[Whitigir]

Have you looked at active speakers? They'd simplify your setup and take the guesswork out of power amp pairing.

A reason why I don't like active speaker is 0 ability to pair with different amps for the optimized quality. Good advise though as it is simple and affective

 

[Xyrium]

 
Oh wow actually this looks like a pretty good fit for me. Thanks! But see, now I wanna wait for the Schiit Vidar O_O

 
The only issue I have with the Vidar is that it's quoted into 8ohms only, with no capacitors in the power supply. Hopefully that doesn't indicate instability into 4ohms.
 

In that price class, I think it's going to be challenging finding an appropriate balanced amp. You should be spending a lot more of your budget on your speakers than on your amp, so that means you'd be looking at amps in a price range that doesn't include any balanced models. The Schiit and Parasound, etc., would all be overkill for those speakers.

 
I agree that they may be overkill for his current speakers, but it makes his setup fairly future-proof. Should he decide on more challenging speakers in the future, the A23 can easily handle them.
 

  Have you looked at active speakers? They'd simplify your setup and take the guesswork out of power amp pairing.

 
Great suggestion IMO. I ran Focal Solo6be's on my HA1, and was very pleased.

 

[trappedintime]

I've run my Parasound Halo A21 (A23's big brother) and paired with speakers that are slightly on the warm side using the HA-1 as a preamp, I've had fantastic results. Currently I have an HA-1 with the Parasound Classic 275 v2, and my other is running a Linn AV 2515 in my bedroom rig. With the A21 I was using XLR connections, but in these current setups the HA-1 is running over RCA interconnects. I've run 4ohm and 8ohm speakers from 100-200w each and had great results. I think any musical amp you pair with it will produce good results.
 
There are certainly more revealing preamps out there, but even with analog the sound quality was impressive IMO.

 

[musickid]

New to ha1 but heard the pm1 combo today as a newish person to the area the sound was sublime. one simple question it is a balanced headphone amp. if i used a balanced cable with the pm1 along side a usb input from my imac is that all i need to do for a full balanced sound. the reason i ask is that there are analogue inputs and i have read that you need balanced input from dac or other source to get full balanced sound. im hoping as oppo say the signal is balanced internally or somin so this point is not a problem. many thanks to all. (ie with a usb input not using balanced input from another source i will get the full balanced sound capability of the ha1 with balanced cables on pm1???)

 

[trappedintime]

New to ha1 but heard the pm1 combo today as a newish person to the area the sound was sublime. one simple question it is a balanced headphone amp. if i used a balanced cable with the pm1 along side a usb input from my imac is that all i need to do for a full balanced sound. the reason i ask is that there are analogue inputs and i have read that you need balanced input from dac or other source to get full balanced sound. im hoping as oppo say the signal is balanced internally or somin so this point is not a problem. many thanks to all. (ie with a usb input not using balanced input from another source i will get the full balanced sound capability of the ha1 with balanced cables on pm1???)

It's a fully balanced design. There's XLR inputs and outputs, so you can hook up any balanced component with those, but the DAC is built in and it's completely balanced from the point the digital becomes analog to the outputs. It's why a lot of people love the HA-1. You can pair it with some excellent DAC's, stereo amps or headphone amps if you want to only use the DAC for headphone listening.

 

[musickid]

What difference does adding a balanced oppo cable to the pm1 make when listening with the ha1? oppo say more voltage output much louder etc etc but is the balanced cable worth the extra money. i would love to know what the difference in sound quality really is here from anyone. many thanks

 

[Whitigir]

What difference does adding a balanced oppo cable to the pm1 make when listening with the ha1? oppo say more voltage output much louder etc etc but is the balanced cable worth the extra money. i would love to know what the difference in sound quality really is here from anyone. many thanks

Speaking from my own experiences using Z1R as a references point. The finesses, micro scoping details, depth, energies, and soundstage are all presented better in XLR vs single ended. The most obvious points are

1/ more forward vocal and vocal extensions
2/ more bass control, deeper and more vivid sub-bass and better bass layering
3/ better instruments separations overall
4/ better placements and positioning, panning and titling presentations in the sound of field
5/ more holographical images
6/ darker background
7/ better treble layering, resolutions and extensions

Those are the most obvious, but it may varies depends on your own personal experiences. I wouldn't use ha-1 without the XLR balanced, ever again.....like ever....ever....never....ever....even with easy to drive headphones .

So good and addictive that I converted Z1R single ended cables into XLR

 

[musickid]

HELLO TO ALL,

I recently auditioned a oppo ha1/pm1 and it was quite stunning. i do use tidal hifi as my main source and have heard they will introduce mqa soon. im looking for an end game system. does the fact the oppo does not include mqa really make such a big deal.  the new brooklyn dac can handle mqa but the pm1 is sublime. many thanks

 

[polecrab]

[COLOR=333333]HELLO TO ALL,[/COLOR][COLOR=333333]
[/COLOR][COLOR=333333]
[/COLOR][COLOR=333333]I recently auditioned a oppo ha1/pm1 and it was quite stunning. i do use tidal hifi as my main source and have heard they will introduce mqa soon. im looking for an end game system. does the fact the oppo does not include mqa really make such a big deal.  the new brooklyn dac can handle mqa but the pm1 is sublime. many thanks[/COLOR]

This guy has some interesting things to say about MQA. In summary, don't worry about it.

http://archimago.blogspot.ca/2016/10/musings-keeping-it-simple-mqa-is-codec.html

 

[Whitigir]

I would only worry about DSD capability. When Sony do it with their dedicated R&D, no one beats them at it .

 

[musickid]

I did read the article on mqa very interesting. the market seems divided. however tidal hifi is my main source for cd quality and it looks they may go mqa soon. if i went for the ha1 would buying a small meridian explorer2 dac for 200 which is mqa capable and can easily be connected to the ha1 cover me for all eventualities? is it normal to add an external dac to the ha1. however the oppo already has a excellent sabre dac in it so would it be pointless? many thanks. my other option is the brooklyn dac at 1700 pounds but that means passing on the pm1's as my budget won't allow such premium cans if i buy the brooklyn. with the brooklyn the headphone budget goes to half of the oppo ha1/pm1 combo. im really not sure which way would be the best as i plan to do this in the new year. i wonder also if adding an external dac whilst using a balanced headphone with the ha1 compromises the balanced nature of the oppo.

 

[polecrab]

I did read the article on mqa very interesting. the market seems divided. however tidal hifi is my main source for cd quality and it looks they may go mqa soon. if i went for the ha1 would buying a small meridian explorer2 dac for 200 which is mqa capable and can easily be connected to the ha1 cover me for all eventualities? is it normal to add an external dac to the ha1. however the oppo already has a excellent sabre dac in it so would it be pointless? many thanks. my other option is the brooklyn dac at 1700 pounds but that means passing on the pm1's as my budget won't allow such premium cans if i buy the brooklyn. with the brooklyn the headphone budget goes to half of the oppo ha1/pm1 combo. im really not sure which way would be the best as i plan to do this in the new year. i wonder also if adding an external dac whilst using a balanced headphone with the ha1 compromises the balanced nature of the oppo.

Sounds like you're really intrigued by MQA. In that case, I would just get the Explorer2 and PM1 and be done with it. There's no point in getting the HA1 too, since whatever subtle benefits you get from MQA would probably be negated by adding all those extra unnecessary analog stages. The PM1 doesn't even need an amp, so I'm convinced that the Mytek would be overkill, and the HA1 would probably be overkill too.

 

[musickid]

The pm1 would be for the ha1 not the mytek. i listened to the pm1/ha1 and they really are a lovely pair definitely designed for each other. with a low impedence planar headphone what makes it work so well with the ha1 from a technical viewpoint? the ha1 is powerful but even at very loud levels with the pm1 it was crystal clear no hint of distortion at all. the sales guy told me alot of that was due to a digital volume control on the ha1.

 

[polecrab]

The pm1 would be for the ha1 not the mytek. i listened to the pm1/ha1 and they really are a lovely pair definitely designed for each other. with a low impedence planar headphone what makes it work so well with the ha1 from a technical viewpoint? the ha1 is powerful but even at very loud levels with the pm1 it was crystal clear no hint of distortion at all. the sales guy told me alot of that was due to a digital volume control on the ha1.

Why wouldn't the PM1 work well with the Explorer2 also? I've only heard the PM3, but I've read lots of users saying it doesn't even need an amp. These Oppo headphones are designed to be easy to drive and work well in a lot of different situations, in contrast with other planar magnetics that may be picky about amplification. I'm not sure what that sales person was telling you because the HA1 actually has an analog volume control, and that wouldn't have much effect on the sound, just usability, unless it was a poor volume control that added noise/distortion or channel imbalance.

Edit: I bet the Explorer2 has a digital volume control that has good channel balance and doesn't lose bits at low volume. With the Mytek, you probably want to use the lowest gain setting if it has one.

 

[musickid]

"At the same time, the convenience of modern digital volume control is not lost -"   this line is from the oppo ha1 website. the sales assistant seems right here that a digital volume control stops any distortion no matter how high the volume. i would find it hard to believe that the explorer could not drive the pm1 but i bet it would be on highest volume to get a decent signal. such a small thing wasn't made for planars no matter how efficient the cans. anyway putting all that jargon to one side i still have a dilemna. tidal is my main source for hifi lossless. if i get the ha1 and tidal go mqa i loose out. if i buy the brooklyn dac i get a small box no  pm1 cans but i get mqa ready dac. both sound great. any help? the gain was high when i listened to pm1/ha1 in shop. it sounded crystal clear. does that mean even though its a planar with only around 40 impedence the ha1 still needs to be on high gain to power them.