7 posts were merged into an existing topic: Off Topic : Complaints Thread
New here so I wouldnāt expect my opinion to carry much weight but thought I would post my experience with TCA. My history amounts to spending way too much money a few years back trying to find my perfect system, so I stepped away from new toys for a while. Iāve tried everything from the original O2 to the Bryson headphone amp with a few Burson, Schiit, etc. in between. Only reason Iām saying that is not to brag at all, more like being honest about mistakes I made. This time around Iām going to be a little more controlled and picky before I go down the slippery slope this hobby can be.
I started researching a new headphone amp to go with the Beyer T1.2 headphone. Stumbled upon Tomās website and liked what I saw and read. Sent a question thru the āContactā page and in less than 1/2 hour I had an answer from Tom himself. He answered my questions and then several follow up emails, all within a very reasonable time. I ended up ordering an amp and received a shipping notice within minutes of the transaction, then received the package from Canada to the US via UPS in three days.
The unit is impeccably finished and has those extra quality touches like the feel of the volume control. Every time I turn it on it brings a smile to my face and pleasure to my ears. It drives the T1.2 with authority, on both low and high gain. I also picked up a pair of Campfire Audioās 2020 Solaris IEMS and they perform extremely well too. Yes it is overkill as they are very efficient but there is absolutely no hiss, even with the volume all the way up, and it allows me to experience all the capability the Solaris has.
Iām not going to try and describe the amp any more, Iāll leave that to others who are more experienced and way better at it than me.
Is it worth the price of entry? Only you can answer that for yourself. Yes, you can get something that will work for much less and a lot more. This one has earned a place in my system for what I anticipate will be a long time. Thatās more than I can say for all the others.
Quality sound - yes. Fit and finish - perfect. Emails from the designer himself - check. Honest businessman, philosophy I agree with, other intangibles - yep.
Does that add up to the price of the amp? I can easily answer yes to that question.
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Does anyone know if the HPA-1 can adequately power the HEDDphone (which @angstorms mentioned earlier in this thread)? Being from Calgary myself Iād love to support a local designer ā but not sure if this has enough juice for my hungriest cans.
From the measurements over at ASR, I take it the HPA-1 delivers around 600 mW per channel at 32 Ī© (or 1.2 W total, as per the spec) ā and the sweet spot for the HEDDphone (say, 1 W @ 42 Ī©) is quite a bit higher. Iām pretty new to reading power requirements, though ā before the HEDDphone Iāve only owned easy-to-drive dynamics ā so please correct me if Iām wrong.
Hedd has stated 1-6 watts ā¦but with the caveatā¦try it and seeā¦
I use Schiit Jotenheim and Lyr 3 and have more than enough power for my Heddsā¦
See here ā¦
Great, thanks for the link (and @lost33 for HEDDās suggested power requirements). According to that chart, wouldnāt 2 W be the absolute maximum youād want to feed the HEDDphone, at 120 dB (enough to cause instant hearing damage)?
Still, the HPA-1 is likely not the best choice for Ć¼ber-hungry headphones (if Iām correct in interpreting the spec to mean 600 mW per channel at 32 Ī©). Looks like a really solid build though, and Iām happy to have discovered a new amp from my hometown.
Generally you want your amp to be operating with some headroom, since distortion increases with power output.
As a general rule, Iāve found that having double the power I need (per the specs/math) for the peaks encountered at my normal listening level does the trick. Though having a bigger margin has NEVER hurt.
I tend to listen at 80-85 dB ā¦ which puts peaks around 105 dB for me. Thatād put the amp in question closer to limits than I would personally want.
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Yup thats a good pointā¦having some headroom is important for sureā¦Any modern day amp like a Schiit Lyr 3, Jotenheim, Magnius or even the Schiit Magni 3+ would do just fineā¦and many other amps out thereā¦
Ah yes, I didnāt think about headroom ā great point. I usually listen at around 83 dB (a common recommendation for mastering, which is what Iāll mostly be using these headphones for), so peaks would be in the 105 dB region for me too. Lots of great amp options these days, fortunately.
I emailed Tom and he says the HPA-1 will indeed deliver at least 1.03 W per channel at 42 Ī© (a conservative estimate) or, more likely, 1.1 W. Also I misinterpreted the spec in my first post above: 1.2 W into 32 Ī© is also per channel, not total. So much better than I expected. Not as high as the amps @lost33 listed above, to be sure, though for most cans ā the HEDDphone notwithstanding ā thatās likely more than enough. I have an RME ADI 2 FS on the way so Iāll probably try the headphone amp on that first and see if I need to upgrade.
I do hope this amp does well ā as a Canadian-made, built-to-last alternative to some of the cheaper options out there (and, by some accounts, able to hold its own against much more expensive amps too). If I do end up getting my hands on one (perhaps the next time Iām in Calgary), Iāll report back on how it pairs with the HEDDphone.
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Honestly, It is a good headphone amp. I am sure you be happy with it. I run the Susvara on it. Since to me, It runs well with that Headphone the rest of Cans are easy to drive in comparison. Like Torque music peak to 105dB but nomial is 80-83 dB range
Just a quick note: Iām down to one HPA-1 in stock. I will have more made but it could take a bit given the current supply shortage on parts.
Tom
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The first time Iāve heard of Tomās amp was through the PAF video. Hope to be able to try them out soon!
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Has any have or compared the HPA-1 with itās little brother the HPA-10? I currently have the HPA-10 which is a fantastic small little amp, perfect for traveling if anyone is curious. Iām wondering how much up an upgrade in sound the HPA-1 would be?
@tomchr - If youāre paying attention to this thread if would be great to get your thoughts between the two and how much of a difference they are.
Thanks!
The HPA-10 is a great little amp. It works best with headphones 32 Ī© and up. The HPA-1 has higher output current so itāll reach down to 12 Ī©.
If youāre using high-impedance headphones (300+ Ī©) I think youāll be hard pressed to tell a difference between the amps. But for the lower impedance headphones, say ā¤ 50 Ī©, youāll probably find that the HPA-1 is better.
For IEMs the HPA-1 wins because of its lower noise floor.
Tom
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Not sure how I missed this, but thanks @tomchr for replying to my post! I really appreciate it. Iām running a pair of 300Ī© ZMFās so based on your reply I doubt Iāll hear a difference.
Itās really a great little amp thatās gone under the radar. I canāt get over how easier it is to power. Iām able to run it off my ifi iUSB hub with a clean power source.