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Sabaj A20h Balanced Headphone Amplifier Owner's Thread

Joel

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Will this drive an HE6SE? I have an SMSL C200 but it seems a bit anemic and lacking headroom for music with with greater headroom (and I'm working on EQ'ing the HE6SE which will cost me volume).
 

Veri

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Will this drive an HE6SE? I have an SMSL C200 but it seems a bit anemic and lacking headroom for music with with greater headroom (and I'm working on EQ'ing the HE6SE which will cost me volume).
SE in SE out it will be driven already to better levels than your C200.. but SE in BAL out (high gain) or BAL in BAL out (medium gain) it will drive it fine.
Maybe if your EQ is really excessive you will need to put the resistor volume really high but even then, there's no harm in doing just that.
 

Joel

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SE in SE out it will be driven already to better levels than your C200.. but SE in BAL out (high gain) or BAL in BAL out (medium gain) it will drive it fine.
Maybe if your EQ is really excessive you will need to put the resistor volume really high but even then, there's no harm in doing just that.
In this case, I'll probably keep the C200 as a DAC (it measures well and I got it for a better price than similar dedicated DACs) so it would be BAL to BAL.
 

Joel

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My preliminary tests are a bit disappointing. Despite having more power on paper it seems to make a negligible difference driving the HE6se over the C200. Hope to do some more testing over the next couple of days while I can still return the Sabaj.
 

Veri

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My preliminary tests are a bit disappointing. Despite having more power on paper it seems to make a negligible difference driving the HE6se over the C200.
Are you using both balanced out? I suppose the C200 from 4.4mm output is in fact similar, yes.
 

Joel

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Are you using both balanced out? I suppose the C200 from 4.4mm output is in fact similar, yes.
The A20h is balanced in and balanced out. The C200 I’m using SE because the 4.4mm is supposedly unbalanced as well. According to Amir’s review the DAC is balanced but the built-in headphone amp is not.

Subjectively (and as far as I’m able, objectively) the high gain on both amps—even unbalanced vs balanced—is the same and that seems odd both from the published specs and what other users have reported. It makes me wonder if one component in my chain is broken in some way . . . or if I’m just wanting too much volume from my HE6SE.

If I decide to keep the A20h I may send it into Amir just to get an idea of the proper power specs.
 
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bsdinis

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what would happen if I connect a pair of headphones to one of the balanced outputs simultaneosly with another pair of headphones on the unbalanced output?
how are the four TPA6120A2 wired? I'm guessing two of them are for the balanced outputs (both balanced outputs in parallel?) and one of them for the unbalanced output, what would be the purpose for the fourth amp?
 
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Veri

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what would happen if I connect a pair of headphones to one of the balanced outputs simultaneosly with another pair of headphones on the unbalanced output?
This should be fine really, as long as it's not two really low impedance planars at the same time for example. Other loads should be handled without issues.
 

Roland68

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what would happen if I connect a pair of headphones to one of the balanced outputs simultaneosly with another pair of headphones on the unbalanced output?
how are the four TPA6120A2 wired? I'm guessing two of them are for the balanced outputs (both balanced outputs in parallel?) and one of them for the unbalanced output, what would be the purpose for the fourth amp?
The four TPA6120A2 are always connected together. 4 TPA6120A2 result in 8 individual channels, 2 of which are always connected in parallel. All 4 are used for balanced, only 2 for SE, resulting in half the power.
If the manufacturer caught that, you could plug in the Balanced and SE at the same time, but just one headphone would work.
No way would I do it or try.
 

bwcgrx

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Will this drive an HE6SE? I have an SMSL C200 but it seems a bit anemic and lacking headroom for music with with greater headroom (and I'm working on EQ'ing the HE6SE which will cost me volume).

In my experience A20h will drive the HE6se to generally decent levels balanced in balanced out on highest gain. I find that I get to the end of the volume dial to get some tracks loud. On tracks with a lower overall recording level I wish there was just a bit more in the throttle. It's less of a problem with rock/pop tracks than say jazz/classical due to loudness war resulting in the prior often having less dynamic range and thus less differentiation between quite and loud passages. When running the same balanced DAC into an SMSL SP200 I find that there's just that extra in the volume dial when you need a bit more gain. Ultimately it appears that the HE6se does need the 2w of power as recommended. I believe the A20h is rated for around 2w at 32ohm so it will fall below the recommended given the 50ohm load of the HE6se. The SP200 boasts 3w at 32ohm which would result in it providing closer the the recommended 2w at 50ohm. The A20h drives every other headphone I have to levels beyond what I'd call safe or even bearable. The HE6se remains a special case in the world of headphones. I've been eyeing a Topping L70 recently just for these headphones.
 

Joel

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In my experience A20h will drive the HE6se to generally decent levels balanced in balanced out on highest gain. I find that I get to the end of the volume dial to get some tracks loud. On tracks with a lower overall recording level I wish there was just a bit more in the throttle. It's less of a problem with rock/pop tracks than say jazz/classical due to loudness war resulting in the prior often having less dynamic range and thus less differentiation between quite and loud passages. When running the same balanced DAC into an SMSL SP200 I find that there's just that extra in the volume dial when you need a bit more gain. Ultimately it appears that the HE6se does need the 2w of power as recommended. I believe the A20h is rated for around 2w at 32ohm so it will fall below the recommended given the 50ohm load of the HE6se. The SP200 boasts 3w at 32ohm which would result in it providing closer the the recommended 2w at 50ohm. The A20h drives every other headphone I have to levels beyond what I'd call safe or even bearable. The HE6se remains a special case in the world of headphones. I've been eyeing a Topping L70 recently just for these headphones.
Yeah, I bought a Magnius and I still need to drive it pas noon on the volume dial at high gain but it definitely has more headroom than the A20h. I wouldn't call it a better amp overall—not bad, and I prefer the aesthetics of the Schiit, but the discrete volume of the A20h, remote control, and compact size I do miss.

I reached out to Amir about testing my A20h but haven't heard back. I'm on the fence about returning it since it has just sat in the box since I got the Magnius.
 

Filio45

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Sabaj claims the A20h consumes less than 30W, has anyone measured the actual power consumption?
Using the A20h's CP060U 15v 4A power supply, according to my watt meter, it's consuming 6.2 watts idle or playing music. That's with 240v mains input (UK).
 

bsdinis

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Using the A20h's CP060U 15v 4A power supply, according to my watt meter, it's consuming 6.2 watts idle or playing music. That's with 240v mains input (UK).
balanced-in balanced-out max volume?
 

Roland68

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Sabaj claims the A20h consumes less than 30W, has anyone measured the actual power consumption?
Would this 25W linear power supply be enough? https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005003087736719.html
You would achieve more. if you build the Netzfiler from the diyaudio forum and use it with the supplied power supply.
Or buy a Mean Well LPS-50-15, wire it up neatly, and build it in a case with the filter. It also beats most "audio" power supplies, even at $500.
 
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