Hirsch
Why is there a chaplain standing over his wallet?
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2001
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Both the HAP-03 and HAP-04 are actually products of Radii Audio in China. However, the HAP-03 was marketed in the US by Moretto Audio. The Moretto and Radii HAP-03 are the same amp (I've seen the schematics of both).
I'm posting some brief impressions, because I just received the HAP-04. This little device does two things. First, it reduces the output impedance of the HAP-03 so that it can drive low-impedance headphones. This is a big deal. Second, it allows you to drive headphones from the speaker outputs of a power amp. Versatile little device, and very convenient.
The HAP-03 connects to the HAP-04 by means of a cable with quarter inch stereo phone plugs at each end. This is not supplied. I'm using a Monster Superlink 500 from a Guitar Center near me, and it works fine.
In fact, the whole amp is working unbelievably fine. Tube complement is an RCA cleartop 12AU7 in front of Phillips Miniwatt SQ ECC88's. To date, I have only been able to use this amp with the HD-600. With the HAP-04, all that changes.
Late edit: They're really E88CC's.
Since it's late, I'll be quick. This amp is pure tube goodness. If you want to know what a 6DJ8 type really sounds like, this is your amp. Sound is clean but unbelievably liquid. Amazing that something this small and inexpensive sounds this good. The trade of for using the impedance matcher is gain. The HP-1, my least efficient headphone (K1000 excepted), can be driven to comfortable levels, but requires the full gain of the amp. It cannot be driven overly loud...but the sound is gorgeous. Very full, good bass, and a midrange that has to be heard. Just lovely. Although it takes some getting used to in order to run the volume all the way up, the HP-1 is the only one that could conceivably want more gain. All of my other headphones have gain to spare. Bass is a bit sloppy on the Sony CD3000. That headphone goes lower than any of my others, and the HAP combo simply runs out of gas. Another winner is the Audio Technica A100Ti. This amp simply drives this headphone well. Strong bass, although not as deep as the CD3000, good highs, and the amp covers any midrange weakness in the headphone. This is as good as I've heard this headphone sound...and I'm raising my opinion of it based on this. Final test was the Sony R10. In brief, this amp gets better bass out of the R10 than any others I've heard. This includes everything from Headroom Max to ZOTL to SHA-1. Couple that with the liquid midrange, and this amp is my current amp for the R10. I have nothing that can drive that headphone better.
I'm impressed. Very impressed. It's late, but maybe I have time for just one more disk...
I'm posting some brief impressions, because I just received the HAP-04. This little device does two things. First, it reduces the output impedance of the HAP-03 so that it can drive low-impedance headphones. This is a big deal. Second, it allows you to drive headphones from the speaker outputs of a power amp. Versatile little device, and very convenient.
The HAP-03 connects to the HAP-04 by means of a cable with quarter inch stereo phone plugs at each end. This is not supplied. I'm using a Monster Superlink 500 from a Guitar Center near me, and it works fine.
In fact, the whole amp is working unbelievably fine. Tube complement is an RCA cleartop 12AU7 in front of Phillips Miniwatt SQ ECC88's. To date, I have only been able to use this amp with the HD-600. With the HAP-04, all that changes.
Late edit: They're really E88CC's.
Since it's late, I'll be quick. This amp is pure tube goodness. If you want to know what a 6DJ8 type really sounds like, this is your amp. Sound is clean but unbelievably liquid. Amazing that something this small and inexpensive sounds this good. The trade of for using the impedance matcher is gain. The HP-1, my least efficient headphone (K1000 excepted), can be driven to comfortable levels, but requires the full gain of the amp. It cannot be driven overly loud...but the sound is gorgeous. Very full, good bass, and a midrange that has to be heard. Just lovely. Although it takes some getting used to in order to run the volume all the way up, the HP-1 is the only one that could conceivably want more gain. All of my other headphones have gain to spare. Bass is a bit sloppy on the Sony CD3000. That headphone goes lower than any of my others, and the HAP combo simply runs out of gas. Another winner is the Audio Technica A100Ti. This amp simply drives this headphone well. Strong bass, although not as deep as the CD3000, good highs, and the amp covers any midrange weakness in the headphone. This is as good as I've heard this headphone sound...and I'm raising my opinion of it based on this. Final test was the Sony R10. In brief, this amp gets better bass out of the R10 than any others I've heard. This includes everything from Headroom Max to ZOTL to SHA-1. Couple that with the liquid midrange, and this amp is my current amp for the R10. I have nothing that can drive that headphone better.
I'm impressed. Very impressed. It's late, but maybe I have time for just one more disk...
