Icon Audio HP8 Valve Headphone Amplifier

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£449.95

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Product information

The Icon Audio HP8 headphone amplifier is an award winning, versatile and affordable valve headphone amplifier, offering superb performance for a modest price. Icon Audio's HP8 is in fact a small integrated hi fi amplifier, using a custom wound multi-tap output transformer to provide perfect matching to virtually any headphone load.

The conventional way to provide a headphone output is to drop the power through a resistor. This has a big problem that it provides very high source impedance (rather like a weak battery) the effect of this is to give very 'Low FI' results. Ideally headphones should be driven from small high quality amplifiers. Many headphone amplifiers use small “microchip” amps which although are a better solution still do not provide ideal matching to the wide range of headphones available.

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As with other Icon models, the HP8 has no PCB, opting instead for hard wiring throughout with silver Teflon audio cable, gold plated terminals and an ALPS volume pot for sonic purity. The first stage gain uses the excellent Mullard (New Old Stock) 12AT7. this wonderful valve has exceptional detail and fluidity. Its smoothness complements the super Russian 6H30pi (small) version of the 6SN7 probably the greatest of all HI FI driver valves). This combination will give you a simply stunning insight into inner detail of your favourite recordings whether Analogue or digital.

The HP8 even includes speaker terminals on the rear to further increase the versatility. Although 2+2w (RMS) does sound much it can give surprisingly good results in an office or bedroom environment where high sound levels are not required. Indeed, used with high efficiency speakers, it will fill a room with full range sound. Like our other amplifiers, close attention has been paid to the finish of the HP8. It uses the same 'Bullet Proof' as our other amplifiers with a combination of anodised alloy plate, stainless and painted steel. The HP8 can be connected to your hi-fi in several ways, either to the 'record out' on your amplifier or connected directly to the source you have selected.

Full Specifications

- Circuits hand wired point to point, no PCB to ‘colour’ sound
- Class A, all Triode circuit
- Output impedance matching from 8 to 600Ω
- 2 x Russian 6H30pi super triodes
- 1x ECC81 first stage valve
- 2 x 2w RMS continuous per channel max for speaker terminals
- Signal to noise level -90db
- Freq response better than 20hz-20kHz +0 –0.2db
- Total harmonic distortion typically less than 0.2% 1khz
- Suitable for 4 to 10 ohm loudspeakers
- Japanese steel EI transformers with low oxygen copper
- High quality 2W metal film, & wire-wound resistors
- Polypropylene audio capacitors, silver Teflon audio cable
- Custom hand wound output transformers
- Ceramic valve holders for minimum leakage
- Gold plated Input & speaker terminals
- One line input, tape monitor circuit
- 350mv input sensitivity.