[sovereignty68]

Ordered mine from Factory Outlet Store for $700. I hope I will receive it by Friday.

 

[Wil]

Bump for interest with the HD800.
 
I wanted to get the 501, but couldn't resist a Lehmann BCL that was going for 500 USD used.
 
But i may be still tempted to get the 501 to see how it pairs with my HD800 and LCD2.2...the damping option looks very interesting indeed.

 

[Stereo Hiend]

Hi guys,

I would like to know if a friend know teac ud501 fuses specifications ?

Because I intend to upgrade the stock fuses in it with hifi tuning supreme fuses as well.

Thanks and Best regards,

Stereo Hiend

 

[Andy40s]

I was looking for a new pair of headphones a couple of weeks ago and didn't immediately do a 'Google' and take account of all the dubious opinions available as many areas of the internet do not match the quality of discussion and considered opinion found here. (I have looked widely in the last fortnight!)
So it was a trip to the local, serious, quality, hifi shop, and the result was HD650, for SQ and comfort. I tried a wide range of amplifiers also as that may have been my next purchase in the hifi ladder, and none of them sounded bad with the 650s, and then revelation! The salesman said why not try the HA-501 it's a step up on most headphone amps, never mind built in headphone stages. 
Awesome! A completely different quality, smooth but not veiled, so much detail that every track sounds better than ever before. I think the amp may still be getting better as it burns in as well, but I am enjoying it so much that I am far too tempted to just sit back and be immersed in the musicality rather than try to be critical of any early day failings.
 
Downside of all this: - I went out looking to spend no more than a few 100s and now have spent 1000 or so (adjust monetary values to fit your local currency , PS it's a factor of 10!!)) AND I am now unhappy with the amp and speakers in the listening room as they don't compare to the new headphones + HA-501 combo.
 
YMMV
 
Looking around now to see what I should put on the list for speakers and amp when I send it to Santa Claus.
 
P.S. I just registered so I could send this and didn't really read all the info about taking care what I posted, so feel free to shoot me down if I got it all wrong. It seems like a good place though, so I may hang around a bit.  

 

[ESL-1]

I expect to have one at the upcoming meet in Bayside, N.Y. On Nov. 9th.

 

[ESL-1]

A follow up since I had possession of the HA-501 for several days around the time of the NY meet as it was loan to me by a local high end shop, American Audiophile in Lynbrook. I was very pleased with it's ability to pair well with the number of phones I tried it with. It made my Q701, Beyer DT880 250 ohm and Grado RS1 sound better than they have before. The damping adjustment is definitely a real tool here. Wish I had more time with it. The single most impressive result was what it did with my Grado SR225i which I feel is a superb phone and value for their $200 price range. The transformation with Teac was amazing, everything improved across the full spectrum, it took the 225i into a whole other level of performance.

Bottom line, I intend to get the HA-501 into my arsenal in the next few months if possible.

PS. The build quality is excellent as pretty much everyone else has said.

 

[al10]

There is review of device in august Audio Magazine /in german/. Can someone tell in few words the summary?

 

[mvdventura]

Yesterday I received a Teac UD-501 DAC. When mine Audeze LCD 2, Rev 2, were connected direct to its headphones output the sound was marvelous.
 
I´m wondering if the Teac HA-501 headphone amp paired with the above mentioned DAC is really a (big) step forward in terms of sound quality.
 
Looking for your valuable opinions.
 
Regards,
 
Daniel

 

[Operabuff]

My first post, so be gentle, please...

I just recently got a HA-501, which I've so far only used with my ancient Sennheiser HD-540 (300 Ohm model, got them in 1991 for the equivalent of about 110 €, whatever that might correspond to at todays wages and prices, and yes, I do save my receipts for any purchase with a warranty). They have served me well for almost a quarter of a century, requiring no other maintenance than new earpads now and then.

Due to equipment location issues (to be solved once I manage to buy the 501 series CD-player (right now I'm using a DVD player as the source), I haven't been able to experiment very much with the damping factor adjustment, but based on preliminary findings, it does not seem to do very much for my 300 Ohm headpnones.

My question relates to the math behing the damping factor:
As far as I understand, the damping factor is defined as the headphone impedance divided by the output impedance of the amplifier.
This should mean that what the damping factor knob does, is that it changes the output impedance of the amp.
On Teac's homepage there is a table with the damping factor for various settings and headphone impedances, some distance down this page: http://www.teac.com/product/ha-501/
Dividing the headphone impedance with the damping factor should then give the output impedance for each setting, like this:
High, DF = 76 @ 32 Ohm, corresponding to the output impedance ~0.4 Ohm.
Between high and Mid, DF = 98 @ 64 Ohm, corresponding to ~0.6 Ohm.
Mid, DF = 97 @ 120 Ohm, ~1.2 Ohm.
Between Mid and Low, DF = 115 @ 300 Ohm, ~ 2.6 Ohm.
Low, DF = 118 @ 600 Ohm, ~5.1 Ohm.
So if my math is correct, then the damping factor setting adjusts the output impedance between 0.4 and 5.1 Ohms.
It seems to me that this pretty small adjustment range might have some impact of the driver control of low impedance headphones, but likely no audiable difference for high impedance phones?
On the other hand, I can see the idea of not giving a "too high" output impedance option, so that anyone pluggng in low impedance phones does not have the possibility to choose a unsuitably low damping factor.

Is my math right? Which might explain why I preliminarily can't hear a difference between the settings on my 300 Ohm phones...

With best regards,
Patrik

P.S.
Did anyone notice that some Beyer T1's are shown in one photo on the Teac product page linked above. Definitely hgh impedance phones...
And a pair I will eventually try to get a listen to, just to see how much technology has progressed in 25 years, compared to my current Sennheisers....
I though I'd like to try the Beyer 880's, T90's and T1's, as well as the Sennheiser HD 700's and 800's. Any others I should try? Physical comfort is my top priority, as important as absolute sound quality....

 

[Operabuff]

Bumping my own message, because I'm still curious about if my understanding of the math behind the damping factor might be correct, and I figured that the time-delay caused by having my fist post moderator-vetted might have caused some members to miss the post...
 
B.r.
Patrik

 

[mvdventura]

Hello Patrik,
 
Would you advance something about the sound of the TEAC HA-501?
 
Regards,
 
Daniel

 

[Operabuff]

Difficult question, as I've had it for only a few weeks. I can't really say much more than that it sounds very neutral to me, and appears to do exactly what a "technically ideal" amp should do, i.e. amplify the signal without distorting it in any way, have high s/n-ratio, and control the drivers well (dampen).
I've so far only used it with the 300 Ohm Sennheisers (not even tried it with my low impedance on-ear phones), and I can hear nothing but beautiful music, if that is what is on the CD in the first place.
I've used the same phones for over 20 years with two other integrated amps ("speaker amps"), and they have worked well with those also. What I have noted, is that no headphone amp built into a CD-player or cassette deck (yes, we had those back in the day) could control the 300 Ohm Sennheisers the way the amplifier stages (likely the same stages that feeds the full size speakers) on the integrated amps. With this I just wish to point out that yes, I do note differences between wellworking and underpowered or otherwise lacking amps, but that it is too early for me to notice if the Teac sound different in any way. It just plain sounds good, in the sense that I can't hear anything wrong that could eminate from the amp.
One notable thing is that it is the quietest amp I've ever heard, noisewise. Turning up the volume to full output gain, I can hear nothing. No hiss or hum. Even at max. And I had an audiogram last year, which showed that my hearing is still decent even at higher frequencies.
I might add that the reason I chose the Teac was because it has input selection, and pre-out with variable volume control. This was important for ne, because it does double duty as a preamp (ontrol amp) for a pair of active speakers.

I don't know if that was what you wanted to hear, but I can't really add much more yet. I'm quite happy with the amp.

B.r.
Patrik

 

[mvdventura]

Thank you very much Patrik.

 

[nikko2014]

Hi everybody,

I've just bought this amplifier and i would like to ask you if i have to remove the headphones every time before turning off the amplifier?

Thank you for your help.

Regards from italy.

Nico

 

[r3dMuGeN]

hey,
 
Im a bit of a newbie, so i apologize for my lack of audio terms
 
Im currently running a Beyer T1/Beyer 880 600Ohm through the Fiio E17/E09K combo and looking to step it up a notch.
being from a Fiio combo, the price is quite a jump as well, im just trying to find what a good step up would be
I also looked into the WA7 FF, and have heard some good things from both.
Would it be preferred i go all out and get the HA501 combo with the UD501? or is there another preferred setup?
The technical numbers unfortunately dont make sense with me at all, just what sounds pleasing to the ears
What im looking for is what is the easiest to setup/manage, requires the least maintenance, and has the bang for the buck.
I mainly listen to pop/rock/classical/vocal tracks, and i would use my setup for movies and games here and there
 
Any suggestions?
Thanks