When Yamaha introduced their flagship YH-5000SE headphones, those blissfully unaware of the Japanese brand’s storied R&D in the headphone space rolled their eyes at the $5,000 asking price.
Big mistake.
At one point, Yamaha was a significant player in the category with the development of its Orthodynamic driver; which can almost be considered to be one of the first planar designs. The brand made the decision to focus their attention elsewhere in the market and eventually released their first lineup of wireless headphones to not feel left out.
The YH-5000SE features a new version of their Orthodynamic driver which has been integrated into a new headphone chassis that seemingly can’t decide if it is pat of the Star Wars galaxy or the latest iteration of Steampunk.
Every design element has been reimagined using state-of-the-art materials and acoustic testing. The Yamaha YH-5000SE have been in the works for a few years and they were not being released until they were satisfied that the final product could compete with anything available.
HA-L7A
That last part should have been a signal to anyone paying attention that Yamaha was devoting as much time to the development of the new HA-L7A flagship headphone amplifier as they were the flagship headphones.
“The HA-L7A is the ultimate solution for Hi-Fi headphone amplification and playback of digital high-resolution content,” said Alex Sadeghian, director of consumer audio, Yamaha Corporation of America. “This headphone amp features an innovative Sound Field mode, no-compromise design and construction, and legendary Yamaha engineering. It is sure to make a significant impact on the Hi-Fi headphone market.”
The HA-L7A is designed and built around the principles of True Sound, encompassing Tonal Balance, Dynamics, and Sound Image. The amplifier strives to thoroughly eliminate minute noise and attain a high slew rate, which is crucial for ultra-high-resolution music sources.
Front Panel
The front panel of the HA-L7A features two balanced headphone jacks that allow you to fully enjoy the detailed, high-quality of balanced circuitry. You’ll also find one unbalanced headphone jack that reduces contact loss thanks to gold-plated processing.
NEUTRIK jacks are used for the XLR balanced headphone jacks, and Pentaconn terminals are utilized for the 4.4mm 5-pole terminals, letting you connect your preferred headphones and unleash their full potential.
All three outputs offer 1,000 mW + 1,000 mW (1 kHz, 0.01 %THD, 32 Ω) from a power perspective which should be sufficient for a wide range of headphones and IEMs.
Electrostatic headphones need not apply in this scenario.
Real Panel
Featuring a comprehensive set of input terminals, including USB (Type B), coaxial, and optical, the HA-L7A allows you connect a variety of devices, such as high-resolution DAPs (digital audio players), PCs and CD players.
The amplifier also has built-in XLR and RCA pre-out/line-out output terminals, allowing it to serve as a D/A converter or preamplifier, providing exceptional connectivity and expandability options when using an external amplifier.
The DAC?
Sparing no expense, the HA-L7A incorporates ESS Technology’s ES9038PRO DAC. The dedicated master clock on the device utilizes a crystal oscillator with ultra-low phase noise to attain the highly precise D/A conversion and features an eight-channel D/A converter housed inside the chip that applies four-channel conversion to the left and right sides respectively.
Utilizing this four-channel bundle delivers exceptionally high-quality audio output with broad dynamic range and superior signal-to-noise ratio.
DSD (Direct Stream Digital) files of up to the top-level 11.2 MHz rate can be played natively with the ASIO driver, which accurately reproduces the original sound of DSD audio.
Also, PCM high-resolution sound sources of up to 32-bit/38 kHz are also supported. The driver is by Yamaha Steinberg, and transmission is not synchronized with the PC clock, but uses asynchronous transfer that controls transmission with the unit’s high-precision clock.
This reduces jitter to the utmost limit, for accurate reproduction of the most demanding high-resolution sound sources.
The USB DAC processing employs two dedicated clocks: a 44.1kHz system and a 48kHz system that uses a high-precision crystal oscillator with low phase noise. Moreover, the DAC section is designed to be less susceptible to external clock jitter through placement of the clock with the crystal oscillator as the master clock near the device.
Patented Floating and Balanced Power Amplifier
A total of four sets of amplifier circuits on the plus and minus sides of the left and right channels of the output stage are floated from the ground, resulting in thoroughly symmetrical push-pull operation of the output stage. All circuitry, including the power supply, is completely independent of the ground, ensuring the effects of voltage fluctuations and external noise surrounding the ground are eliminated.
Dual Toroidal Transformers
The power supply section employs two toroidal transformers with bifilar windings. One is for the minute-signal circuitry in the front stage and the second is for the amplifier section in the second stage. This design significantly reduces magnetic flux leakage while minimizing voltage variations, which in turn enhance the stability of the power supply.
Sound Field Mode
Utilizing the same Yamaha CINEMA DSP sound field creation technology that is incorporated into many Yamaha AV receivers, the built-in Sound Field mode produces stunning results in the sound image. Six options of Sound Field are on-board to reproduce the optimal sound field for the entire scope of music and video.
Product Highlights
- Patented Floating and Balanced Power Amplifier technology optimized for headphone listening
- ESS Technology ES9038PRO for superior sonic quality
- Bifilar winded, designated toroidal transformers for front stage processing and second stage amplification
- 6 Sound Field modes for a more immersive experience playing any content
- Pure Direct mode to pass through the most subtle nuances in the music
- 5 solid metal feet for exceptional stability and vibration suppression
- Elegant design with a highly rigid construction and a brilliant OLED display
Price & Availability
The Yamaha HA-L7A will be available in late 2023 for $3,999.95 at Yamaha.com.
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