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HP 205D
Manual
Directly Heated Triode Headphone Amplifier
No Compromise High End Pure Valve SE Headphone Amplifier
About the HP 205D
Thank you for purchasing one of our amplifiers, a
lot of care has gone into the design, selection of
components and production of this amplifier. We
are sure that you will hear the difference.
Designed in Leicester by David Shaw
My design goal was to design a very high quality
headphone amplifier which is very musical and not
fatiguing. There are many headphone amplifiers on
the market but a common complaint is that they
sound too bright with poor long term listening
qualities. The warmer sound of valves and lots of
copper coupled with the superb WE designed 205D
valve enables a very
“listenable” sound with high
definition.
Our HP 205D is in fact a low powered high quality
integrated hi fi amplifier. We use a custom wound
multi-tap output transformer which provides perfect
matching to virtually any headphone load. The power
supply begins with a substantial mains transformer.
The
“high tension” or HT voltage is rectified by a
valve, then filtered through a high quality
“choke” to
give the finest quality power. Each 205D has its own
DC supply for a quiet background.
The separate power supply means that the amplifier
section is not contaminated my mains RF noise.
We found the 1950s 6922 to be a good choice for
driving the 205D. Finally the output comes from our
own hand-wound multi-tap output transformers. The
HP 205D tops the scales at 16kg, giving you an idea
of how much copper and iron we have used
Like our other models the HP 205D has no printed
circuit board* and is all hard wired with top quality
components. We use silver PTFE audio cable, gold
plated terminals and the famous “ALPS” volume pot
from Japan for sonic purity.
The first stage gain uses the excellent 6922. This
wonderful valve has exceptional detail and fluidity. Its
smoothness
complements
the
205D.
This
combination will give you a simply stunning insight
into inner detail of your favourite
recordings whether
Analogue or digital.
Like other Icon Audio amplifiers, close attention has
been paid to the finish of the HP 205D. It uses the
same
“Bullet Proof”* build (*Hi Fi News/Hi Fi Choice)
as our other amplifiers with a combination of anodised
alloy plate, stainless and painted steel. We avoid the
use of
“tin and plastic”!
The HP 205D is very versatile. It may be connected to
your hi fi in several ways:
1, In a normal hi fi system you would connect to the
“record out” of your amplifier. This will then be directly
connected to the “source” that you have selected.
2, If your amplifier does not have a suitable output,
splitter leads may be used.
3, With “Pre and power” systems a connection may
be made from the pre-amplifier.
4, As a stand alone unit you can directly connect to
any CD/MP3 player.
5, 205D or 300B valves are both compatible with this
amplifier.
*excluding Bluetooth receiver.
IMPORTANT!
THIS MANUAL CONTAINS
ESSENTIAL HEALTH & SAFETY
INFORMATION FOR YOU AND
YOUR AMPLIFIER. PLEASE
READ & KEEP SAFE AND
REFER TO IF NECESSARY
