yet tight bass and full-bodied sound. All of these which what I’ve been looking for exactly, as Novo is being too neutral and clean for my taste.
It performs very well with my other headphones like the JVC RX700 and the Audio Technica ES7. Noteworthy is that the ES7 gets very aggressive-sounding with it, totally surprised me when I heard heavy rock with it.
The bottom line: It works fabulously well with low-impedance headphones, especially with the Denons. At this price point, its stunningly good.
Will update my review when my Mullard ships here as well (Seems that dwong has let it go after winning the bid) and hopefully winning the Amperex Bugle Boy as well.
EF1 Setup for reference is: PC -> Zero Dac -> EF1
