Again, guys, I apologize for the lack of choices... I wish I could accommodate everyone. Even though there are a lot of choices, I still think we'd find something interesting. For example, why is the HPA4 in the lead? Granted it's not a large sample size, but polls are fun nonetheless. Thanks for the responses guys, keep 'em comin!
Hi Stereo Skunk,
being one of the HPA4 owners, and having ordered the Utopia directly from France shortly after they were released (luckily because it took a lot of time after their release for them to be distributed where I live), I have owned the Utopia since about their release, I can share why I ended up with the HPA4. I have tried at home and mostly at my dealer a number of amps, but far from all (there are too many...), but especially some I enjoyed a lot, like the expensive Chord Dave DAC-amp.
For me, the HPA4 ended to be the best choice, globally, considering all factors, even if not the absolutely the best for each factor individually:
- First, high fidelity:
For electronic devices, where the output is entirely electrical, everything can be measured and perfectly quantified, the HPA4 has excellent results, among the best; some other amps are even more excellent, but at these levels of excellence, these differences are not the most important (BTW, as far as I know . the Dave was never measured at ASR, but I wouldn't be surprised if would top an excellent combination of DAC-> HPA4)
- Second, practical aspects:
I don't have much space on my desk, I want devices as small as possible and stackable, this is one of the reasons (besides its price) that prevented me from going for the Dave (I was often tempted into purchasing it, but it can't easily be stacked, it has the most unpractical shape, I never could see a way of fitting it in my study, it has an unpractical positioning of the volume knob, and so on). The HPA4 is rather compact. It has also a color touchscreen, and that color touchscreen is quite bigger than its competitors, making it so easy to use, I think it is the most user friendly of all amps I tried.
- Third, reliability.
There are some Chinese amp which are quite cheaper and perform better than the HPA4 (see ASR), but I saw on forums several person reporting issues with them in the long run. The HPA4 seemed the most "solid" of all amps I tried, and the Benchmark company has an excellent reputation re. the built quality of its products.
- Fourth, versatility.
I own a HE6se, which does require the power of the HPA4. Would I have ended purchasing a Susvara someday, I would still have the possibility of driving it with the HPA4 (I listen at low levels, the HPA4 was enough for me at my dealer for the Susvara; in the end it didn't matter as I ended up preferring the Shangri La Jr to the Susvara).
- Fifth:,financially.
While the HPA4 is already expensive, and much more so than the cheaper Chinese amps with even better performance, it is way much cheaper than a Chord Dave (the pricing of the Dave being something difficult to accept for my wife...).
When I combine all these aspects, the HPA4 is the clear winner for me.
Before the HPA4, I used to own the ifi iCan Pro (again purchased very shortly after their release, unfortunately without auditioning them), and at the very low levels at which I listen I could hear some noise with some headphones, I could luckily trade the iCan Pro in when buying the HPA4 ( I think it was less than a year ago). Strangely, what gave the fatal blow to the idea of buying one day in the future a Dave was auditioning the Dave + M-Scaler combination: while super-detailed, it made the sound feel too "thin", and biggest issue, at each track change I would hear a very annoying click sound, louder than my average (very low) music amplitude level, something the dealer was unable to solve. Then I knew I would never go for the M-Scaler and these issues were at the same time the definitive end of my "longing" for the Dave.
All the best, and enjoy your Utopia,
and don't forget to keep an eye on Focal's releases this year (now the Clear Mg has just been officially revealed...)
