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icon Audio
HP 8 MKII
Manual
Pure Triode Headphone Amplifier
Shown with David Shaw CV181 ceramic base gold pin upgrade valves
No Compromise High End Pure Valve SE Headphone Amplifier
About the HP8 MK II
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
The common way to provide a headphone output
in an integrated amplifier is to drop the power
through resistors. This has the problem that it
provides a high source impedance (rather like a
weak battery) giving
very “Low FI” results. Ideally
headphones should be driven from small high
quality amplifiers. Many headphone amplifiers
use small “microchip” amps which although are a
better solution still do not provide ideal matching
to the wide range of headphones available.
Headphone impedance varies from 8 Ohms to 600
Ohms so a transformer with 3 different outputs is an
ideal solution for precise matching. Our HP8 MK II is
in fact a very small integrated hi fi amplifier. We use a
custom wound multi-tap output transformer which
provides perfect matching to virtually any headphone
load. We start with a substantial mains transformer
with matching power supply and two output
transformers. The HP8 MK II tops the scales at 6.5kg,
giving you an idea of how much copper iron you get
for your money!
Like our other models the HP8 MK II does not use a
printed circuit board and is all hard wired using top
quality full size components. We use silver PTFE
audio cable, gold plated terminals and the famous
“ALPS” volume pot for the best sonic purity.
The first stage gain uses the excellent ECC83. This
excellent audio valve is a perfect match for driving
superb 6SN7 (AKA CV181), a general purpose
1940
’s valve that has exactly the right qualities for a
high end headphone amplifier.. 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 HP8 MK II. 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 do not use
“tin and plastic”!
For space saving we have used the same
“lengthways” chassis as our phono pre-amp so it will
fit nicely alongside your existing equipment, with the
connections on the rear, and headphone socket at the
front.
The HP8 MK II 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.
IMPORTANT!
THIS MANUAL CONTAINS
ESSENTIAL HEALTH & SAFETY
INFORMATION FOR YOU AND
YOUR AMPLIFIER. PLEASE
READ & KEEP SAFE AND
REFER TO IF NECESSARY
