Nuforce HA-200 Balanced Monoblocks - Massdrop

Hello you gorgeous people. Massdrop have just yesterday started a new buy for the Nuforce HA-200: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/nuforce-ha-200-headphone-amplifier

According to reviews on it's own an okay-decent amp. But what seems exciting to me is getting two of them and using them as affordable balanced mono-blocks, at the best case scenario price of about $420 for two with shipping. Which seems like peanuts for a balanced amplifier, excluding DIY stuff.

All the reviews I have found about having two as balanced mono-blocks have been incredibly positive. But the HA-200 seems to not be especially popular. One of the downsides to using it like this is having two separate volume controls, but that can be gotten around if your DAC has volume control. The power output as mono-blocks seems to be similar to the Schiit Lyr 2 and Mjolnir 2, one on it's own is like an Asgard 1.

So, has anyone listened to them in mono-block mode? Worth it for the money? How does it compare other amps at a similar price and beyond?


FYI: The specifications currently on the official website and manual are wrong. This was confirmed to me after a lengthy back and forth, and should get updated soon.

 

Interested too.

Can the balance mono block work with Teac UD 301 DAC?

 

As long as it has balanced 3-pin XLR outputs, looked up the Teac and it does indeed. I don't believe balanced mode works with the phono inputs.

 

I actually haven't listened to these myself (though I am a fan of Nuforce gear), but I did find a review on Innerfidelity of these:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/nuforce-ha-200dual-mono-madness

This was written by John Grandberg, whom as far as I know has written stuff on other websites and goes by "project86" on HF.

Don't know if this will be of any use here, but I guess it's a start.

 

You probably stumbled across my review of them on headfi as well. What headphones will you be running? And do you have the space to set up? I tried stacking for a while, but didn't like how hot the top one was getting.

 

Thanks, fried rice83. Yeah there are a good handful of pro reviews. I've read them all. And there's a short thread on HF. Everything seems positive. In the IF review it even gets mentioned in the same sentence as the Auralic Taurus MK2, not that it's as good as that one. Even the amazon reviews are great. One even putting it above an Asgard 2 in single ended mode. There are other factors of course it just seems strange that for something with such potentially high price/performance value there hasn't been much interest. I've not paid attention to the hardware side of things for a long time, perhaps Nuforce are not as popular as they once were.

I surely did Armaegis. Currently I'd be using the HD800s, but I'd prefer any amp I purchase to be neutral enough for any headphone. I read somewhere that Nuforce recommend not stacking them. I've had a quick look on eBay for some small free standing shelves and found few things. Should do a decent job of redirecting enough heat to stack on the shelves.

My guess is that perhaps anyone going to the trouble and expense of a balanced setup is going higher up the pricing ladder, plus the heat and dual volume control are not great in terms of usability.

I'd really like to know how it stacks up against a Schiit Lyr 2 w/LISST Tubes. If they were on par I'd just stay in single ended territory., and be less restricted in terms of DACs due to the necessity of needing a volume control there.

 

Do you currently have a dac with adjustable output? I think that will be a good determining factor right there.

As much as I liked the bravado of having monoblocks, I eventually simplified.

 

Ah yes, I forgot about your review @Armaegis. Yeah, that's a good review, and so were your other reviews on other Nuforce gear.

A bit off topic, but I'd like to thank you Armaegis for pretty much exposing me to the Nuforce brand and actually convincing me to buy something from them (even though it wasn't what you actually reviewed)!

 

Eying up a used Audiolab M-DAC which has balanced outputs and volume control, with a remote too. But if I ever want to move to a Multibit DAC then I'd also have to get a pre amplifier, which would not be cost effective. Then again I run everything through a digital PEQ so technically I could adjust the master level there, but I don't think that is particularly good solution. Digital volume on a PC reduces the "bits", I would guessing changing the master level on a digital PEQ may have the same effect, but I don't know?

Armeagis, can you make any comparison to any Schiit amps? Like the Lyr or Mjolnir? Thanks

 

I really did not like any of their first generation of amps. The Asgard2 is good; I haven't heard the 2nd gen Lyr or Mojo yet.

Using digital volume control is not a huge evil. Set your amps at their comfortable range such that you're only adjusting your digital volume by +/-6 dB. I actually put stickers on my volume knobs so I could easily set them at certain points when needed (such as with different headphones).

 

Thanks that's really helpful. How would you characterise the differences between the Asgard 2 and a single HA-200?

 

Asgard2 is like pancakes in the morning. HA-200 is like spaghetti for lunch. Going to monoblocks is adding meatballs.

 

With maple syrup or honey? Ha. That gives me an interesting impression, thank you. Surprisingly the one thing I haven't found anywhere is a comparison in audio terms. Resolution, low end impact, high end detail, warm/cold etc. I'd love to hear your expert opinion in those respects.

 

The Asgard2 is like Tom Cruise. Small yet intense, and you kinda want to punch him in the face after a while.

The HA-200 is like Jack Black. Big and goofy, yet still surprisingly agile. And he's a cuddly panda. Monoblocks = Skadoosh.

 

I've exhausted all routes to solid info. I'll move on. If I ever get to try one out I'll resurrect the thread with my impressions. Thank you all for your input.

PS: Tune in next week to see BenjaminBore continue the search for a Totally Sweded Ragnarok on next weeks episode..

 

I never heard the two back-to-back, and it's been a while since I've owned the monoblocks, so really the best I can do is offer comparisons on the general feeling/memory left behind. Plus I've only heard the HD800 on the monoblocks. Seriously, my comparisons offered above really do express how they sounded to me.

The HA-200 warmed up the sound considerably on the HD800 owing to the output impedance of the amps. Not the last word in resolution, but imparted a lot of body and a general fun sound. I don't even remember what headphones I used with the Asgard2 but I remember my impressions being that it was strong if somewhat dry and not fun.

 

Thank you Armaegis, that's still really helpful. I'm increasingly finding I may have to move up the ladder to achieve what I'm aiming for. I feel like it shouldn't be so costly. But I don't know a thing about small volume production of discrete amps.

High voltage opamp based amps have not been particularly impressive. i.e. O2 and Gustard H10. The O2 actually reduces fidelity. Easy to hear on something with a lot of reverb.

 

I really enjoyed the HD800 from the dual HA-200, but yeah if you're climbing the hill then just poke around on the forums for a while. There are several big dedicated threads to tell you how to best power the HD800.

 

An update for anyone that comes across this thread in future. I don't have the link handy but a couple of months ago I came across a comment by @Marvey on the changstar.com archive that stated even in balanced monoblock mode they were not as good as a Schiit Asgard 2.

EDIT: Correction, it was made by @zerodeefex
http://www.changstar.com/www.changstar.com/index.php/topic,1815.530.html
"zilch0md has tin ears. The NuForce alone trails the Asgard 2 at best (coming from someone who bought two just to test it out in fully balanced mode which might have gotten close to the Asgard 2)."

EDIT 2: Also, if no one is talking about them, then there's probably a reason.

 

and at this point, the jotunheim is $400 and a good balanced amp