Best Digital Amps

Little Milton, don't get too excited. Some here just like taking pot shots at the HCA-2.

I find it hilarious that many of the amps that are often compared to the HCA-2 are 2 to 3 times more expensive than the HCA-2. And if modding a product means the product wasn't "well-engineered" to begin with, then virtually every component ever discussed here has to be considered poorly engineered because they all get modded searching for better performance. Not to mention the manufacturer mods (upgrades) to their own products, i.e the Spectron I, II, and now III or the Bel Canto 2002.x or xx, xxx. I can't even keep up with all of the Bel Canto changes. I am shocked, in fact, that Spectron and Bel Canto had to come out with so many upgrades to their products since Nealhood annointed them as "well engineered". And the ironic thing is that the HCA-2 upgrades I did to the HCA-2 cost $75 vs. the Spectron and Bel Canto upgrades which cost several hundreds more!

I think you get my point.

Spend $75 in premium parts on a $1,700 amp and I suspect it will compete with any of the amps mentioned here. Oh, and BTW, in its stock form it kicks the crap out of the Bel Canto based on virtually every post I have read comparing the two.

Click on the Review section at AA and read the HCA-2 reviews and the follow-up threads. There is much good information there from posters who have actually done direct comparisons of the HCA-2 to other "well-engineered" amps. Either the balance of the opinions at AA are correct about the HCA-2 or the "drive-by" HCA-2 posters at the 'Gon are correct. Take your pick.

Kana, you have to take Muralman with a grain of salt. Not 6 or 7 months ago the Pass X600 was the best amp on the planet, just like the Scintillas he owns are the best speakers in the world (by his own words). It seems whatever equipment he owns at the moment is the BEST ever made! Maybe he can sub for Sam Tellig or H.P. if they get sick. It will be fun to see what next month's flavor is.

Oxia, I think you are missing the point. Virtually every product can be improved. Case in point; your eAr amp. Acoustic Reality has improved their circuit or so they say.

I guess Peter has been fiddling around with his own design and improved it.

If you check the Acoustic Reality website you can see if you have the latest upgrade. If you don't, you can send it back for the "modded" circuit upgrade.

Although from the customer sevice nightmares many have experienced from Peter and Acoustic Reality you might be better off keeping the lesser eAR version.

And give it time, modders somewhere will probably find a way to even improve the eAR. Progress and perfomance never stand still.

Oxia, you and I are in complete agreement. I have purchased most of my gear factory-direct online for two reasons. The first being that I agree with your assessment that factory-direct companies are better bang-for-the-buck.

Secondly, I live on Maui and there are zero brick & mortar audio shops here. But even if there were, I would still probably prefer factory direct.

I have not heard the Acoustic Reality amps, but I am sure they are very good. I believe digital is certainly the wave of the future. I said that the minute I listened to the HCA-2 stock.

I also believe digital is in it's infancy, including the Acoustic Reality products. I suspect in a few years we may possibly hear things from digital products we didn't think possible. But having said that, I anticipate in early '05 I will be auditioning equipment to overhaul my entire system. At that time I plan on auditioning Tenors, Berning, Goldmund, etc., so I haven't completely written off tubes as evidenced by the Tenors and Berning.

As good as Spectron & Acoustic Reality may be (and I would love to compare both to my modded HCA-2), I suspect that the likes of the amps that I mentioned above are still in a different league. Five years from now, as digital really begins to mature, it may be a different story. But currently I still believe (admittedly, without hearing them) that digital amps may still be bettered with high-end conventional designs. I will find out in a year or so.