Review on Bellari HA540: Unleashing Pure Class A Power for Superior Stereo Headphone Amplification by Jennifer Dammann

This amplifier meets my requirements 100%. It would be great if you had a tube amp that cost several thousand dollars! This amp is built at an affordable price, yes! It shares a common look and feel with other Bellari products such as the phono stage. It's not cast aluminum, all inputs are on the back. Maybe creates a small ergonomic difficulty? Got to bend down to get the jack in, big deal. But FOR THE PRICE, this unit can produce great sound. Warms up analytical headphones very well. After a 100 hour hiatus and replacing the handset with a NEW OLD REPLACEMENT Telefunken (about $80 investment) I could cry listening to this thing through my AKG 701Q phones. This morning I listened to a remastered version of the bossa nova jazz classic CD by GETZ GILBERTO. The AKG 701 phones have a reputation for being a flimsy base. This CD sounded very balanced, with great tonal accuracy. I found the vocals to be very accurately delivered. Jazz and classical often have quiet passages where no noise can be heard on the Bellari, which is great for a budget product. No graininess, excellent clarity. I'm listening to ELO's MR BLUE SKY, produced, recorded and mixed by the amazing Jeff Lynne. Once again, well-recorded, produced music, stored lossless or downloaded in high definition, warmed up by a lamp, provides musical bliss. It takes me back to the 60's when I would grab my Beatles records and sneak into the basement and listen to them on my dad's Thorens McIntosh Koss system. It comes very close to what I remember from the warm tube sound of the 60's. I would like a tube amp for 2000.00 and some electrostats for 1200 yes yes but I think I have 90 percent. I think it's fun to put together a great sounding MID FI at a price that won't break the bank. So for $300 a Bellari tube amp, 250.00 cans of AKG 701, and an Audioquest Butterfly 250.00 DAC, I have a listening station that I think most people on a budget will be happy with. There's HI-end sound to own, just like any status buy makes a statement of success wherever you are in the world, but if you want to leave compressed MP3s, cheap in-ear headphones to the world for something much better, you can do it without breaking the bank. Highly recommended.