NIEUWS – NuForce staat bekend om betaalbare (usb) d/a-converters, versterkers (ook voor pc) en hoofdtelefoonversterkers. Nu komt het relatief jonge bedrijf uit California met een nieuwe hoofdtelefoonversterker: de HAP-100. Een volledig klasse-A product met technologie uit de P-20 voorversterker.
Wie graag via een hoofdtelefoon luistert, kan eigenlijk niet om een fatsoenlijke hoofdtelefoonversterker heen. Veel versterkers hebben geen uitgang meer en als ze er over beschikken, is de kwaliteit vaak niet meer dan gemiddeld. Kortom: wie er serieus mee bezig is, koopt een toegewijde versterker voor de hoofdtelefoon.
NuFoce heeft een nieuw model: de HAP-100. Een serieus apparaatje voor $595. De Nederlandse prijs weten we nog niet, maar gok op minder dan 600 euro… het is natuurlijk koersafhankelijk.
Het design is geheel gelijk aan de DDA-100: de direct digital amplifier. Een mooi ontwerp. Intern heeft de HAP-100 veel van de P-20 geërfd.
Hieronder het bericht van NuForce:
The NuForce HAP-100, an aggressively priced single-ended class-A High-End headphone amplifier targeted for the headphone audio enthusiast.
The NuForce HAP-100’s innovative engineering combines features never before available at this price point. Most significantly, the HAP-100 provides headphone listeners with single-ended Class-A performance – considered by many to be the ultimate in high-fidelity design.
The NuForce HAP-100 IS a world-class combination preamp and headphone amplifier targeted for the audio enthusiast that makes quality headphone listening a high priority. The innovative design packs together a host of features never before available at its price point. For unprecedented performance, NuForce has implemented the same technologies employed in their flagship the NuForce P-20 preamp, in union with other precision, audiophile-grade characteristics.
The cornerstone of any great audio system is the preamp. It should offer true musicality along with the lowest possible levels of noise and distortion, and provide enough inputs to accommodate good system flexibility – not to mention elegant style and ease of use. Furthermore, quality headphone listening is a much greater requirement in our noisy world for many of today’s audio enthusiasts. In light of these issues, we designed the HAP-100 to meet all these needs and more. The HAP-100 incorporates the same volume control technology NuForce first developed for their flagship P-20 preamp.
At the unit’s core is a switched-resistor ladder network of low-noise, thin-film resistors, one per volume setting, permitting discrete, high-resolution increments of 1dB for each of the HAP-100’s one hundred volume steps. In welcome addition to the volume control’s fine-adjustment precision, the signal’s passage through a single, high-quality resistor at all settings ensures minimal sound degradation. Following this, a pristine, zero-negative-feedback preamplifier stage delivers vanishingly low levels of distortion, crystalline accuracy and genuine musicality.
A true minimalist design, the preamp incorporates an extremely low-noise FET input stage and single high-quality capacitor in the entire signal path. The HAP-100 is built on a platform that provides the unit’s audio circuits with the purest of DC power. With its toroidal transformer for minimizing magnetic-field interference and capacitor bank’s massive energy reserve, the HAP-100’s linear power supply delivers explosive dynamics and lightning-fast transients.
The HAP-100’s specs are nothing short of stellar: THD+N of less than 0.001% and a dynamic range in excess of 110 dB for the subtlest of musical details against the blackest of backgrounds – without a hint of coloration. Its performance, features, style and price are bound to delight. Even the most demanding listener will find the HAP-100 to be the ideal centerpiece for headphone and conventional stereo listening.
For transparency, speed, accuracy, resolution and musicality, along with high style and convenience, the HAP-100 has no equal at its price.? Features: Digitally controlled, 100-step, precision volume control employing low-noise, thin-film switched-resistor ladder network for absolute precision.
Pristine, “”zero negative feedback”” preamplifier stage for absolute clarity. Single-ended Class “”A”” headphone amplifier stage with power to drive any headphones.
Specifications:
? 4 x stereo RCA inputs
? Input impedance: 20k ohm
? 1 x stereo RCA preamp output
? 1 x stereo 6.3 mm headphone amp output
? THD+N < 0.002% ? S/N = 100dB, 20-20kHz
? Frequency Response: +/- 0.1dB, 20 to 20k Hz; +0.2dB/-3dB, 10 to 185kHz
? Maximum output: RCA 7.8Vrms;
? RCA Output impedance: 100 ohm
? Headphone 5.2Vrms with high impedance load, 5.1Vrms@300 ohm, 1.8Vrms@30 ohm, and 0.9Vrms@16 ohm
Dimensions:
? Height: 2 inches ( 5.1 cm )
? Width: 8.5 inches ( 21.6 cm )
? Depth: 9 inches ( 22.9 cm )
? Weight: 2.64 pounds ( 1.2 kg )
? Available in black and silver colors.