In this article we look at the Hifiman Prelude headphone amplifier, selling for $2,499 USD.
Disclaimer: The Hifiman Prelude was sent to us free of charge in exchange for this review. Headfonia is not related to Hifiman in any way.
Hifiman
If you’re into personal audio, then you must be familiar with the Hifiman brand. It was founded in 2007 by Dr Fang in New York to produce high-end personal audio products. Hifiman was the first brand to release a high-end portable audio player, the HM-801, which was like a catalyst for Reference Audio Players that we know today.
One of the many points that make Hifiman stand out is that they are a very innovative company, and they are constantly chasing the better, in every price range. They create different flavoured headphones, warm, neutral, and balanced, for every kind of audiophile out there. We’ve reviewed many Hifiman units in the past, and each time we get excited as if it’s the first time. Just type Hifiman in our search box and discover all of our Hifiman reviews.
For those of you who’d like to know more about Hifiman and their founder, there’s always this interview we did with him: https://headfonia.com/q-n-a-saturday-hifiman/
In this new Hifiman review, we’re looking at the Hifiman Prelude desktop AMP and pre-amp. We reviewed its little brother, the Serenade about 2 weeks ago, you can check out that review here:
Let’s get started!
Intro
The Hifiman Prelude is part of the cooperation between Hifiman and Goldenwave. If I am not mistaken I actually think Hifiman bought the Goldenwave company, but I could be wrong.
“By bringing GOLDENWAVE under HIFIMAN’s wing, we are embarking upon a new era for both brands, with products that feature the best of what each company has to offer, with music lovers ultimately being the beneficiaries.”
So far we have seen two Goldenwave products: this Prelude and the lower end Serenade DAC/AMP amplifier. To keep things simple we will be calling this the Hifiman Prelude.
Hifiman Prelude
The Hifiman Prelude is a fully balanced Class A headphone amplifier and it is selling for $2,499 USD, putting it in the high-end segment.
One of the unique characteristics of the Prelude is that it is a MOS-FET high current outputting amplifier, and some headphones will really benefit from that (More on that later in this article). As you can see in the pictures, the Prelude offers balanced as well as single-ended outputs. It actually renders the single-ended RCA input to a fully balanced one. The balanced input stage both connects to a single-ended as well as balanced outputs. Hifiman also states that the Prelude features a fully balanced headphone protection circuit, something you can only be happy with.
As we mentioned in the Serenade review, the ALPS volume control is excellent. It turns nicely with the perfect amount of resistance . It is small but precise and when using headphones, it is without any audible channel imbalance.
Another of the Prelude’s features is the customized high-power, low noise toroidal transformer. It comes with a multi-channel, high-speed and low-noise voltage regulating circuit, supplying the power for the amplifier. As you can see in the specs, the Prelude puts out 10W@32 ohm, and that is a lot. High current and a lot of power, this is very promising for the headphone synergy part later in this article. You can find out more about the Prelude on its dedicated web page here. The Hifiman Prelude can be bought directly from Hifiman here or here.
Specifications
– Frequency Response: 20-50KHZ, ±1dB@1KHz
– Signal to Noise Ratio: -113dB @1KHz
– THD+N: 0.0009%, low gain, @1KHz
– Power Output: (0.1% @1KHz, balanced) 10W@32Ω, 6W@64Ω, 2.5W@150Ω, 1W@300Ω, 560mW@600Ω
– Total Power Consumption: <50W
– Dimension (L*H*W): 330*56*260mm, protrusions not included
– Net Weight: 6.5kg
Box & Accessories
Looking at the box and the accessories, the package is simple. The Prelude comes in a sturdy cardboard box with foam on the inside, and as such it is perfectly protects the unit.
Accessory wise however there, apart from a power cable, is nothing to be found in this package. For $2,499 USD you might expect more, but what else do you need? It’s been ages since I have seen a headphone amplifier company supplying interconnects or an upgrade power cable.
So yes, it is a simply package, but it is all about the amplifier here.
Design, Build Quality
The Prelude’s housing is manufactured from a single piece of aluminum, and according to Hifiman, this helps to isolate harmful resonance which can negatively affect the sonic output.
The Hifiman Serenade measures 330 x 56 x 260 mm making it a medium sized desktop unit, slightly larger than the Serenade. The Prelude’s build quality is excellent. The days were Hifiman’s BQ wasn’t always the best are long gone and I couldn’t think of anything to improve here.
The Prelude looks and feels sturdy, and with its impressive 6.5kg weight it won’t ever move around on your desk when plugging cables and headphones in and out. All of the connections and buttons are nicely finished as well. The aluminum chassis looks high-end and plugging cables in-and out as well as pushing the different buttons feels good. The volume control is small but precise, perfectly balanced and smooth to turn.
I quite like the design of this unit. The curved aluminum chassis looks smooth and the old style screen gives the unit this retro/vintage look. I also like the lay-out of the Prelude and even with all the connectors and buttons, you get a slick design which doesn’t look overly busy.
The Prelude, just like the Serenade, to me is the kind of unit that disappears in your desk setup from a design-point of view. I have mostly been stacking it together with the Serenade on the right side of my desk, where it also serves as a pre-amp for my speaker system.
The article continues on the second page. Click here or use the easy jumps below.
Page 1: Hifiman, Prelude, Specifications, Box, Accessories, Design, Build quality
Page 2: Lay-out, Usability, Sound intro, Sound General, Sound Synergy Pt.1
Page 3: Sound Synergy Pt. 2, Comparison, Conclusion, Summary
