HeadRoom Balanced Home Amp

This HeadRoom product has completely sold-out & has been discontinued!

The first time we listened to headphones in balanced-XLR mode we sent our Wadia CD player in for inspection to see if there was anything wrong with it; we just couldn’t believe there could exist so much sonic difference between balanced and unbalanced headphone listening. But there certainly is. Driving headphones in balanced mode effectively delivers twice the slew rate, half the amplifier output impedance, and rids the headphones of significant noise-floor crosstalk due to the common return connection from the element drivers while simultaneously offering twice the voltage swing of identical single-ended amps. It’s really an entirely different headphone listening universe utilizing the most advanced sound quality technology currently available in the audiophile head-amp world. The timbral presentation becomes fully transparent, articulate, & authoritative -- a clear move up from essentially identical electronics in the single-ended HeadRoom Home Amp [eschewing the inverting channel electronics] driving standard unbalanced headphones. In balanced mode, headphone musical dynamic range extension becomes truly vast, precise, and lightning-quick.

Perhaps one of the most astonishing facets of balanced headphone systems is the incredibly deep and wide soundstage image which can only begin to be described as "totally immersive." The musical performance space emerges fully formed within your sound mind as a wholly enveloping, completely coherent sonic embrace that surrounds the listener with an integrated musical landscape simply unachievable in single-ended headphones. The audible result remains breathtaking stuff even for us jaded 'heard-it-all' high-end audio dweebs; We believe it's well worth the pain of re-cabling headphones to balanced-drive stereo XLR terminations for all discerning audiophile connoisseurs.

Features

The Balanced Home Amp is capable of driving two pairs of balanced headphones simultaneously, but fear not, you don’t have to re-cable all your headphones. The Balanced Home Amp can also drive up to four standard single-ended headphones in its unbalanced mode as each XLR connection houses a stereo 1/4" jack concentrically within. Dual left & right high-voltage power supplies are aligned on the main circuit board with the vertically standing left and right channel [inverting and non-inverting] electronics module boards. The internal 'Max' electronics module used within the HeadRoom Balanced Home Amp is a deep 'Class-A' biased configuration using our own HeadRoom tweak of Walter Jung's solid-state discrete Diamond Buffer design as the output stage and superb Burr-Brown OPA627 op-amps in all other active stages.

Options

The most important Balanced Home Amp upgrade to consider is our Digital to Analog converter option. The DAC not only provides you with additional USB, coaxial, and optical digital input, but best of all allows you to take ANY digital-output audio source, even a laptop computer, and obtain a true balanced signal ready for your XLR-recabled headphones. That means the uber-expensive balanced-output CD player you’ve been eyeing is no longer a necessity to enjoy blissful balanced-drive sound quality.

We'll add that the Max DAC option should be a serious consideration for listeners wanting to maximize the sound quality of their digital audio sources, especially folks listening to lower bitrate Mp3 files which are vastly improved by the upsampling stage of the Max DAC. To clarify: people often ask if all this sophisticated and pricey high-end componentry is worth it; Our answer is that for those with a hearty wallet, pristine ears, and truly superb audio component sources, the rich enjoyments of an upscale audio connoisseur are available fairly priced in these flagship HeadRoom products, but keep in mind you’ll need to be dropping a small chunk of change on excellent reference headphones to make it all worthwhile!

If you need help choosing your lovely HeadRoom amp, please feel free to contact us for personalized help, by emailing sales or calling our nerdy sales staff at 800.828.8184. You can also learn more about our electronics modules, D-A converters, and volume controls

Accessories

You will need to have your headphones recabled into balanced stereo XLR-plug terminations for balanced-drive sound. We currently offer the Sennheiser HD 650, AKG K701, and beyerdynamic DT880 headphones in balanced configuration. Recabling your Sennheiser HD580/600/650 headphones is a user-friendly breeze, thanks to Oregon's Cardas Audio aftermarket headphone cabling which can be ordered and easily user-replaced. A 10-foot length of balanced cable for the HD580/ HD600 / HD650 series is $300.00 or a 20-foot length for $400.00 USD. Also available is balanced cabling for the Sennheiser HD-595, AKG K-601, and the beyerdynamic DT-990 headphones, all of which we can recable here at HeadRoom when buying any of our balanced-drive amps. Feel free to give our uber-knowlegeable HeadRoom sales geeks a call about re-cabling your high-end Sennheiser, AKG, or beyerdynamic headphones!

Cables

The HeadRoom Balanced Home Amp does NOT include any interconnect cabling. If you have the DAC option, lucky you, as any digital audio source can now serve as your balanced source! A USB cable will allow you to hook up your Balanced Home Amp to a computer. If using the optical input on the DAC, you will need an Optical Digital Cable, and if you are using coaxial inputs then take a look at this coaxial cable. To hook up your Balanced Home Amp to a balanced source with balanced outputs, you will need balanced interconnects

Dimensions

The Home Amp line products are housed in six piece aluminum enclosure the measures 15.5 x 15.5 x 5 inches, and weighs around 19.5 lbs. They employ a heavy rubber bezel to nicely dress out the enclosure and to provide sturdy footing on any surface.

All HeadRoom Balanced Home amps are hand-built in Montana, USA.