Hafler DH 500 - good enough?

RemoWilliams

RemoWilliams

Addicted Member
It was mentioned to be possibly in the top ten in amplifier design - thinking of getting one and it would appear to be a good match for the KEF 105.1s.

I have made a handful of posts regarding possible contenders, especially on a budget and certainly the DH 500, especially with some mods, would most likely be good enough.

Looked at some mono amplifier options as well as pairing a couple of bridged stereo such as Parasound but at this point the asking price for the Hafler and in consideration of what you get does appear to be a good choice.

Can anyone recommend a used pre amp with phono input, using an Acurus L 10 at the moment and feel that perhaps going tube might be the better route.
 
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It seems to get better, or perhaps complicated - there is a Soundstream DA 1 out my way for 500.00, it functions and perhaps it might be worth checking out? Certainly has what I am looking for and supposedly sounds quite good.
 
From what little research I *just* did on the Soundstream, schematics for it are MIA. That might be an issue down the road. :dunno:
 
I'm pretty sure all haflers follow a MOSFET class a/b build, even the later jim strickland amps. I'm a huge fan of the MOSFET a/b sound, a touch of warmth and body compared to a similar wattage class H/G.
I've had P series, DH series, and the 95XX series haflers I doubt you will find a better value amp. Unfortunately the DH series amps are old, most of those components will be out of spec to varying degrees.

My advice is if you are not familiar with the hafler sound try and audition one in your system, then pull the trigger on either buying a older DH series that you can refurb w. upgraded/needed parts, or seeing whats comes up for the Pxxx and 95XX series on classified/bay, they have a similar sonic signature but are much more refined. Highly accurate sound you could drive monitors with in a studio environment.

I think they will be a great fit for your kefs as kef reference im familiar with (104/2, 103) loved big authoritative power that gave them a truly full sound, a complaint that some kef are too "polite"

also keep an eye out for the "musical concepts" mods on existing ones, and kits for sale, they are rare but still come up. This is only for the pre-strickland haflers, aka the DH, and Pxxx series. Cheers
 
FWIW, as a novice here, I found the Halfers easy to work on, the circuit is pretty simple. I successfully upgraded/refurb'd all my Hafler amps and pre-amps with help from AK. I think they sound great with KEF's.
 
DH-500 or DH-220 (both have the same circuitry/driver boards, but the DH-500 is scaled up for more power). Very easy to work on, all parts are easy to replace except for the output MOSFETs which are NLA.
 
Exicon selling through profusion in the UK have new mosfets that are perfect and upgraded mosfets. I have used them in our DH-220c redesign. I know of others using them in a DH-500 as well
 
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