Celebrating its 10th anniversary, HiFiMAN was on hand at the recent CanJam SoCal 2024, showing their HE1000 Unveiled Open-back Planar Headphones, and ANANDA-BT wireless headphones, but they also introduced their new GA-10 Goldenwave Tube Headphone Amplifier.
For this product entry, HiFiMAN has partnered with China-based Goldenwave.
The GA-10 is an audiophile-grade headphone amplifier that features the SEPP (single-ended push-pull) circuit with eight vacuum tubes, a linear transformer, and direct tube output.
The vacuum tubes used in the GA-10 include the ECC83/12AX7 (4) and EL84 (4) which are found in select high-fidelity, high-priced amplifiers.
The EL84 vacuum tubes are featured in leading guitar amplifiers used by some of the most successful professional musicians, adding an element of natural analog warmth to the sound output.
The power supply features a specially designed, shielded 120W transformer. The transformer is combined with an independent, low-noise voltage amplifier, stage voltage regulator circuits for the left and right channels, and low-noise negative voltage regulator circuit to support better sound quality with wide dynamics and solid bass extension.
The GA-10 features an audio output of 3 watts per channel at 300 Ohms, making it a great match for most available high-impedance headphones. The GA-10 is also equipped to drive high-efficiency low-impedance headphones, including the HiFiMAN HE1000 series models, such as the recently introduced HE1000 Unveiled.
Specifications
- Frequency Response: 20-24kHz, +/-0.5dB@1KHz
- THD+N: 0.1%, @1Khz, 1V
- Inputs
- XLR Balanced Input
- RCA Unbalanced Input
- Outputs
- XLR 4-Pin Balanced Output
- 4.4mm Balanced Output
- 6.35mm Single-ended Output
- Power Output : 3000mW/300; 600mW/32Ω,@1KHz
- Total Power Consumption: 70 watts
- Dimensions (LHW – not including protrusions)
- 330 x 110 x 380 mm
- 13 x 4.3 x 16 inches
From Dr. Fang Bian, President and CEO, of HIFIMAN Electronics: “There is a demonstrable difference when listening to well-recorded music with an exceptional tube amplifier like the Goldenwave GA-10,…Like only the best high-fidelity vacuum tube amplifiers, the GA-10 produces warm, sweet sonics that are consistently transparent and neutral.”
Bottom Line
Desktop headphone amplifiers come in all shapes and sizes and there is a glut right now of excellent sounding options from Schiit Audio, iFi Audio, Topping, Cayin, Questyle, Linear Tube Audio, dCS, and HiFiMAN.
The right amplifier for you depends on a number of factors including power, connectivity options, and the ability to use it long-term as a pre-amplifier or even DAC (if one is included) if that works in your specific scenario.
Not every type of headphone amplifier is the right choice for specific types of headphones; electrostatic headphones require a very specific type of amplifier that is designed for that headphone.
Dongle DACs can work rather well on the desktop but it all depends on the headphone on the other end of the cable.
Some may think that the GA-10 is pricey at $1,599 – but there are some vacuum tube headphone amplifiers that are a lot more expensive, such as the $108,000 Audio Technica HPA-KG NARU.
Products such as the $149 Schitt Audio Vali 3 offer a much easier point of entry for those considering a desktop headphone amplifier for the first time.
HiFiMAN has proven to us (some of us own multiple pairs of their headphones) that they can build great products and we suspect that the new GA-10 might be a great option for some.
Price & Availability
The Goldenwave GA-10 is available for pre-order for $1,599 at HiFiMAN’s online store, and the first shipments are expected by the end of October 2024.
Related Reading
- HiFiMAN’s Mini Shangri-La Electrostatic Headphone System is Only $2,300?
- HiFiMAN’s True Wireless TWS450 Earbuds Are Super Affordable
- HiFiMAN Unveils EF499 and EF500 DAC/Headphone Amplifiers
- HiFiMAN’s SVANAR Wireless Jr and LE Earphones Expand Their Hi-Res Bluetooth Range
