Dragon Inspire IHA-1

Discussion in 'Headphone Amplifiers and Combo (DAC/Amp) Units' started by MrTeaRex, Sep 20, 2017.

  1. marcussmj

    marcussmj New

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    Is the Lundahl a must have upgrade for this amp? I'm considering getting it in a few months and since the base price got raised, it's an added expense for me considering I don't earn in USD.
     
  2. porkfriedpork

    porkfriedpork Friend

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    I've never heard the IHA-1 without the Lundahl upgrade. The lundahls give 5db more gain.

    Drew from moon says:
    "For headphones that are less sensitive, the Lundahl input transformer gives more gain. Whether that is loud enough for you I cant tell you."

    With HD650 and lower gain 6BX7 tubes, I would strongly miss the extra gain.
    With HD800 and 6SN7 it might just great, unless you're a headbanger like me.
     
  3. SineDave

    SineDave Friend

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    So thanks to @MrTeaRex I was able to borrow his IHA-1 for a couple of weeks and get to know this amp with my HD800's, HD650's and HE-560s. After a couple of days, I realized I loved the way this amp sounded, and after rolling some of his tubes, decided it was a clear upgrade from my T3 and placed an order. As of yesterday I am the proud new owner of an IHA-1 with Lundahl transformers.

    The best aspect of this amp for me is that due to the simplicity of the design, its sonic character is almost totally driven by your choice of tubes. I've never had an amp where just swapping out tubes led to such impressive changes. Right now, I'm using some PSVANE Teasure mkII driver tubes I sniped on eBay (little bright, waiting on some others to come in), and a 1943 Westhinghouse 5AR4 rectifier.

    I've got 2 more sets of drivers and a couple of rectifiers on the way, so we'll see how things go. All that said, I'm extremely happy with this amp, and I think it may be my end-game.

    Obligatory crappy phone picture:

    [​IMG]
     
  4. e.schell

    e.schell Friend

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    What other tubes did you end up getting and what were your impressions? I have some 6sn7's that i use in my freya that i really like (Sylvania 6sn7GT, ken rad vt-231, raytheon vt-231) and have had my eyes on this amp and have seen a couple of use ones come up for sale recently... would definitely want one with the output transformers.
    What does your chain consist of paired with the iha-1 dac and source wise? My headphones are he-560 and hd650K, have both balanced and unbalanced cables for each... Have you tested the 1/4 and xlr outputs for audible differences? I know similar questions have been answered various places around the net but i always enjoy hearing from people in this community.
     
  5. SineDave

    SineDave Friend

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    I'm using a Soekris DAC1541 right now. As far as tubes, I've mostly settled on the 6SN7 PSvane Treasure Mk IIs for my drivers, though I also really like my Westinghouse 6BX7s, and mostly use a Westinghouse red label 5U4GB for my rectifier.
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2018
  6. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    Anyone try this with the Focal Clears? I can't seem to find any info on output impedance, and scared I might get hiss or non-ideal sound because the headphones are highly sensitive and low impedance comparitive to other headphones mentioned here.
     
  7. porkfriedpork

    porkfriedpork Friend

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    Output impedance of 4.4 ohms
     
  8. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    Thx...sound like the Clears are in the Clear.
     
  9. Comzee

    Comzee Facebook Friend

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    I decided to upgrade the capacitors in the iha1 for shits and giggles, because I've had it almost since it came out, and was getting bored of it I guess...

    Anyway, the three capacitor values and what they do:

    PSU filter cap (stock): F&T 10uf 500v
    Bypass cap (stock): F&T 100uf 100v
    Interstage caps AKA coupling caps (stock): Solen .47uf 630v

    What I replaced them with:

    PSU filter: Jantzen 10uf 800v (not recommended as it didn't fit in the case, and gave only slight auditory benefits)
    Bypass: Audio Note 100uf 100v http://www.partsconnexion.com/product31089.html
    Interstage: Jupiter Copper Foil, Paper and Wax .47uf 600v


    Here's the picture of the Jupiter and Audio note caps in the my iha1: https://i.imgur.com/HXg23pS.jpg
    Here's the picture of the PSU filter cap, I might be taking this out because of how ugly it is, but idk: https://i.imgur.com/S5j6QCA.jpg

    As far as it sounds now? Quite a bit more, nuanced... It took the Jupiter caps a solid 72hr to burn in before they started to sound as good as the stock caps. After 100hr the amp was clearly superior in almost all technicalities, more detail, better timbre, better micro dynamics, more clarity, especially better defined lower frequencies.


    No doubt the biggest difference makers in the amp are the interstage AKA coupling caps. If one was to upgrade their own iha1, I would say probably just do those to make it easy. But, the bypass caps are right above the interstage caps, so it's really hard to do one and not the other.

    Also, I went balls out on the interstage caps, the Jupiters were $200 for the pair. You can get Jantzens .47uf 800v for only $45 a pair, and those would no doubt also be greatly superior to the stock Solen caps.

    P.S. This amp also shits on the amps&sound Kenzie, even in stock form. It's unfortunate it doesn't get as much notice as those amps.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2018
  10. Elnrik

    Elnrik Super Friendly

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    I wish people wouldn't make comments like this unless they put it into context. How does it "shit" all over the Kenzie? What is your experience with the Kenzie, and with which headphones? What are your sonic preferences? (eg. - Basshead, treble-head, AQ Nighthawk lover, etc...)

    Apparently the HD800 shits all over other headphones too, which simply means that there are plenty of feces-smeared headphones I'd rather listen to.

    Edit: To take the edge off my previous comments/questions - Thanks for the upgrade cap review and pics. It's interesting to me how the caps electronically perform the same, yet yield different sound. It's fascinating to me.

    Edit 2: I am genuinely interested in how this compares to the Kenzie.
     
    Last edited: Feb 19, 2018
  11. Druid

    Druid Hyperactive Tree

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    Stupid question, possibly. How much heat does this amp put out? Space heater level like a ZDS or less?

    I currently have my gear in a small room, and it heats up easily, so a somewhat cooler amp would be a bonus, but that may not be possible with the high-end tube amps.
     
  12. Comzee

    Comzee Facebook Friend

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    About as much as a 100w heater.
    I don't consider to heat up a room much if any, unless the ambient temperature is already at the precipice of being too hot.
     
  13. AMW1011

    AMW1011 Friend

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    The heat that the IHA-1 puts out is pretty minimal. I wouldn't worry about it heating up much of anything.
     
  14. porkfriedpork

    porkfriedpork Friend

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    IHA1 is tiny compared to ZDS, much less heat

    [​IMG]
     
  15. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Quite a collection!! I may have missed it but have you compared it to the ZDS? @porkfriedpork
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2018
  16. Druid

    Druid Hyperactive Tree

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    Thanks for the pic! Smaller is a real plus, at least until I get around to moving into a bigger place.
     
  17. Druid

    Druid Hyperactive Tree

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    OK, guys, I couldn't resist. I put in my order for a new IHA-1. Now I'll want to do a little tube rolling but keep it at reasonable levels. I already have some 6SN7 tubes including a "bad boy". However, I was rolling for the Project Ember which only needs one tube. Do you need matching tubes for this amp? Also, what is a good rectifier that I can buy and call it good? I'll primarily be using this with the HD800 (SBAF + SDR), but I'd like it to work for the HD650 (kiss modded) as well.
     
  18. SineDave

    SineDave Friend

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    I've done a fair amount of rectifier rolling. To my ears, the older Westinghouse (red label, made in Canada or yellow label USA), or RCA 5U4GB are the best.
     
  19. allegro

    allegro Friend

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    Agreed. @ampsandsound is respected on this forum and to say:

    Without providing details is not helpful. The Kenzie is also very amenable to tube rolling just not as many options for power tubes. I had Justin make me a set of outboard input transformers (made the mistake of ordering a base Kenzie instead of Kenzie Encore) and am using Tung Sol 1626 with a 1960's Telefunken ECC801S. Justin provides 32/300 Ohm taps to provide best match for your phones. I use HD800S on 300 Ohm and Elears on 32 ohm and feel no need at all to upgrade my amp.

    A review comparing the IHA-1 to a fully optioned Kenzie Encore would be useful.
     
  20. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    The fully-optioned deluxe Kenzie Encore with NOS tube set and input transformers and upgraded coupling caps is $400 more than the IHA-1 with the NOS tubes and Lundahl transformer upgrade -- FYI.

    I'd love to hear more impressions of this amp because I have to agree, there aren't that many out there. Why it shits all over anything else would be helpful knowing.

    Additionally, the EC ZDS is $2450 which puts it right in the ballpark of these two amps (Kenzie Encore/IHA-1). A shootout would be really cool if we could make that happen somehow.

    Just a hunch but I suspect the result would be more different than better (or shitting on anything).
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2018

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