The Master of Some: SAEQ HSA-1C Review

Jack of All Trades, Master of Some

HSA-1C

Sometimes we just want something to do everything. The Jack of all trades. In the amplifier world, the HSA-1C is one such device, with the ability to do it for speakers, headphones and ribbon headphones. The question is, are they good at it?

Video Review

Specs:

https://saeq-audio.com/amplifier-hsa-1c

Disclaimer: This unit is loaned to me by Jaben with an option to purchase it at a discount if I like it after this review. This review was not reviewed by them before posting. Thanks to Jaben for this loaner!

TLDR

This is an amp that is doing something different. It’s definitely a touch coloured but in a positive way. The easiest way to describe it is an solid state amp that sounds like a tube amp. In Fact it sounds more tube amp then my MHA200, with a wide soundstage in a natural and smooth rendition with a touch more body. It however doesn’t play nice with IEMs and even my more sensitive headphones depending on the time of the day. 

Introduction

SAEQ is probably not a brand many have heard of before. Coming from Serbia, they make amps that are unique in terms of their looks and features. For many in the head-fi world, they are really seen by most unless you have messed around with one of the ribbon headphones by RAAL. HSA-1C is the latest iteration of their all in one, with ability to run ribbon headphones without a transformer, power your planar, push dynamics, and juice up your speakers. It is one of the rare amplifiers that does both speakers and headphones. The biggest question is considering their price tag, do they sound good? 

Design and Build

This is a heavy amp. Weighing in at 6kg, it is really solidly built. Its build is very similar to what you get from Vioelectric, a solid metal case with very assuring knobs and switches. From the body perspective, it is relatively large and long, with a large heat sink on the left side of the amplifier. The case is made of some textured metal, which makes it feel a little more premium. On the back there are a couple of input and outputs and some switches that can attenuate the input and select how things are grounded. On the front panel are switches and a huge volume dial. To me, the very clear, big and lighted power switch is something I appreciate. It does not look sexy, but it is easy to use and check the status of the amp with no guesswork and maximum convenience of it being on the front. There are another 3 switches to toggle output and input options. The huge volume knob is a stepped attenuator. Based on specs available online, this is a ladder attenuator, which by theory is one of the cleaner implementations for volume knobs. 

Below are the input and output of the amplifier

Input: RCA + XLR

Output: XLR (Ribbon) + XLR (Headphone) + ¼ Inch Stereo + Speaker Output

The best part of this amp is the ability to drive all types of headphones and efficient speakers. This includes the ribbon types (CA-1A, Immanis) and standard headphones. According to its makers, the amp is connected in parallel for all output ports, allowing maximum output of 20W/4 ohm, 10W/8 ohm, 5W/16 ohm, 2.5W/32 ohm, 1,25W/64 ohm. Plenty of power to go around for this amplifier.

On the design front, only 2 things could be improved for me. Firstly, putting the attenuator in front will be more useful. The amp has so much gain that some headphones like my Solitaire T+A only have 2 clicks if on neutral. Even then it’s too loud. Secondly, the volume knob could do a little more steps. 24 is quite limited and many times I find myself in between a little soft and a little loud. Not a big deal unless using ultra sensitive headphones, since for those you won’t even pass the first 4 clicks even with full attenuation. That said, the volume knob has no imbalance so it’s great on that part of things.

Sound Quality

Testing Equipment:

Headphones:

Raal Requisite CA-1A

DCA Stealth

Solitaire T+A

ZMF Atrium Open

IEMs:

FatFreq Maestro SE

Elysian Pilgrim Noire 

Speakers:

QAcoustic Concept 300 

Source:

FIIO M17

Shanling M9Plus

Amps:

XI Audio Broadways

Topping A70

SMSL VMV-A1

Ferrum Oor

Songs

Ibara by ADO

Eien no Akuruhi by ADO

Backlight by ADO

Heart Beat by Yoasobi

Note: Amplifiers are meant to increase the volume of the sound and drive it optimally. Most modern amp are competent and the variances are usually small. As such I will only highlight key differences I heard when comparing with other amps. 

Tonality and Timbre

The general tone of the amp is on the warmer and lusher side of things. This is apparent when comparing to A70, where you can feel the difference in the mids itself, there is an additional layer of warmth over the mids that smooth things over.  The timbre is on the natural and smooth side. Instruments feel more natural like being in the environment vs an ultra clean recording when using the DCA stealth and listening to the songs. This is very apparent in plucking of guitars across the tracks, the rendation and decay with the stealth was beautiful. Compared to the broadway and a70pro, it feels more accurate to life. The general tone felt close to what you get in tube amps but without overdoing it. 

Clarity and Details

Between the headphone amp, for perceived clarity, A70Pro will be the highest followed by HSA-1C then Broadway. That said, they are really closed. The warmth and lushness of the sound comes biting the HSA-1C and on first impression at low volume, it sounds like a smoothing of the sound. However at higher volume, this clears up and the HSA-1C perceived clarity is better but still not quite the same level as the A70Pro. In all cases its still ahead of the broadway. For details I will say it is similar to A70Pro and ahead of the broadway.

Sound Stage

HSA-1C has the largest soundstage compared to the other 2. It’s bigger, wider, and stretches further. However it comes with a less focused mids. This mirrors my experience with MHA200 but on an even wider scale. I will update this when I post my video review which I will also include the Ferrum Oor. However, compared with the amps I can pull out at hand, it is the widest sounding amp, solid state or tube.

Separation

Separation of instruments and vocals are pretty good on the HSA-1C though it does it quite differently compared to the A70Pro. A70pro felt like there’s blackness between instruments and therefore felt separated. HSA-1C on the other hand renders the instrument very distinctly, think of them and layers above a backdrop. 

Dynamics

Being a lush sounding amp, it is a smooth but “slow” sounding amplifier. However, for what it lacks in speed, it has power. So in songs that have slower drums and instruments, it sounds immersive and powerful, but in faster paced percussion and string type of music, it sounds smoother then the rest with less excitement. This dynamics difference is on both headphones and speakers when compared to other amps.

Bass

Bass sounds authoritative on this amplifier. It’s punchy and powerful. However the transient doesn’t feel as quick as like the A70pro when used with headphones or the VMV A1 when used with speakers.  However this is only a slight minor difference

Mids

There is a layer of warmth here that makes things smoother and more enjoyable. Female vocals have a soft warm touch to them while instruments sound realistically rendered in a hall. The only negative I had was at lower volume, it may not sound as clear.

Treble

Generally smooth with not as much edge or sparkle compared to the other amps. This is more distinct when compared to the A70pro since that feels ultra clean and clear, while this is almost the opposite with a smoother and signature for the treble region. That said, a bad recording with bad treble will still remain overly hot, this amplifier only smooths it a touch and is not there to fix bad treble. 

Pairing with headphones

ZMF Atrium Open: Works well with it. Feels like playing through a tube amp and compliments the ZMFs headphones.

DCA Stealth: HSA-1C has plenty of power to drive it authoritatively to ear blowing volumes. I do think it sounds real good on the stealth as it makes all the instruments realistic and lifelike. It was my best bearing between all the devices.

CA-1A: Driving it directly is way better than using the TI-1B. It is just more separated, a touch more detailed and with an even larger sound stage. If you own a ribbon headphone, try this out over the transformers.

Solitaire T+A: HSA-1C improves soundstage compared to other amps I tried. Though my major issue is 3 clicks of the volume knob is all the control I had and the T+A picks up the ground hums if the interconnects used are not grounded. Only IEMs exhibit similar behaviors.

FatFreq Maestro SE: You can use it on the HSA-1C. It will be similar to the T+A, with limited volume control and you can occasionally hear the ground hum if the interconnects are not grounded. That said, it was the best I ever heard the Maestro SE. Hard hitting bass, excellent soundstage and beautiful mids. Still the limited controls and potential hums will probably not make this a first choice.

Elysian Pilgrim Noir: Only 2 clicks of volume control and tons of clicks and noise, very similar to plugging it into a Burson amp. In general it sounds good when music is playing but not recommended.

Concept 300: This is speakers, and I never knew you can increase speaker soundstage using the amp. It’s definitely a great listen with warmer sound and touch wider staging of instruments and vocals. It goes loud enough to rattle my small apartment. 

Availability and Pricing

Based on what I searched, Jaben Singapore  is probably the lowest price before tax compared to Europe. I didn’t find any US pricing but it should be close to $4800 USD

Overall

HSA-1C is a great amp. The jack of all trades and master of some. It drives all headphone types in the market except electrostatics, powers speakers easily if used in a small room well, all the while sounding great like a well implemented tube amp with a solid state refinement. The biggest challenge in getting this is price, and availability. As a standalone amplifier, the closest one in the market is probably something like the Enleum Amp-23R which costs even more and can’t run ribbons. That said, to spend over $4800 usd for an amplifier if you are only using one mode may just be too much for most with many options in the market to choose from. However if you need something to amp up your ribbon headphones, juice up your speakers and make your planars sing, this may just be the amplifier for you.s