Topping
EHA5 Headphone Amplifier
£450 (£900 with Stax SR-L300 headphones)
Headphone listening is extra widespread than ever, but electrostatic designs stay an esoteric proposition for many. That is primarily attributable to price, as not solely are the most effective designs costly, however they require devoted energy – you may’t merely plug them into the headphone socket in your amplifier.
Chinese language producer Topping seeks to alter this state of affairs with its new EHA5, a devoted electrostatic headphone amp – typically known as an energiser – retailing at a modest £450. And now, UK distribution firm Electromod is providing it as a package deal together with Stax’s SR-L300 headphones for £900. An electrostatic headphone system for beneath £1,000 represents critical worth for cash, for my part.
Stax has, for many years, arguably been the main firm in electrostatic headphone design, with its extremely regarded SR-L300 being an ideal match for the EHA5. These budget-friendly telephones have been round for some time now, so I will not go into element about them – besides to say that they are glorious. So, we are going to as a substitute focus on the newly-released amp, though SR-L300s had been used for the needs of this assessment.
UP CLOSE
The EHA5 is a small field design – round half the width of a standard hi-fi amplifier – constructed into an aluminium chassis with a beautiful matt-black end. A Stax-compatible 5-pin headphone output is located on the centre of the entrance panel with a quantity management to the precise. Two switches seem on the left of the unit, the primary being the facility change, which additionally permits the collection of balanced enter and output (by way of both XLR or quarter-inch TRS combo connectors) or single-ended RCA on the rear panel. Additionally on the again panel is a 12 volt set off part that facilitates the amp being related to different Topping amps for simplified operation. Plus there is a USB interface particularly for firmware updates, which sits adjoining to the facility socket for the 15V wall-wart energy provide.
The second front-panel change is for low or excessive achieve operation; the upper possibility is healthier suited to extra insensitive electrostatic designs. The upper achieve works effectively with the SR-L300s, though the amount management must be dialled up previous the mid-position for an honest degree – round 2 or 3 o’clock appears regular in most conditions. Upon power-up, the field emits a beautiful heat, orange glow paying homage to thermionic units. Nevertheless, there aren’t any tubes contained in the field, merely a pair of LEDs offering the valve-like mild.
THE LISTENING
Used along side my Chord Qutest DAC streaming Qobuz, the Stax/Topping combo affords a wholly completely different listening expertise from any dynamic headphones I’ve heard. Its trip-hammer transient response delivers the form of openness, delicacy and subtlety that even my reference, twice-as-expensive Air Movement Transformer (AMT) headphones wrestle to attain.
Blur‘s newest album, The Ballad of Darrenis a good fashionable pop recording stuffed with ambiance, which this method replays with improbable focus and transparency. Ambient cues, such because the layered reverb and slap-back echo on lead vocals, make for a elegant rendition of the opening monitor. Then St. Charles Sq. sees the band in additional acquainted Parklife territory, full with a shouted ‘oi’ through the intro. Nevertheless, a delicate snigger previous it’s a revelation beforehand unheard outdoors the electrostatic headphone expertise. The panned electrical guitars and wide-stereo drums replay with superior spatial definition, making the AMT telephones sound shut-in by comparability.
Whereas the electrostatics do a positive job of expressing a lot of the slam and drive of tougher rock tracks, it is with extra superbly recorded music that this method shines brightest. The fragile acoustic backing of Norah Jones‘ Come Away With Me showcases the exact placement and spacing of devices, whereas the expressiveness of the vocal efficiency reveals a tangible degree of realism and emotional engagement that evades all however the perfect methods.
Staying with recordings launched on the Blue Notice label, Herbie Hancock‘s Maiden Journey is a traditional mid-sixties jazz recording from grasp engineer Rudy Van Gelder‘s New Jersey studio. The composer’s piano sits centre stage flanked by Freddie Hubbard‘s trumpet within the left speaker and George Coleman‘s tenor sax to the precise. Regardless of the much-maligned piano sound, this method brings out the most effective of it by way of readability, together with the musical separation of the brass and woodwind; stereo soundstaging is great.
THE VERDICT
The issue with electrostatic headphone and amplifier packages is that they are sometimes prohibitively costly, however Topping’s wallet-friendly EHA5 amplifier takes among the sting out of the shopping for expertise. Paired with Stax’s comparatively inexpensive SR-L300 electrostatic headphones, the result’s a clear, candy sound with an unrivalled degree of timbral decision, accuracy and musical coherence. Effectively value an audition.
