Audiophonics HPA-S400ET Review (Stereo Amplifier)

[ampguy]

Are there any vendors that ship to the US, or are in the US? I would think that with the stronger USD to Euro, they might be competitive to nCore offerings for us in the US?

 

[juliangst]

Are there any vendors that ship to the US, or are in the US? I would think that with the stronger USD to Euro, they might be competitive to nCore offerings for us in the US?

I'd say VTV is the US equivalent to Audiophonics when it comes to price to performance:

 

[UNICRON-WMD]

I was streaming a Bluesound Node into the HPA-S400ET. Didn’t have enough gain to get more than 90 SPL. This was at the highest gain setting. Even though everyone said it should be fine. Ended up returning it to Audiophonics. They were great. UPS shipping was a nightmare. They wanted $600 to ship to France. Spent 3 days in US customs and 4 days in France customs. Countless phone calls and emails, resending documents. 10 days total. Never again buying overseas. Got a Benchmark DAC3 and 2 AHB2 amps running mono/bridged. (All used from some great ASR members.) That’s power. The synergy between the Benchmark gear is great. They have designed the gain levels and power output extremely well.

Don't tell me you spent $600 to ship it back?

You could have easily sold it on here for 90% what you paid.

 

[juliangst]

And where went those $600 in shipping? The bluesound node isn't a particulary large or heavy device...

 

[UNICRON-WMD]

Are there any vendors that ship to the US, or are in the US? I would think that with the stronger USD to Euro, they might be competitive to nCore offerings for us in the US?

Audiophonics shipped out my HPA-S400ET and it was delivered 4 days later in US.

 

[UNICRON-WMD]

And where went those $600 in shipping? The bluesound node isn't a particulary large or heavy device...

Think he was talking about the Audiophonics amp.

 

[juliangst]

Think he was talking about the Audiophonics amp.

Well, that isn't that large either but yeah, shipping and customs can get expensive quickly.
I don't get why he would import an audiophonics Purifi amp when you can just get a VTV or Buckeye Purifi amp for a lot less in the US.

I wish we had similar companies selling class D amps here;
all we got besides audiophonics are Nord, Boxem and Apollon audio which honestly are just overpriced

 

[VintageFlanker]

I wish we had similar companies selling class D amps here;
all we got besides audiophonics are Nord, Boxem and Apollon audio which honestly are just overpriced

You obviously didn't test any product of the brands you mentioned to say such things.

Apollon chassis and build/assembly quality (I have the Purifi Mini in mind) are just in another league. BoXem is close second with welcomed features. Audiophonics do have very good value but their build is quite minimalistic. There are also one or two brands you forgot in EU.

Never seen a VTV amp IRL, but from the few posts I've seen here, these look like pieces of garbage inside...

 

[Rottmannash]

Garbage? Wow- do you own one? If not maybe reserve your negative opinions. Mine has been measured by @Rick Sykora and the results posted on ASR.

 

[VintageFlanker]

Wow- do you own one?

Well you need to read my post twice, indeed.

Mine has been measured by @Rick Sykora and the results posted on ASR.

I don't see how it is related to what I've seen about their internal build quality.

 

[juliangst]

All of them use the same module and therefore should perform the same.
Of course, some chassis look better and are better build than others but the difference in price is way too steep for just a better looking case imho

 

[VintageFlanker]

Of course, some chassis look better and are better build than others but the difference in price is way too steep for just a better looking case imho

Premium chassis cost money. Like, they really do. You don't need one, that's OK. But for the ones that would favour such factors (I do), these brand aren't overpriced at all.

All of them use the same module and therefore should perform the same.

Not quite accurate. Different buffer boards will impact measurements for sure, but most probably not in audible territory.

 

[nemesis.ie]

In case anyone missed it, my VU meter comment was sarcasm. Given I taped over the blue LEDs inside the audiophonics amps I think folks should be able to tell my position on big dancing meters/lights.

@reddavin Would selling the Audiophonics to someone locally with matching gear not have been much easier/cheaper than a return to France?

 

[Redwine]

Looking at this Audiophonocs HPA-S400ET, Boxem or similar, despite I likely wont need all the power, they provide.

But strugling to find a good pre match with the following requirements:

- use Roon, so streamer/dac are required build in or alternatively as a stand alone unit
- it should be possible to switch power on/off on the power amp using Roon or at least by default after a periode of time unless music is played.

Have been testing Nad M33, but do think, it’s a bit high priced, even it looks and play lovely, in my opinion.

Comments and suggestions are most wellcome!

 

[juliangst]

Looking at this Audiophonocs HPA-S400ET, Boxem or similar, despite I likely wont need all the power, they provide.

But strugling to find a good pre match with the following requirements:

- use Roon, so streamer/dac are required build in or alternatively as a stand alone unit
- it should be possible to switch power on/off using Roon or at least by default after a periode of time unless mudic is played.

Have been testing Nad M33, but do think, it’s a bit high priced, even it looks and play lovely, in my opinion.

Comments and suggestions are most wellcome!

The budget way to do it would be a raspberry pi running Ropiee combined with a dac with volume control like the Topping D90. I don’t know what DACs have auto on/off though.
The more expensive ‚audiophile‘ would be a all-in-one streaming DAC/Pre like the Auralic Altair or the Hifi Rose streamers.
Another option would be the Oktoresearch stereo DAC which has a Pi based streamer build in.

 

[EdW]

The budget way to do it would be a raspberry pi running Ropiee combined with a dac with volume control like the Topping D90. I don’t know what DACs have auto on/off though.
The more expensive ‚audiophile‘ would be a all-in-one streaming DAC/Pre like the Auralic Altair or the Hifi Rose streamers.
Another option would be the Oktoresearch stereo DAC which has a Pi based streamer build in.

The Topping D90 will turn on when it sees an active USB or optical TOSLINK input and turn off when the signal disappears. But the D90 doesn’t have a 12V trigger for the power amp. Some 1ET400 Purifi implementations do have an auto on/off from the audio signal (BoXem and Buckeye come to mind). Not sure how well these work with very low level signals - might just be caught out with some classical music played at low level?

 

[juliangst]

Topping E70 might be the best budget option. It has 12V trigger and a volume knob for easier adjustments

 

[reddavin]

Thought about reselling the amp. But would have had shipping, etc. I think I came out ok. I was able to ship UPS via Easyship for around $150.

The main issue was the UPS and random Customs red tape stress.

 

[tmtomh]

The Audiophonics' high-gain setting is, if memory serves, 25.5dB. One would have to have an unusually low max output level from the source device, and/or very low-efficiency speakers, to not be able to get more than 90dB spl out of that amp at that setting.

 

[Vincentponcet]

The Audiophonics' high-gain setting is, if memory serves, 25.5dB. One would have to have an unusually low max output level from the source device, and/or very low-efficiency speakers, to not be able to get more than 90dB spl out of that amp at that setting.

AVRs have a very low preamp output.
About 1.4V before clipping.
It would be have been great to have a high gain of 29db for AVRs.