 | |
 | |
Price: £499/£599
More info: Russ Andrews
HP-1 headphone amp/preamp
Size (WxHxD): 212x55x290mm
Analogue inputs: 2 RCA phono pairs
Two position filter
Two levels of gain
6mm headphone output
PA-1 power amp
Size (WxHxD): 212x55x290mm
Power output: 50 watts
Plus points:
Stunning build, subtle revealing sound quality with great timing and sensitivity to fine detail, compact casework
Minus points:
Only two inputs, no remote control
|  |
|
The Russ Andrews HP-1 preamp/headphone amp and PA-1 power amp are designed for both hi-fi and des top duties. Smaller than regular separates they are very well built and, in all honesty, much too good for MP3 alone.
The UK's Russ Andrews has built up a thriving business selling accessories with which enthusiasts can enhance the sound of their hi-fi systems without pushing up the overdraft. Inevitably he got into building components proper and recently introduced a range of compact cased units that have more than half an eye on the way more people are using their computers as their main music source.
The HP-1 headphone amp is also a two-input preamp and thus needs a matching power amp, a role which the PA-1 fills with little difficulty. Two inputs may not seem very many if you use it in a system rather than in desktop applications, but in a system with more than one digital source, Russ Andrews' matching DA-1 DAC (digital to analogue converter) expands the figure to a more helpful five and brings top-notch sound to boot. The DA-1 even has a USB input specifically for a computer, you can read all about it in our recent DAC group test.
The HP-1 has an unusual looking headphone socket (a Neutrik XLR/jack) that accepts the larger quarter inch (6mm) jacks found on better headphones. You'll need an adaptor for the increasingly popular 3.5mm minijacks found on 'phones for MP3 players. Another feature is a filter with A and B settings, the latter said to offer “a softer sound”.
Build quality on both units is particularly high, something RA has achieved by teaming up with April Music in Korea and using its existing case and circuit designs combined with his own approach to the all-important power supply. Incidentally, can buy identical looking units to these under the Stello brand but without the RA power supply.
Performance
As a pre/power amp in a system with ATC SCM19 speakers and a Townshend TA565 universal disc player the pairing delivers a taut and timely sound that unearths a healthy amount of detail with a good, solid, bottom end. The sound compares favourably with the competition at this price, usually to be found in a single, larger box and often giving more power and features for your money.
But this pairing is about compact size and sound quality - it has a firm grip on the more subtle aspects of music reproduction especially in regard to tracking small differences in level or micro dynamics as they're known. This is the difference in volume between one note and the next or one instrument and another in a mix. When a hi-fi system does this well there is a lot more life and energy in the sound, more contrast between recordings and ultimately higher fidelity to the signal.
As a headphone amp the quality of result is entirely dependent upon the quality of signal. Compared to the onboard headphone output of a Sony 555ES SACD player, for example, the HP-1 is a major upgrade, delivering a result that is more relaxed yet has no shortage of attack or dynamics - it makes the onboard output sound coarse and aggressive. More importantly it makes headphone listening an enjoyable pursuit, a phrase you won't find in many of my reviews I can assure you.
In its other role as a desktop audio enhancer its benefits were less obvious, with a Macbook laptop using iTunes and music recorded at 192kbps VBR the difference twixt the onboard output and that amplified by the HP-1 was negligible. With Apple Lossless material the advantages of the RA unit became more apparent but not as dramatically as with the aforementioned SACD player. I suspect this is because in this instance the headphone socket was the only analogue output available. With a desktop computer that has a decent soundcard you could connect a line level feed to the HP-1 which would give it a far greater chance to strut its considerable stuff.
 |
|
|
|
If it's top-notch desktop sound you're after, this pairing is hard to beat. Add a set of decent compact speakers and you'll enjoy sound quality that no all-in-one sat/sub system can touch - just make sure the soundcard is up to the job. As a hi-fi amp it suffers from the dearth of inputs and the fact that competing integrated designs offer similar sound plus features like remote control. But, as a rule, compact they ain't, so that's what you pay for - that and the stunning build quality.
|
 |
