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Living Room System Design // Any experience with the Nuprime HPA-9?

bogart

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Greetings all,

I should really post an introduction post before an asking-for-help post... but I guess I'll do this out of order today! First - a quick thanks to everyone for the spirited and well informed discussion that takes place on these boards. It's a joy to read and challenge some long-held beliefs and enjoy some heresies shared here.

I'm looking to consolidate my stereo to accommodate the reality of how listening to music actually works for me now, with a spouse, kiddo, and dog in the house. Long gone are the days of loud stereo in the living room --> stereo in the bedroom, music all the time from breakfast until bed :) I'm therefore looking to set up a good moderate-volume living room setup for casual listening at moderate-low volumes + headphones.

I've been using an old Arcam AVR-100 HT receiver as the brains and brawn. Unfortunately, the digital board went out on it a few years ago and it's not worth the repair. My sources are a Pro-Ject turntable with Pro-Ject phono amp, and a raspberry pi for digital. Headphones were Grado 325e's that I'm disappointed with and am working to replace (options right now include Beyerdynamics 880/1990? and Hifiman Sundara.. suggestions welcome but that's another thread), and speakers are Era Design 5's (now marketed by Peachtree). I've got two Outlaw monoblocks sitting idle that could be used, but I might sell them and get something more compact.

I'd like to have a relatively compact setup (especially compared to a big AV Receiver box) that blends into the living room better. My ideal box would be a Headphone Amp-DAC-Preamp with integrated phono stage, and a compact amplifier to drive a pair of Era Design 5 bookshelf speakers (now marketed by Peachtree). Based on most of the browsing I've done so far, the ideal box I'd like doesn't exist, or is impractically expensive. So, I expect I'll be looking for a subset of separate boxes to do the work.

I've dreamt up a few scenarios that fit better to worse with the above goals:
1) External DAC to headphone amp/preamp with integrated phono stage, variable output to amplifier (a used Nuprime HPA-9 looked interesting for this option)\
2) Integrated DAC/Headphone Amp with line-in for preamped phono inputs, and variable output to amplifier
3) Option "All the boxes," / buy the ASR stack: standalone DAC (Topping), JDS Atom Headphone Amp (used as preamp?), standalone phono stage as secondary input to headphone amp, separate amp
4) Nostalgia Option: Bring my beautiful vintage Marantz 2215 into the living room, use it as the phono preamp and amplifier, use an external DAC, and hope the headphone output works well enough :)

If you were in my shoes, what direction would you go? Clarifying questions welcomed.

Thanks!
Eric
 
OP
bogart

bogart

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Updating my own post... all prices in Canadian $

It looks like the SMSL A8 bundles all essential functions into a single box with moderately pleasant aesthetics, but I'm a little suspicious of the quality delivered from DAC/phono amp/headphone amp. I'm interested if folks have strong opinions on better answers to my challenges outlined above. I sadly can't figure out a way to productively use the 15WPC from my vintage Marantz when the Era Design 5 speakers call for "Power requirements: 50-200Watts. Nominal Rating: 6 Ohms"

Option 1 - $475 (net)
Comments: Eliminates outboard phono stage, digital sources confined to raspberry pi. Has 5 things to plug into mains.
Sources: Raspberry Pi+DAC board ($50), Turntable
Boxes: NuPrime HPA-9 ($500) (HP Amp, Preamp, Phono Stage), existing amps
Speakers

Option 2 - $400
Comments: Adds a DAC, keeps phono stage. Uses less-capable raspberry pi USB as output. 6 things plugged into mains.
Sources: Raspberry Pi (usb out), Turntable
Boxes: existing pro-ject phono stage, Emotiva DC-1 DAC/Preamp/HP Amp, existing amps
Speakers

Option 3 - $770, (less market value of selling two Outlaw monoblocks + phono stage)
Comments: Eliminates lots of boxes - only 3 things plugged into mains! Eliminates outboard amps, DAC, phono stage and raspberry pi.
Sources: Raspberry Pi (usb out), Turntable
Boxes: SMSL A8 (HP Amp, Preamp, Phono Stage, DAC)
Speakers
@BillG - have you heard the A8?
 
Last edited:

Thunder240

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Updating my own post... all prices in Canadian $

It looks like the SMSL A8 bundles all essential functions into a single box with moderately pleasant aesthetics, but I'm a little suspicious of the quality delivered from DAC/phono amp/headphone amp. I'm interested if folks have strong opinions on better answers to my challenges outlined above. I sadly can't figure out a way to productively use the 15WPC from my vintage Marantz when the Era Design 5 speakers call for "Power requirements: 50-200Watts. Nominal Rating: 6 Ohms"

Option 1 - $475 (net)
Comments: Eliminates outboard phono stage, digital sources confined to raspberry pi. Has 5 things to plug into mains.
Sources: Raspberry Pi+DAC board ($50), Turntable
Boxes: NuPrime HPA-9 ($500) (HP Amp, Preamp, Phono Stage), existing amps
Speakers

Option 2 - $400
Comments: Adds a DAC, keeps phono stage. Uses less-capable raspberry pi USB as output. 6 things plugged into mains.
Sources: Raspberry Pi (usb out), Turntable
Boxes: existing pro-ject phono stage, Emotiva DC-1 DAC/Preamp/HP Amp, existing amps
Speakers

Option 3 - $770, (less market value of selling two Outlaw monoblocks + phono stage)
Comments: Eliminates lots of boxes - only 3 things plugged into mains! Eliminates outboard amps, DAC, phono stage and raspberry pi.
Sources: Raspberry Pi (usb out), Turntable
Boxes: SMSL A8 (HP Amp, Preamp, Phono Stage, DAC)
Speakers
@BillG - have you heard the A8?

Hey, I realize your posts are a few months old, but I wanted to comment on the HPA-9, since it seems to have mostly flown under the audiophile radar.

I’m using right now in a music system that’s currently used about 80% for headphones and 20% for stereo listening. When I originally inserted it into my system, I was listening to stereo a lot more. The reasons for the shift to headphones is mostly because I do a lot of my listening at night after my 2 year old has gone to bed, but, I’d say it is greatly enabled by the HPA-9, which has made headphone listening a lot more enjoyable than it used to be with my NuForce Icon HDP as headphone amp. It’s in a different league, despite their list prices being within a few hundred of one another. The HPA-9’s greatest asset is its dynamics. It just had so much reserve on tap that horns and electric guitars practically explode. It is also very detailed, doing justice for my Hegel DAC, and has enough control to allow for fairly precise imaging, which I notice especially when using it as a preamp for stereo. If it has the features you are looking for, I’d say it’s a steal, punching way above its weight.

Feature wise, I do sometimes lament the lack of a remote for volume control. Finally, in terms of QC, lately one of the contacts on the pot seems to have corroded, and it is affecting the left channel. I don’t know how this happened, but over the weekend I put in a ticket in with NuPrime and am awaiting a response. Otherwise, however, the build quality is superb.

In terms of your larger question, I’m a believer in separates, especially DAC and amp. DACs are low current electronic devices, while amps are high current. It just makes sense to separate them if unit doesn’t otherwise impact you. I always felt my Icon HDP was a compromise. Unless you are space constrained or are going for a minimalist aesthetic, I’d avoid an all-in-one package.

The other comment I’ll offer is that the RPi’s usb is crap. If you want to use an RPi, I’d get one of the daughter boards that’s on the market that offers SPIDF out. I’ve had good success with the HifiBerry Digi+ Pro, but there are others which offer varying approaches to isolation.
 

Thunder240

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Location
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Feature wise, I do sometimes lament the lack of a remote for volume control. Finally, in terms of QC, lately one of the contacts on the pot seems to have corroded, and it is affecting the left channel. I don’t know how this happened, but over the weekend I put in a ticket in with NuPrime and am awaiting a response. Otherwise, however, the build quality is superb.

Following up simply because it’d be wrong to mention a QC issue with a product on a public forum and not state the resolution.

My ticket in the NuPrime online tracker went for a couple of weeks unanswered, and the website only lists a phone numbers for sales. eventually I located the manufacturer’s official industry forum on audiocircle.com and sent a PM which was promptly answered. Since my unit is out of warranty, they connected me with TDSS, an authorized service for repairs, who installed a brand new PCB plus potentiometer for a very reasonable price. I’m happy with the resolution of the issue, just wish there had been a more direct way to get in touch with NuPrime technical service.
 
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