[fradoca]

here's my new totally balanced amp :

-Constant Current Drive
-Full Balanced Design
-DC Coupled (no capacitors on audio path)
-Absolute flat frequency and phase response
-Ultra low noise and harmonic distortion
-Very fast transient response
-Monitoring system for Mastering purposes
-24-step precision volume control
-Designed for high-ohm headphones
-Toroidal Transformer
-Vishay components
-All pure silver internal wiring

totally conceived and built by Qes Labs in Italy.
this a reference monitoring system not just a balanced headphone amp.
A deep review will follow in the next days but from the first listening
test this is the closest thing to speakers i've ever listen to.
I'm former audio mastering engineer so my ears are trained.
Fantastic piece of hardware

 

[gbacic]

ewww, 3 pin xlr out

Other than that, that is one sexy amp

 

[wlvca]

Looking forward to your review, especially given your background.

Curious to see how your phones sound with it, particularly the Beyers.

What's the price range for this unit?

 

[KingStyles]

Looks interesting, but how much does it cost?

 

[Lil' Knight]

Looks nice from the outside. Not sure about the internal though. Don't know why they need a huge case for this.

 

[KingStyles]

Not to much to it. It couldnt be to expensive. I am guessing 500- 750.

 

[unl3a5h3d]

Any idea on a price point?

 

[KingStyles]

Just found the price. MSRP $790.
unknown hpba-2 Reviews

 

[Mehve]

Interesting, although those internals honestly gives me a few doubts on some areas. Definitely a minimalistic setup inside, with a lot of open space. Not to mention that the there's only a small row of cooling vents towards the back, with no visible inlets elsewhere, so hopefully this is an efficient setup that doesn't need to shed too much heat. Most balanced amps also offer a single-ended output as well, even if it's only using the V+ on each channel's side, which this doesn't seem to bother with. Those crowded and bent caps make me cringe - sure, they should work fine, but it's not like that PCB is lacking for available space. It'll be interesting to see this thing's price point. And it can be argued whether it's a "Dual-mono" with only one trafo.

Edit: $790 for all that? Meh, I'd need to see some better information before I ponyed up for that.

 

[Xan7hos]

wow...the internals were almost as disappointing as the internal of an RA-1

 

[vcoheda]

not quite on par with the beta22.

 

[XXII]

Strange that the volume control is a 2 channel DACT in a balanced amp. Don't you need a 4 channel attenuator in a balanced amp?

 

[fradoca]

this is a reference monitoring system not just an amp.
This piece of gear has been made for the pro audio world.
The signal must be the most neutral and transparent possible
with no coloration at all.The fact that the inside shows
few things means that the audio signal has to be the purest possible.
After all this has been build for mastering and QC purpose.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif not quite on par with the beta22.

 

[moodyrn]

Well for those who believe less is more, you can't get any "more" than this.

 

[spritzer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XXII /img/forum/go_quote.gif Strange that the volume control is a 2 channel DACT in a balanced amp. Don't you need a 4 channel attenuator in a balanced amp?

Yes, but you can use a shunt configuration to pull it off with only a 2-gang pot. I don't see any indication that this was used here but then again the pictures are crappy. The amp is self looks to be the same one chip affair used in cheap CDP players and that excessively expensive ALO pos.