Dethonray HA-2 Review

Dethonray HA-2 is not only here for its power as an amplifier. It indeed has a lot of power to drive almost anything out there, but it also has a tremendous sound quality. Yes, Anson once again did a fantastic job with sound quality here. If you want to improve your portable system’s sonics, then this one is just for you.

The sound of this amp can be described as clean, breathy, precise, dynamic and full-bodied. It performs exceptionally well with mid-tier DAPs and also with high-end ones. If you don’t mind stacking, you can get the HA-2 to your mid-tier DAP and elevate your system to another level.

Bass

The bass is punchy enough with great control and texture. It has a lot of resolution with good enough kick to give some life to music, whilst being somewhat reserved and controlled at the same time. The HA-2 does not boost the low frequency at all. Yet, it brings a certain body to the music and that creates a great foundation for mids.

The bass has great texture but it is also very controlled and sometimes conservative. This doesn’t mean the bass is weak, it’s just very controlled with great speed and attack. It doesn’t disperse much, and it doesn’t sound boomy whatsoever. This is a high-quality bass response no matter how you look at it. Quantity-wise it may not satisfy your needs, but it certainly does wow you with the preciseness and speed, as well as body despite the conservative approach.

However, if you want a slightly warmer sounding bass then you can pair it with dynamic driver headphones or some planar models with good bass. The performance is very good even with the Thieaudio Phantom, which is a budget planar headphone that doesn’t even have a big bass response. So in my book, the bass performance of the HA-2 is very good but it’s of course not a warm bass like the tube amps provide.

Mids

The mid-range is very transparent, clean, and resolving with great tonality and fullness. The transparency is quite remarkable and the instrument separation is top-notch. The HA-2 surely doesn’t miss any resolution in this part. The mids have great timbre, and overall the vocals and the instruments are lively without any additional coloration.

The mids are also a bit close and they’re in front of the stage. However, the HA-2 presents a colorless reproduction in the mid-range without an added warmth. It’s just what it is. You get wonderful transparency across the mid-range with lots of detail. Sure, you may want some color in the mids at times, but in its own presentation, the HA-2 gets the job done in my opinion.

Mids also have a good body and they’re full sounding without any congestion and hollowness. I would’ve liked a bit more bass quantity from the HA-2 but when it comes to the mids, I don’t have anything to criticize here.

Treble

The treble is nicely articulated and extended, without being harsh and aggressive. If you have a good IEM or headphone which is performing nicely regarding treble, the HA-2 will scale them to their highest levels. The treble is exceptionally good and relaxed with great extension.

So the HA-2 continues the Dethonray approach in the treble area as well. Once again the transparency is great, the detail level is awesome and the highs don’t have any excessive nature. It doesn’t overdo anything, it just gives an effortlessly smooth yet detailed treble, which is very pleasing particularly with mid-fi and high-end gear.

Technical Performance

The great thing about the HA-2 is the overall separation and stereo imaging. The background is pitch black, and the instruments sound with great texture, dynamism, and transparency. The left-right balance is also very impressive.

The sound-stage is not very wide with the HA-2. This is not the widest sounding equipment and I recommend pairing it with holographic sounding IEMs and headphones if you put great emphasis on staging. It is by no means mediocre, and actually it’s still incredibly good for this price, but the width is not as impressive as the other aspect of its sound. I found out the stage depth to be very good though.

Another important aspect of the HA-2 is the output power. The power you get from this amp is incredible and surprising from this compact device. Anson’s authentic internal design philosophy certainly works wonders. You can drive 300 Ω headphones with ease, not to mention something like the HD660 S with its 150 Ω impedance.

I also tried it with several IEMs with different impedance levels. It’s perfectly usable and I didn’t hear any annoying hiss or something like that. It’s just a bit difficult to set up the volume level because the device is incredibly powerful for IEMs. You can even damage your ears.

Conclusion

The Dethonray HA-2 is easily one of the best portable amplifiers I’ve heard with its full Class A design. Together with great output power, the sound quality is also exceptional. After the DTR1, Dethonray once again did a marvelous job when it comes to raw sound quality.

I can also say that the sound character heavily reminds me of the DTR1. If you already have the DTR1 DAP, you don’t necessarily need this amp unless you have a power-hungry full-size headphone. However, when you try the DTR1 + HA-2 setup, the sound is simply incredible. The DTR1’s great reference sound goes even further with more fullness and definition.

Again, if stacking is OK for you, I heavily recommend the HA-2 for excelling your existing DAP’s sound quality to another level. If you already have a full-size can that needs some power, then it’s even better. This one is just for you.

With its incredible performance, the Dethonray HA-2 now deserves a spot in our Best Amplifier Recommendations.