Passingthrough
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2010
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I was asked in another thread to report how I liked the Project Sunrise II ($250) headphone amp and to compare to the Bellari HA-540 ($300) amp.
I have had the Bellari for a while and wanted to try the Sunrise II after hearing about it on some other forums. I also appreciate that the Sunrise designer is very analytical in his focus, conducting performance tests and publishing the charts for the amp. I know there is some irony in wanting an amp with a tube in it to have low distortion numbers, etc., but my feeling is that I should be the only one allowed to inject harmonics or distortion via my choice of tube.
About the Amps
Packaging & Presentation
Both very basic like you’d expect in this price range. An amp in a box. In terms of product documentation, the Bellari has one sheet of text which is adequate because there’s not much to say. The Sunrise II has a 7 page color guide with graphical call-outs to illustrate the configurable options plus a page listing about 75 compatible tube type ID’s. There are another 9 pages labeled “Assembly Guide” that were not applicable for me since I bought it built from the amp designer’s company.
Aesthetics
This is completely subjective of course. I would normally prefer a closed case, but in this case I do think the Sunrise open air chassis looks better in comparison and has better build quality. My specific Bellari has powdercoated labels that are misaligned and IMO it’s pretty plain looking. The thick acrylic case on the Sunrise is laser cut and does not look cheap like I thought it might. The tolerances on it are pretty impressive actually (the large power caps *just* fit into their cutouts with no room for variance). One clear nod to the Sunrise is the knurled aluminum potentiometer.
Operation
The Bellari is a black box, literally and figuratively. You plug it in, connect a source and headphones, and music comes out.
As the feature list above shows, the Sunrise has additional options and is designed to be somewhat configurable to best match your headphones and preferences. Some of these configuration options allow it to work with a huge number of tubes, making it a veritable tube-rolling machine.
To begin using the Sunrise, you must first bias the amp. I believe the HA540 likely has an auto-bias circuit for its 12V tube. Setting the bias on the Sunrise is pretty easy to do without a multimeter using clever onboard LED’s that indicate either High or Low bias for each channel. Turn a trimmer using small screwdriver (there are small cutouts in the case top to access these) to either raise or lower the bias until the LED goes out, which tells you that your amp is now dialed in. I mistakenly assumed this was optional so emailed Sunrise when a couple of tubes I tried would not work in the unit, and was informed that the Sunrise’s protection circuit won’t allow the amp to run if the bias is too far out of range (BTW, I heard back from support very quickly – even thought it was a Saturday afternoon). After adjusting the amp’s bias after each tube change, it was smooth sailing.
You must also set the voltage depending on the type of tube you’re using – either 6V or 12V. Getting it wrong won’t hurt anything but you’ll get no sound.
Optionally, you can also change the output impedance from 5 Ohm to 68 Ohm and move a jumper to bypass the input capacitors.
Finally, after turning on the Sunrise there is a mandatory lesson on the virtue of patience as there’s a 15 second delay until the protection circuit does its thing and sound makes it through.
Sound Quality (aka “What Actually Matters”)
The Setup:
For my comparison testing I tried to keep everything constant: same source (FLAC from the non-tube line out of a TubeDac-11), same tube (I used my favorite tube from my earlier Bellari tube rolling: a 1960 Siemens 12AT7), same headphones (AKG Q701).
My Sunrise configuration was 5 Ohm output impedance and bypassed input caps. I went with the low output impedance because my Q701’s are only 60 Ohm and I believe it’s generally best if the amp impedance is significantly less than the headphone to ensure adequate damping and control (side note: there’s a good article about this on the Objective O2 guy’s blog).
My Expected Result:
My initial guess was that most likely I wouldn’t be able to hear much of a difference between the two amps when using the same tube, thinking the tube’s sound would prevail over differences between the amps . I imagined having to get my wife to do swaps between them while I wasn’t looking to even be sure I could tell a difference.
My Actual Result:
It turns out that my expected result was wrong – I found it pretty easy to tell the amps apart.
To cut to the chase, from the first track I was shaking my head in disbelief at how good the Sunrise sounded. The HA540 sounds fine in my system and if I didn’t have the Sunrise I would be content listening to it. But I found the Sunrise to be a step up, with more clarity and separation, and a larger soundstage. I guess I’d describe the Sunrise as more engaging, sounding more three dimensional and the HA540 as sounding a bit more flat.
I’m not a fan of reviews with a long list of “impressions per song” but I will give one example. A track I used is one I also used as a reference for tube rolling on the Bellari so I know it well (a Cowboy Junkies live recording). When I first heard it on the Sunrise I was shocked to realize I just heard some guy coughing off to stage left (on the HA540 this was more muddled with the drum riff) and later when Margo does something funny on stage, the ripple of laughter through the audience is noticeably more clear and distinct.
Bottom line is that the Sunrise II is a really well designed little amp that sounds fantastic in my setup.
Happy Listening!
(edited chart above to add info from another headfier that the HA540 probably has an auto-biasing circuit since it runs just 12V - a nice convenience over the Sunrise)
I have had the Bellari for a while and wanted to try the Sunrise II after hearing about it on some other forums. I also appreciate that the Sunrise designer is very analytical in his focus, conducting performance tests and publishing the charts for the amp. I know there is some irony in wanting an amp with a tube in it to have low distortion numbers, etc., but my feeling is that I should be the only one allowed to inject harmonics or distortion via my choice of tube.
About the Amps
| Design Similarities |
| · Single ended Class A amp · Zero feedback · OTL · Use a single dual triode tube (12AX7 et al) |
| Specs | Sunrise II | HA540 |
| Headphone Impedance: | 32 Ohms – 300 Ohms | 16 Ohms – 2000 Ohms |
| Output Impedance: | 5 Ohm or 68 Ohm (Selectable) | 16 Ohm |
| Frequency Response: | 10Hz – 150KHz (-0.5dB) w/ 32 Ohm load | 5Hz – 30kHz |
| Power Supply: | 24VDC (0.55A cont, 0.8A peak) | 15VDC (0.2A) |
| Max Power Output: | Up to 900mW (32 Ohm headphones, 5 Ohm output resistance) | Up to 500 mW (@16 Ohms) |
| THD: | > 0.013% (dependent on tube) | 0.05% @ 1kHz |
| Stock Tube: | Reflector 6N23P (Russia) | Ruby 12AX7 (China) |
| | Sunrise II | HA540 |
| Features: (Not Shared By The Other Amp) |
|
|
Packaging & Presentation
Both very basic like you’d expect in this price range. An amp in a box. In terms of product documentation, the Bellari has one sheet of text which is adequate because there’s not much to say. The Sunrise II has a 7 page color guide with graphical call-outs to illustrate the configurable options plus a page listing about 75 compatible tube type ID’s. There are another 9 pages labeled “Assembly Guide” that were not applicable for me since I bought it built from the amp designer’s company.
Aesthetics
This is completely subjective of course. I would normally prefer a closed case, but in this case I do think the Sunrise open air chassis looks better in comparison and has better build quality. My specific Bellari has powdercoated labels that are misaligned and IMO it’s pretty plain looking. The thick acrylic case on the Sunrise is laser cut and does not look cheap like I thought it might. The tolerances on it are pretty impressive actually (the large power caps *just* fit into their cutouts with no room for variance). One clear nod to the Sunrise is the knurled aluminum potentiometer.
Operation
The Bellari is a black box, literally and figuratively. You plug it in, connect a source and headphones, and music comes out.
As the feature list above shows, the Sunrise has additional options and is designed to be somewhat configurable to best match your headphones and preferences. Some of these configuration options allow it to work with a huge number of tubes, making it a veritable tube-rolling machine.
To begin using the Sunrise, you must first bias the amp. I believe the HA540 likely has an auto-bias circuit for its 12V tube. Setting the bias on the Sunrise is pretty easy to do without a multimeter using clever onboard LED’s that indicate either High or Low bias for each channel. Turn a trimmer using small screwdriver (there are small cutouts in the case top to access these) to either raise or lower the bias until the LED goes out, which tells you that your amp is now dialed in. I mistakenly assumed this was optional so emailed Sunrise when a couple of tubes I tried would not work in the unit, and was informed that the Sunrise’s protection circuit won’t allow the amp to run if the bias is too far out of range (BTW, I heard back from support very quickly – even thought it was a Saturday afternoon). After adjusting the amp’s bias after each tube change, it was smooth sailing.
You must also set the voltage depending on the type of tube you’re using – either 6V or 12V. Getting it wrong won’t hurt anything but you’ll get no sound.
Optionally, you can also change the output impedance from 5 Ohm to 68 Ohm and move a jumper to bypass the input capacitors.
Finally, after turning on the Sunrise there is a mandatory lesson on the virtue of patience as there’s a 15 second delay until the protection circuit does its thing and sound makes it through.
Sound Quality (aka “What Actually Matters”)
The Setup:
For my comparison testing I tried to keep everything constant: same source (FLAC from the non-tube line out of a TubeDac-11), same tube (I used my favorite tube from my earlier Bellari tube rolling: a 1960 Siemens 12AT7), same headphones (AKG Q701).
My Sunrise configuration was 5 Ohm output impedance and bypassed input caps. I went with the low output impedance because my Q701’s are only 60 Ohm and I believe it’s generally best if the amp impedance is significantly less than the headphone to ensure adequate damping and control (side note: there’s a good article about this on the Objective O2 guy’s blog).
My Expected Result:
My initial guess was that most likely I wouldn’t be able to hear much of a difference between the two amps when using the same tube, thinking the tube’s sound would prevail over differences between the amps . I imagined having to get my wife to do swaps between them while I wasn’t looking to even be sure I could tell a difference.
My Actual Result:
It turns out that my expected result was wrong – I found it pretty easy to tell the amps apart.
To cut to the chase, from the first track I was shaking my head in disbelief at how good the Sunrise sounded. The HA540 sounds fine in my system and if I didn’t have the Sunrise I would be content listening to it. But I found the Sunrise to be a step up, with more clarity and separation, and a larger soundstage. I guess I’d describe the Sunrise as more engaging, sounding more three dimensional and the HA540 as sounding a bit more flat.
I’m not a fan of reviews with a long list of “impressions per song” but I will give one example. A track I used is one I also used as a reference for tube rolling on the Bellari so I know it well (a Cowboy Junkies live recording). When I first heard it on the Sunrise I was shocked to realize I just heard some guy coughing off to stage left (on the HA540 this was more muddled with the drum riff) and later when Margo does something funny on stage, the ripple of laughter through the audience is noticeably more clear and distinct.
Bottom line is that the Sunrise II is a really well designed little amp that sounds fantastic in my setup.
Happy Listening!
(edited chart above to add info from another headfier that the HA540 probably has an auto-biasing circuit since it runs just 12V - a nice convenience over the Sunrise)
