Pangea Audio HP 201 Tube Headphone Amplifier

The Pangea Audio HP201 hybrid vacuum tube/solid state headphone amp was designed by an engineering team led by renowned engineer/designer Jay Victor, who also carefully tweaked the circuitry for optimum performance. It uses a Pure Class A, single ended design with no negative feedback, which contributes to the amazing sound. It also has a built-in 24/192 DAC. Unlike other manufacturers' headphone amps in this price class, the HP201 doesn't use op-amps in its output stage. After testing a variety of op-amp output devices, Jay decided to use discrete MOSFET output devices for power amplification instead. The 24/48/96/192kHz compatible input lets you play high resolution digital audio files directly from your Windows or Mac computer. The DAC chip used is the highly regarded Cirrus Logic CS4344 24-bit/192-kHz DAC chipset. The HP201's 1/4" headphone jack is ideal for your audiophile headphones and features a healthy 350mV for compatibility with a wide range of makes and models. And thanks to its preamp functionality, you can connect the analog stereo outputs directly to a power amp or powered speakers without the need for a separate preamp. The preamp output is 3.5V. In addition to its USB input, the HP201 also features auxiliary RCA inputs. The precision-machined aluminum volume control makes operation a pleasure. The rigid steel desktop chassis uses a machined 10mm-thick aluminum faceplate and extruded 4mm-thick top and bottom plates. This makes for a very non-resonant housing structure. The HP201 uses fully discrete circuitry. There are no op-amps or other integrated circuits used anywhere in the signal path. Every component and detail of the HP201 was chosen for maximum performance. Jay insisted on using Wima coupling caps and Rubycon power supply caps, which contribute to the superior sound quality. These are the same electrical components used in many ultra high-end products.