Superb detail, very tight bass that starts and stops with lightning speed, very low audible distortion, great dynamics in delivering massive sound levels when the recording calls for it, and best of all, rock solid imaging with good width and depth.

Bass freaks may find it a bit 'lean' but, if one listens carefully, the low notes are all there but not 'all over the place' - as with some other amps . You get what's on the recording, and this amp. will expose any poor recording practices.

My resident amplifer was ( until now ), the Meridian 556, a very fine sounding amp. that, I thought, had no rival anywhere near its' price point.

That was before a friend offered to let me have the PS Audio machine for trial at home.

It took me no more than an hour of listening to realise that this was a very special amplifier, taking the sound of the KEF Reference 3 / two I use, to another level! and left the Meridian sounding somewhat 'flat' and 'HiFi ish!

The main advantage of this wonderful amp. is its' low distortion, frequency extention on both ends of the audible band and its' amazing dynamics.

I never heard the big KEFs sound like this before.

If you're after detail, realism, dynamics ( slam ) in Music, and precise imaging, then this is an amp. you must listen to, nevermind price or brand.

It is THAT good

I now use both amps. in bi amping mode, the PS Audio driving the midrange and tweeter while the Meridian is taking care of the low end. Awsome sound.

The driving preamplifier is a Musical Fidelity NuVista, another great piece of Audio gear, operating in Class A and being a perfect partnair to both the PS Audio and Meridian amps.

Similar Products Used:

Meridian 556, Threshold S 200 Stasis, Audiolab 8000 P, Densen DM 10 plus valve monoblocks.

Broad dynamic range: extended treble and deep, tight bass. Excellent build quality; WBT binding posts. Runs very cool and efficient.

None significant, especially at current prices

The cornerstone of my system for years was a McCormack DNA 0.5. I auditioned many amps but never found anything under $2k to rival it until the HCA-2. The presentation is quick and precise with dazzling range. Thus far (after about 150 hours) it is less warm and slightly more analytical than the McCormack. But it is still very musical, with significant extension at both ends of the frequency spectrum. This unit was a good buy at its list price, but because the line has been discontinued it can be found these days for <$1000 - an outrageous bargain, making it a great candidate for bi-amping.

Similar Products Used:

Owned or tried: McCormack; Linn; Creek; Spectron; Bel Canto; Bryston; ARC; Parasound; Adcom; NAD

Dynamics to rival the best amps even made. One of the "sweetest" top ends your ever going to hear. Excellent bass rivaling amps of twice the power, and thre times the price. Incredible value, it just doesn't get any better.

This amp is sensitive to ground loops, RFI, and cables. Be prepared to add quality cables to make this amp shine.

It's been a long search for an amp that satisfies me. This is the third amp that I've had in my latest system, and probably the last for a long time. I run Magnepan 3.6r speakers, and while they are not the hardest speaker to drive, they do show the differences between amps pretty easily. The PS Audio HCA-2 shows it's abilities in my system in well. This amp has an extraordinary ability to reproduce true dynamics. Percussive sounds like drum strikes, piano, cymbals, etc., take on a real dynamic that can only be reproduced if the amp can deliver current at lightning speed. This amp does it in spades. The top end of this amp is as smooth and grain free as any amp I've ever heard. Sweet is term that's often overused, especially when describing tube amps, but for the treble region of this amp, SWEET is the proper word to use. Speaking of sweet, this continues right through the midrange with rock solid imaging, and a black as night sonic background. Bass is often the true test of an amp. If you amp is not up to it, the bass will get muddy, and the whole sound will be mushy as the amp try to deliver power it doesn't have. The PS Audio amp really surprised me in this area. It NEVER ran out of current, even when asked to deliver absurd amounts. The bass is as tight and well defined as you'll find in anything less than an amp that's two or three times the price and power. Yes, I've heard slightly better bass, but when you compare it to a Classe 401, or Pass Labs 250.5 your in pretty rarefied company. The price/perfomance ratio of this amp has to be one of the highest in all of the quality amps that have ever been made. This doesn't even take into account the fact that this amp will probable save you $100's a year in wasted energy, as the thing runs stone cold. A true technological wonder!

Similar Products Used:

Classe, Pass Labs, PS Audio 200c, Musical Fidelity.

Silky smooth mids and airy, extended highs Incredible bass response Fast, fast, fast Pitch black back ground Runs dead cold at all times Consumes little to no power in stand-by Doesn't consume your entire rack

Soundstage could be deeper Ummmmm...

This all started out as a comparo between my friend's Odyssey Stratos (also reviewed) and the HCA2. I had auditioned various amps from Rotel, B&K, Anthem, Krell, Adcom, Parsound, Proceed, and others I'm probably forgetting before narrowing it down to these two. I went into the comparo admittedly biased towards the Stratos. After all, who wants to spend an extra $700 if they don't have to? We ran the comparo with the amps hidden and level matched. After comparing notes and discovering which was which, what we found was somewhat startling: The HCA2 does not sound like any ss amp I've encountered. Many people feel switching amps meld the best of the ss and tube characteristics into one supremely efficient package. Well, they're not wrong, but there's more to it than that. The treble is extended and airy without a hint of sibilance. The delineation and space between instruments is very distinct. Cymbals splatter and decay into an absolutely pitch black background. The mid range is full and liquid smooth presenting vocals that are musical and engaging without the unnatural definition that some "hi-fi" gear seems to equate with "accuracy". Bass is simply a whole different ball game. I've yet to encounter amp with this combination of speed, depth and slam with the exception of possibly the big Krells. It actually made me check and see if my sub was on (it wasn't). Transient response is lightning fast and imaging width and stability is spot-on. The depth of stage could be deeper, but it's noticeable only because of the outstanding width. Don't be fooled by the 150 watt rating as this amp will drive whatever you want to insane levels and still not show a hint of strain. The kicker to all of this is that after many hours of running the amp was still dead cold. Try that with your Class A space heater. In the end, we both agreed the HCA2 is a terrific amp. Even the owner of the Stratos had to admit it was the better of the two. Tube-like? Yes, but without the rolled off highs and flabby bass of lesser designs. SS strengths? Without a doubt, but without the glare, grain, or false definition. You'll simply need to audition one for yourself and see if it meets your taste. For me, in my system, it is simply the finest amp I've heard under $5K.

Similar Products Used:

Odyssey, Rotel, B&K, Krell, Parasound, Proceed, etc.

Great bass control, great soundstage, more transparent than the ALEPH 3, less grain than the Bryston 3BST.

I'm not sure that at this price level this amp have a significant flaw.

I love this amp, sounds different from my Pass aleph 3, is more transparent and pounchy than the Pass and a little better focused. I think is question of sound taste. Because both amps are vary very good, in the same league, but the difference in wattage is the the only big difference. But in the areas that reffer to sound quality both amps are in a top level, but with diferences in sound taste. Vary good sinergy with my Pass alep P preamp, Alpha Core and Synergistic research cables, Clearaudio turnttable,and MBS's Nelson Link DAC. The sound is very very good.

Similar Products Used:

Counterpoint NPS-100 Bryston 3BST Red Rose Spirit system Pass aleph 3

Looks, binding posts, flat frequency response into any load.

Harmonically thin. Grating tonality gave me a headache. Brighter through the 3-8kHz frequency range.

I compare the PS Audio HCA-2 to Musical Fidelity A3.2cr. The PS audio looks nice. I got mine in black. The blue background is nice but the "PS" logo looks tacky. The amp took what seemed like a long time to go from "standby" to "on". I didn't time it but was maybe 30 seconds. It has big gold plated speaker terminals that are easy to get to and tighten. I like the lack of vent holes so dust can't get inside the amp. The case is a standard size which nicely into my stereo rack. The amp came with the PS Audio power plus cord. This was a big, stiff cord that was very hard to manipulate and looked ridiculously large IMS. When first turning on, I go a nasty 60 hz hum out of the speakers. After talking to Audio Advisor tech help I had to 1) use a "cheater" plug with the ground plug removed and 2) directly plug the amp into my 20 amp dedicated circuit. If it went through my Tripp-Lite Isotel 6 which has isloated grounds on each outlet, I still got the hum. On first turn-on it sounded pretty good. As any amp at this price should. The more I listened however, this amp really wore on me. One day it gave me a headache like I get when listening to"The Cranberries" CD's. Harmonics, such as on trumpets for example, were thin. Instruments sounded like little toys. There was less of the illusion of real instruments playing in my room. Sounding like a "tubes vs solid state" argument, I say the PS was grating and harsh, the more I listened. On the plus side, I think it gave a more even load into my Nautilus 804's in the mid to upper bass. Amps may read flat on the test bench but not so flat into real world loads. Unfortunately, the highs were brighter by 1-2 dB. The PS amp also had less dynamic range. The A3.2cr plays a sneaky trick and played about 5dB louder at the same volume setting as the PS amp. So I first had to calibrate each amp's volume with pink noise from "Stereophile" test CD. Even at the same pink noise level, I measured 1dB higher peak dB with the A3.2cr with my RS analog meter set on "fast". Music sounded more dynamic to my ears as well. Which is why I was prompted to do this test. All my critical listening was done with the power plus cord. Taking it out, I didn't note any obvious sound degradation although I didn't listened that carefully either. So in conclusion, while the PS Audio HCA-2 sounds pretty good, the A3.2 was in another league sonically. Sort of like Levinson vs Classe. Noting that most differences in high end audio are slight. For a low cost amp, digital may be the way to go if it can bring better sound at a particular price point. An example would be a $100 boom box would be better served with a digital than analog amp.

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity A3.2cr.

details and dynamics very good connectors

the design reminds me of an VCR

this amplifier is stunning ! the dynamic power and wealth of details that comes out, is no less than a sensation. the bass is very fast and dry, the mid-band beautifully nuanced and extremely grainfree.

Similar Products Used:

audio research CD1 audio research LS7 audioplan powerplant magnepan MG 3.3 R