PS Audio HCA-2 (1 Viewer)

[Ron S]

This amp has gotten some pretty good press lately. And from multiple sources, which makes me want to audition it, as I am in the market for a good 2 channel amp for mains. It seems a bargain, too, for its capabilities... At a discounted price. Not looking to have them *give* it away, but a little wheeling and dealing would be nice.

One dealer on A-gon is sold out, but everywhere else seems to be full-retail. Is anyone aware of a discounted source? Would much prefer new. The feeling of security in being able to send it back, as well as the full warranty, are comforting to me.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Be careful. I don't know anything , but I know that, a) Stereophile reviewed it in their latest issue, and even though the reviewer liked what he heard, the dude who did the measurements was "disappointed" by what he found. b) There seem to be a lot of barely used units out there if you look around.
You might check audiogon.com and audioasylum.com for starters.

 

[John A. Casler]

The dealer agreement requires a specific price be charged for the unit so little chance of finding an internet dealer who will discount.

Actually the prices are pretty good and they do get good reviews for sonics.

Only reason I know is I may be applying soon and have the packet.

John

 

[Ron S]

Thanks for the input, gentlemen
I know that this amp has some "measurement" issues, and the noise floor is not truly silent. I am willing to overlook these findings, though, in favor of what every reviewer has, without exception, found in the area of performance and *sound*. All good. Actually, very good. And we're all aware that sometimes the measurements don't directly correlate with sound quality...
The price point is right, too. Guess I'm being a bit greedy looking for an even *better* deal :b

 

[chung_sotheby]

Ron, you might want to give username Chichiuno an email. He has a bunch of PS Audio gear to choose from. I bought a Power Director 4.7 from the guy and have had nothing but great times with it. He may still have a few HCA2's left, and last I checked he was selling them for around $1200.
One thing is that when I purchased my unit, I picked it up from him and we talked for about an hour about audio gear. He had an HCA-2 that he had opened up to inspect, and the heat sinks on the unit looked like something from a $25 Radio Shack clock radio. I am not sure, but the reason for the small heat sinks must be because of the digital technology, which makes amps run cooler than normal because of better use of power. The inside of the amp was one of the most sparse things that i have ever seen. The guy told me that he had auditioned it and found it a little lean and fatiguing, and that was after about 100hrs of break in.
After seeing the insides of the amp, I decided to audition it at a dealer near me. I, too, found it to be a tad bright, and the listening fatigue started after I listened to a few female vocals. In my opinion, if you want a great amp, go for something like an Odyssey. I own a Stratos with the cap upgrade, and it sounds noticeably more lifelike and fluid than the PS Audio. But then again, my tastes are more towards warmth and smoothness as opposed to diamond-sharp precision and sparkling highs, so the PS Audio might me more suited to your tastes. Hope this helped.

 

[John Kotches]

Chung:

One thing is that when I purchased my unit, I picked it up from him and we talked for about an hour about audio gear. He had an HCA-2 that he had opened up to inspect, and the heat sinks on the unit looked like something from a $25 Radio Shack clock radio. I am not sure, but the reason for the small heat sinks must be because of the digital technology, which makes amps run cooler than normal because of better use of power. The inside of the amp was one of the most sparse things that i have ever seen.

Digital amps are as a general rule substantially more efficient than Class A, A/B or B amplifiers. The input / driver stage is Class A on this unit, which feeds a digital switching amplifier. Since only the driver stage generates significant heat, that's all that needs heat sinking.

As for the interior, the majority of digital amps are sparse inside as they don't need nearly the capacitance as conventional technology, or a host of other circuitry that traditional amplifiers do. As such, they don't need to cram every mm full of parts.

I'm not going to comment on your subjective thoughts on the performance as I can't really comment on what your ear/brain combination likes and doesn't like.

Regards,