axle_69
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jun 5, 2009
- Posts
- 139
- Likes
- 58
There isn't much discussion about HD-AMP1 so I decided to give my two cents, this integrated amplifier was highly praised in some magazines but I was totally unimpressed at first. It has a switching power supply and a class D amplifier which will put off a lot of people, and with good reasons. However…
Connections - You can plug an iPhone (up to v6, a firmware update for compatibility with 7 or 8 would be welcomed) or iPod to the USB port in the front panel. It allows also to connect a memory stick or a hard drive and navigate to and play from folders but the screen is too small for this and in spite of the long list of compatible file formats may not play some of them because of the size of the artwork cover or something else. It accepts USB from a computer, Toslink and SPDIF in the back as well as analogue inputs. Enough connections to make everyone happy and those using a turntable will probably not consider this option anyway so the lack of a phono preamplifier isn’t a real issue.
DAC + headphone amplifier - USB input from Audirvana, output to Oppo PM-3 headphones. Compared with Chord Mojo, Mojo has better separation, is more detailed and the timbre seems more accurate, not much, much better but enough to notice the difference.
Headphone amplifier - Analog input from Mojo, output to Oppo PM-3 headphones. Almost like coming directly from the Mojo, some loss would be expected anyway due to the increased signal path but the headphone amplifier seems good.
DAC - USB output from Audirvana, to Yggdrasil Gen5 USB and then to the analogue input, or to the USB input to use the internal DAC, output to Oppo PM-3 headphones. There is a clear difference in timbre, more natural with the Yggdrasil, however there isn’t a huge difference in soundstage, instrument placing and detail, this doesn’t mean the internal DAC is as good as the Yggdrasil but instead that the headphone amplifier and/or the headphones aren’t good enough to reveal Yggdrasil’s capabilities.
Integrated amplifier - Connected to Sonus Faber Concerto Home speakers (6 Ohms nominal impedance, drops to 4 Ohms at 40 Hz, 200 Hz and 5 kHz, 88 dB/1 W/1 m sensitivity). It is rated at 35 W @ 8 Ohms and 70 W @ 4 Ohms (measurements in a German site report higher values), doesn’t seem like much but my 300B parallel single-ended triode with just 20 W @ 6 Ohms drives these speakers with authority and bass goes as low as the speaker allows.
The first impression was that the bass simply wasn’t there, but after a few hours things improved. Bass is there and is well controlled but doesn’t go as low as with my PSET.
Using the internal DAC or connecting a Chord Mojo or Schiit Yggdrasil to the analogue inputs doesn’t make a huge difference. There is a difference in timbre but not as much in terms of detail or 3D image. This seems to indicate that the internal DAC (at first one wonders why Marantz chose the ES9010K2M at the base of the SABRE family and not something in the Reference series) is almost as good as the amplifier is able to handle (in a Stax lambda system the differences between DACs are obvious).
Is it a keeper? It depends a lot on the objective, it’s a dead end in the sense there is no upgrade path to the audio Nirvana. Doesn’t have pre-amp outs, isn't revealing enough to even consider plugin a DAC like Yggdrasil, etc. However, the amplifier is actually much better than expected for the power rating and class D. At 649 GBP and 3 years warranty seems difficult to find something that ticks so many boxes, for more critical listening I can plugin the Chord Mojo to the analogue input and it's very enjoyable, to watch TV, play games or more casual listening either using the iPhone (front USB port, synchronous) or the laptop (rear USB-DAC port, asynchronous) the internal DAC is good enough and at night when finally everyone is sleeping I have the option of listening through headphones with a decent headphone amplifier. Yes, it's a keeper because Mojo saves the day, but no, it isn’t as good as some magazine reviews seem to imply, neither competes with integrated amplifiers several times its price (or with some power amplifiers at the same price). I'm tempted to say it's a balanced package but I wish the DAC was a bit better.
Connections - You can plug an iPhone (up to v6, a firmware update for compatibility with 7 or 8 would be welcomed) or iPod to the USB port in the front panel. It allows also to connect a memory stick or a hard drive and navigate to and play from folders but the screen is too small for this and in spite of the long list of compatible file formats may not play some of them because of the size of the artwork cover or something else. It accepts USB from a computer, Toslink and SPDIF in the back as well as analogue inputs. Enough connections to make everyone happy and those using a turntable will probably not consider this option anyway so the lack of a phono preamplifier isn’t a real issue.
DAC + headphone amplifier - USB input from Audirvana, output to Oppo PM-3 headphones. Compared with Chord Mojo, Mojo has better separation, is more detailed and the timbre seems more accurate, not much, much better but enough to notice the difference.
Headphone amplifier - Analog input from Mojo, output to Oppo PM-3 headphones. Almost like coming directly from the Mojo, some loss would be expected anyway due to the increased signal path but the headphone amplifier seems good.
DAC - USB output from Audirvana, to Yggdrasil Gen5 USB and then to the analogue input, or to the USB input to use the internal DAC, output to Oppo PM-3 headphones. There is a clear difference in timbre, more natural with the Yggdrasil, however there isn’t a huge difference in soundstage, instrument placing and detail, this doesn’t mean the internal DAC is as good as the Yggdrasil but instead that the headphone amplifier and/or the headphones aren’t good enough to reveal Yggdrasil’s capabilities.
Integrated amplifier - Connected to Sonus Faber Concerto Home speakers (6 Ohms nominal impedance, drops to 4 Ohms at 40 Hz, 200 Hz and 5 kHz, 88 dB/1 W/1 m sensitivity). It is rated at 35 W @ 8 Ohms and 70 W @ 4 Ohms (measurements in a German site report higher values), doesn’t seem like much but my 300B parallel single-ended triode with just 20 W @ 6 Ohms drives these speakers with authority and bass goes as low as the speaker allows.
The first impression was that the bass simply wasn’t there, but after a few hours things improved. Bass is there and is well controlled but doesn’t go as low as with my PSET.
Using the internal DAC or connecting a Chord Mojo or Schiit Yggdrasil to the analogue inputs doesn’t make a huge difference. There is a difference in timbre but not as much in terms of detail or 3D image. This seems to indicate that the internal DAC (at first one wonders why Marantz chose the ES9010K2M at the base of the SABRE family and not something in the Reference series) is almost as good as the amplifier is able to handle (in a Stax lambda system the differences between DACs are obvious).
Is it a keeper? It depends a lot on the objective, it’s a dead end in the sense there is no upgrade path to the audio Nirvana. Doesn’t have pre-amp outs, isn't revealing enough to even consider plugin a DAC like Yggdrasil, etc. However, the amplifier is actually much better than expected for the power rating and class D. At 649 GBP and 3 years warranty seems difficult to find something that ticks so many boxes, for more critical listening I can plugin the Chord Mojo to the analogue input and it's very enjoyable, to watch TV, play games or more casual listening either using the iPhone (front USB port, synchronous) or the laptop (rear USB-DAC port, asynchronous) the internal DAC is good enough and at night when finally everyone is sleeping I have the option of listening through headphones with a decent headphone amplifier. Yes, it's a keeper because Mojo saves the day, but no, it isn’t as good as some magazine reviews seem to imply, neither competes with integrated amplifiers several times its price (or with some power amplifiers at the same price). I'm tempted to say it's a balanced package but I wish the DAC was a bit better.
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