HiFi Man Shangri La Mini Headphone Amplifier
In stock
Available - Usually ships within 14 days
Features
| Includes Pre Amp | No |
|---|---|
| Digital USB Input | No |
| Brand Color | None |
| Digital Optical Input | No |
| Digital Coaxial Input | No |
| Warranty The length of time your product is protected by warranty | 5 Years |
| Product Type | Other |
Tech Specs
- Weight - Headphone: 320.2 g; Amplifier: 5.82 kg
- Dimensions (HxWxD) - Amplifier: 93 x 255 x 251 mm
- Technical specifications
- Frequency response - 7H7-90kHz
- Input voltage - 550V-650V
- Inputs/Outputs
- Inputs - Headphone Amplifier: Two unbalanced RCA inputs, Two balanced XLR female inputsHeadphone Amplifier Two unbalanced RCA inputs Two balanced XLR female inputs
Description
The HiFi Man Mini Shangri-La Headphone Amplifier is a high-end amplifier intended for electrostatic headphones in particular the HiFi Man Mini Shangri-La Headphones. The amplifier is also available as a package with the Headphones. Electrostatic headphones use a special connector that provides the necessary high-bias voltage needed for operation.
The amplifier has a low-noise linear power supply as well as a sophisticated PCB layout that minimizes crosstalk and noise pickup. lastly, the unit has two sets of 5-pin pro bias connectors for connecting to two sets of electrostatic headphones. Standard RCA and Balanced inputs are provided.
Balanced inputs
The amplifier design used in the HiFi Man Mini Shangri-La Headphone Amplifier is fully balanced. As a result, any noise pickup from the leads is minimized. The balanced design also ensures good channel separation.
Notably, there are no transformers in the signal path that can affect the frequency response. Two sets of inputs are provided a standard RCA set and a balanced XLR set.
Linear power supply
Another feature of the HiFi Man Mini Shangri-La Headphone Amplifier is the linear power supply. This is designed to be low noise and has large smoothing capacitors. Notably, there is no high-frequency noise, as with switching power supplies.
Amplifier layout
The amplifier PCB has a sophisticated layout. Firstly there is a selector switch for the RCA phono or balanced XLR input. Next comes a buffer and a low-pass filter to block any HF noise. Then comes the volume control attenuator followed by a dual-channel balanced output stage. The high bias voltage for the diaphragm is also added at this stage.
Headphone connectors
The HiFi Man Mini Shangri-La Headphone Amplifier is fitted with two 5-pin pro bias connectors that are almost unique to this unit. That is to ensure that conventional headphones cannot be connected as they may be damaged by the high bias voltage.
Balanced headphones also have separate cables feeding each earcup. Normal balanced headphones use either a 4.4mm five-conductor plug or a 4-pin XLR connector. Whereas non-balanced headphones use the standard 3.3mm or 6.3mm phone plugs
What is a balanced system?
Balanced systems were developed in the studio to reduce noise on long cable runs from low-signal sources such as microphones. The cables carry an extra conductor. There is a “hot” and “cold” wire as well as a common ground. The signals in each wire are of opposite phase so that when the signals are recombined at the amplifier any noise is cancelled out, similar to 2-2 being 0.