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  Stereo Products > HCA-2 Amplifier HCA-2 Amplifier More Info Starting at just $1,695.00!  'It has the sound of a fine tube amplifier, but without all the heat, and certainly with more power. I cannot recommend it more highly.' John E. Johnson Editor Secrets of Home Theater You may not be aware of it, but in all liklelihood you need to replace your power amp. Why? Because our new power amplifier technology is probably so much more enjoyable than what you have in your system right now, that it'd be a crying shame not to. Not just another pretty face, not just a new twist on amplification, but a revolution in the under $3,000 power amplifier market. Introducing, the HCA-2 Hybrid Class A power amp, reviewed and praised by Stereophile's Sam Tellig and Kal Rubinson, rated as a proud member of Stereophile magazine's elite Class A group and loved by hundreds of owners throughout the world. What's it all about? The Hybrid Class A power amplifier is all about rethinking the art of power amplification.  It's about re-inventing the wheel.It's about time! Getting there wasn't easy Creating a new power amplifier is a lot like cooking a gourmet meal. You start with a great recipe, add flavors and subtle nuances, simmer until perfect, garnish the plate so it looks apetizing. It isn’t just science, it isn’t just passion. It’s an artful blend of both that results in a finalized product worthy of a place of honor in someone’s home system. Once the circuit has been fleshed out and the amplifier sounds and performs the way you want, the next step is to package it in a chassis that belies the beauty within the circuit. No simple task to design a product, but once it is finished the team that created it can hopefully be proud of the results. We are proud of the PS Audio Hybrid Class A power amplifier. The first of a new generation The HCA-2, as the Hybrid Class A has become known, is the first new audio product we have produced since the rebirth of PS in the late 1990’s.  The HCA-2 is a 150 watt per channel stereo power amplifier that is setting the audio industry on its collective ear (pun intended). Power, openess, grace and gut-thumping energy infused with a delicacy and midrange bloom found only in the best power amps in the world, the HCA-2 will astound and amaze those fortunate enough to audition one. To finish off the delicious insides of this amplifier, we commissioned one of the best industrial designers in the world, Alex Rasmussen to create not just another good looking chassis but a work of art. A metal sculpture worthy of this revolutionary new product and to set the stage for all future PS products as well. You can read about the design inspirations Alex used to create this beautiful piece of art, by clicking here. We start at the beginning Our goal for the new power amplifier series from PS Audio was to create a product that jumped the final hurdle – crossed the elusive barrier all amps in the past have been striving to achieve – to sip from the Holy Grail of the elusive unified theory of power amplification.  That unified theory has been talked about for years – figuring out a way to combine the best of all amplifier disciplines with few sacrifices. If one could overcome such a challenge, then it might be possible to realize an entirely new level of performance, one that transcended the limitations of tube, solid state or digital designs and enhanced their benefits. What would it take to achieve this? The implementation of new technology? New amplification devices? New construction techniques? It turns out that we had to basically rethink the entire amplification chain. Why did tubes sound better in some respects and worse in others? What made the new digital amps sound rather sterile? Why does solid state have better bass? Could we discover the common and unifying principal that could answer all of these questions asked by so many designers over so many years?  By standing on the shoulders of the giants of amplifiers designers over the last half century, a light began to dawn that would eventually prove to be the unifying theory of amplification answering most of these questions.It turns out that there are any number of ways to achieve this goal once you attach your priorities in the right place. As so often is the case, everyone was right and everyone was wrong, including us. A common result when a very complex picture is being viewed in small increments. Once in a great while we are able to stand far enough outside the box to view everything that is inside. When those moments of clarity present themselves, the answers are usually quite simple. The answer As designers we have all known for years that any number of basic parameters have to be optimized before a successful design can be achieved: power supply, amplification technique, construction.  Focusing on the amplification techniques we find that one of the primary missing elements in most designs is the fundamental understanding of a basic tenant: power amplifiers cannot be viewed as a single amplifying entity. Power amplifiers have two distinctly different disciplines: voltage and current. The two have little in common with each other, yet appear to have been treated as one path for years, with few exceptions. One bright spot in the history of amplifier design touched on this very concept many years ago. Infinity Systems produced a design in the late 1970’s that began to address this issue. It was called the Infinity Hybrid Class A power amplifier and used tubes for its voltage stage and solid state for its current stage. Designers Arnie Nudell and Bascom King came close to finding the amplification “Rosetta Stone”, but they never fully pursued the design and it fell by the wayside. You can read about it here. So enamored are we of this early design revelation, that it is in honor of the Infinity product of 25 years ago that we name our first example of this technological breakthrough. Getting your arms around what we found  In a nutshell, we discovered that if you treat each of the two independent sections of a power amplifier as completely separate and non-related and then optimize each without regard to the other, it doesn’t really matter what technology you use to achieve their performance. This means that if you can figure a way to use tubes, or solid state, or digital in a manner that perfects the performance of each independent entity, then it really doesn’t matter what you use – as long as it does the job. If you think about this, it’s a pretty amazing discovery. And boy have we put it to the test! The HCA-2 The new PS Audio Hybrid Class A power amplifier is not only a perfect example of this thinking process, but it is the first in a series of power amplifiers that uses our new-found knowledge. It is the first production unit in 25 years to truly break the mold of all power amps before it.  Read what the Beta Testers have to say about the HCA-2 in comparison to their amplifiers. We went to great lengths to choose Beta Testers that had a broad variety of amplifier disciplines, from tubes to solid state, to low feedback designs to brute force designs.You’ll discover that, over time, each of the Beta testers found the HCA-2 to be a revelation – to produce music in a manner they had never heard in their homes. Features The HCA-2 features:
Built in High Current Ultimate Outlet When we first started to design the HCA-2 we found that it absolutely, positively had to have a High  Current UO on its AC input. It just wouldn’t perform properly without one.Knowing that it would not make sense to require every person who ordered an HCA-2 to purchase a $399 High Current UO to realize the full potential of this revolutionary new amplifier, we built a High Current UO into every HCA-2 we make. Single ended RCA and true balanced XLR connectors There are two inputs available for each of the channels on the HCA-2. The more common single ended RCA inputs are mated to your preamplifier with one of our new custom made high-end RCA connectors. We searched everywhere for the perfect RCA connector and wound up making our own in the end. These gold plated RCA connectors are state of the art. If you have a balanced output on your preamplifier or surround processor, the HCA-2 will readily accept a balanced input through its Neutrick XLR connectors. This is a true balanced input and provides exceptional common mode rejection and the signal never passes through any switching or additional circuitry. Huge toroidal transformer  Because the HCA-2 is nearly 95% efficient it generates almost no heat. This means that everything the amplifier’s power supply delivers to the amp is used to produce music rather than heat. Traditionally a smaller power supply is used when requirements for power are lower due to the efficiency of the design. Not so with the HCA-2. We chose to include a huge custom wound toroidal transformer that was designed for a class AB 150 watt per channel amplifier. Why? Because it provides unquestioning power to the amp under any load or any musical demands. This is one of the reasons the HCA-2 sounds so big, so alive. PS communication bus and DC trigger The HCA-2 can communicate with any other piece of PS Audio equipment through the use of the included PS bus. This bus is easily connected to other PS equipment through a standard CAT 5 communication link. You can turn all connected equipment off or on with the touch of just one button amongst other features. Also included with the PS bus port is a code switch that allows the user to assign an identity to any PS product. This feature allow the user to gang multiple units together that will act as one from a control standpoint.  In addition to the PS bus, the HCA-2 has a DC trigger for AV use. In a situation where other PS equipment is not available to communicate with the HCA-2 through the PS bus you can remotely turn the unit on or off with an externally supplied DC voltage. Many home theater applications provide this voltage, and the HCA-2 is ready to accept it.What’s inside the HCA-2 The HCA-2 represents the essence of our discovery discussed above: the amplifier has two distinct parts, a voltage stage and a current stage. The voltage gain stage is a zero feedback, JFET input stage. A simple discrete analog circuit with astounding common mode rejection, low distortion, fully differential balanced inputs – in short, a perfect voltage gain stage. To keep it completely isolated from the current gain stage, the input stage runs on a totally separate power supply independent of the main current supply. The current gain stage uses a new technology that runs with virtually no heat. It is a digital output stage known as SDAT™. SDAT™ is unique because it performs its job without regard to the loudspeaker load it is driving. From dynamic loudspeakers, to planars, to electrostats, the SDAT™ power circuitry sails through the music with an ease that is nothing short of remarkable.  Combining these two independent circuits has generated a new and wonderful amplification piece, the HCA-2. If you are interested in reading more about the technology behind this fascinating piece of amplification art, click here. Mid bass is one of the keys From a sonic standpoint we have learned a great deal over the years. One of the key factors in generating a believable and accurate live performance from recorded music is getting the mid bass right. So many amplifiers today just don’t get it. They are thin, lacking in mid bass and sound to us as, well, anemic. If you listen to live music you will be struck with how “real” the bodies of the instruments sound. You can “hear” the wooden cavity of the piano, hear the foot stomps of the pianist on the pedals, the floor shake as the instrument is played. Most amplifiers ignore this, or emphasize it at the expense of other essential areas of the music. Other instruments suffer as well including the human voice. The HCA-2, along with its brothers the Classic 250 and the Tower Reference amplifier, exhibit breathtaking mid bass performance. It is likely you have never heard how real your speakers can produce music, how full and rich a performance can be when you have the entire musical spectrum presented to you. One listen to this new technology and we believe you’ll be shaking your head in wonder as to how you ever lived without this part of the musical information. And the rest is there as well Of course, getting the mid bass correct is not of much value if you cannot reproduce the midrange, top-end and subterranean low notes present in recordings as well. From a fine two-channel system to an exquisite high-end video system, making sure the full spectrum of audio is alive with rich dynamic contrasts has everything to do with your enjoyment of music. From the effortless presentation of the loudest to the softest notes, the HCA-2 gets it right and will move  your soul.The specifications The HCA-2 will drive almost any loudspeaker perfectly. It is not plagued with problems common to other digital output amplifiers such as a hard and bright sound, a sterile sound, or problems sounding right on different speakers. Because the SDAT™ circuitry precludes the problem of varying impedances affecting the amplifier’s performance, you never have to worry about compatibility. The HCA-2 will provide 150 watts per channel into 8 ohms, 225 watts per channel into 4 ohms and 275 watts into 2 ohms, all with less than 0.5% thd, both channels driven. Dimensions of the amplifier are 17 inches wide, 4 inches tall and 15 inches deep. Weight is 30 pounds. Inputs are both single ended RCA and balanced XLR connectors.  Outputs are WBT 5-way binding posts. AC input is via a built-in High Current Ultimate Outlet. The HCA-2 ships with a well made 14 gauge shielded AC power cord. We strongly recommend the purchase of an xStream Power Cable to further enhance the performance of the HCA-2 power amplifier. Price of the HCA-2 is $1,695. Available in either brushed natural aluminum or black. Click here to audition one in your home.
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