This will probably be my last update on the Allnic HPA-5000XL. Just quickly going over the strength and weakness for this amp for my experience in the last 7 months. I have burned in currently 366 hours and all burn-in was during listening hours (so I listen to the whole burn-in process). It’s actually more than 366 hours because there are some days I forgot to count, but it’s at least over 366 hours. I only had to change 1 tube during the whole time of owning it and that was because the tube was defective when I first got the amp. Of course, the tube was under warranty so I got the replacement tube for free from my dealer.
*Deep Appreciation for the Road of 350+ Hours of Burn-In
- Resolution is consistant no matter where the volume is at. From low volume to high volume, the Allnic HPA-5000XL has a consistent resolution no matter what kind of session you are in the mood for. When I want to get loud with the ATH-L3000 for some more bass slam and rumble to a low-level listening session with my Sennheiser HD250 Linear 1, the Allnic HPA-5000XL stays flexible in its resolution no matter what kind of volume you want to go for. It’s really headphone-dependent as well because there are some headphones that can’t take loud volume well because of bass clipping. But if your headphones can handle the loud volume, the Allnic HPA-5000XL will make sure the sound won’t distort in a loud setting.
- Immersive soundstage for my headphones. My ATH-L3000 and Onkyo A800 are known for their small - median size soundstage. The Allnic HPA-5000XL doesn’t enlarge the soundstage to me. Instead, it exaggerates my headphone by having a more immersive feel and makes it feels like the music is playing around me to the point where I feel like I’m on stage with the performers vs. being in the crowd. On good recordings, it’s really amazing hearing one instrument play on my left ear and echo to the right ear.
- Good bass control. Help buff my headphones strengths like the ATH-L3000 and Mysphere mid-bass punch and my Onkyo A800 bass have more grip and control. If you are looking for some nice fat bass like a 300B tube, probably won’t get that from the Allnic HPA-5000XL. You will instead get a nice buff to the bass punch.
- A clean and transparent sound output that will be appreciated in the long run. If you are looking for that dirty tube sound, you are not going to get it from this headphone amp.
- I say a unique texture in the music that’s pretty hard to describe besides calling it the “Allnic House Sound”. So if you use some critical listening, you can hear the difference between a clean solid-state amp(my B22 at the time) and a clean Allnic Amp(mine is the HPA-5000XL).
- The HPA-5000XL can unlock the speed for your headphone. I remember I had the ATH-AD2000 and that was some crazy listening sessions with the HPA-5000XL. Not fast as my Raal SR1a, but it got pretty crazy. My fastest headphone now that I can use on the Allnic HPA-5000XL is probably the ATH-L3000 and it works well even with inorganic music speed.
- Tube Chimney that keeps the dust away. The tube amp still gets dusty, but not the tubes, and I really appreciate that a lot.
- Tube Bias meter. I can see if there is anything wrong with my tubes if the meter is not blue. I can adjust the meter with a small screwdriver. If the meter does not go blue after adjustments, I now know I have to replace a tube. It makes troubleshooting the chain a lot easier because if it’s blue, I know my Allnic HPA-5000XL amp is working perfectly, at least on the tubes side.
Some Weaknesses
- There will be some headphones that you will wish you had more headroom, even when using the AES inputs. A lot of the popular headphones are pretty hungry or take a lot of power to drive them like the AKG K340 for example. I don’t own any of the modern power-hungry headphones, but I do own some vintage. With my Sennheiser HD250 Linear 1 600 Ohms. You have to turn the volume way past 50% for it to sound loud. This could be easily fixed by adding a pre-amp into the chain. When I added the Supratek DHT to my chain, headroom is no longer an issue and I have plenty of room to work with regarding volume. I only go up to 40% with my Sennheiser HD250 Linear 1 600 Ohms and about 40% on my preamp.
- I can see people craving more resolution when comparing this amp to the big boys. A memory of the Viva amp comes to my mind of how much resolution and bass are more in my face while the Allnic details are a little more subtle that will require some critical listening to truly appreciate the sound it makes in my opinion.
Ending Notes:
It doesn’t really color your music, it’s a transparent amp. Meaning your flavor will most likely come from the preamp, DAC, or both. But the tubes that the HPA-5000XL contains will add texture to your music, very noticeable on bass. The main thing that the Allnic HPA-5000XL amp will do is change the presentation depending on how well the headphones and HPA-5000XL amp synergize together. I say that because there are some headphones like the Mezes 99 Classic that will still sound like a closed-back headphone soundstage, meanwhile, my ATH-W10VTG will have an immersive soundstage. I think angle driver headphones like the classic ATH-W10VTG and L3000 work really well with the Allnic HPA-5000XL amp for an immersive soundstage. Other headphones that work really well for the immersive soundstage are open-back and semi-open-back headphones. So if you got a headphone that you really enjoy the soundstage, I say try them out with the Allnic HPA-5000XL for its “unique” presentation and see how well they mesh well together.
I kinda cheated during the middle of the burn-in process because I added a Supratek 45 tube preamp to the chain. I personally believe because Allnic is mostly known for their speaker amps before they started headphone amp, they probably designed the headphone amp pretty near their speaker amp design. The reason I said this out loud is because the Allnic HPA-5000XL headphone amp sounds really freaking good with the Supratek 45 tube preamp lol. When I added the Supratek 45 tube preamp to the chain, the resolution went up, the bass got tighter, the soundstage got added depth, and I added more tube flavor into the chain. The Allnic HPA-5000XL work so perfectly with the Supratek 45 tube pre-amp, I can’t see myself using this amp without a preamp anymore. The preamp fixed all of HPA-5000XL issue of needing more volume headroom and adding more clarity and soundstage depth into the chain. After adding a preamp to the chain I went from using like 70-80% of volume headroom to 40-50% on my hungriest headphone, the AKG K340. I know it’s not recommended adding a preamp to a headphone chain because it’s pretty much a waste of money if you are not using it in a speaker chain and could give a worse synergy vs. without it. But I say go for it if you have a tube preamp lying around for some extra flavoring in the chain. If you ask me if the Allnic HPA-5000XL is worth it, I say it depends on how hungry your headphone is. If you ask me if the Allnic HPA-5000XL is worth it and you have a good preamp, I say it’s worth it because now you really don’t have any negative and it’s a well-balanced amp overall that doesn’t really color the chain. The only reason you will most likely look for something else is to upgrade your overall resolution or you want to add some flavor to your chain, or you are probably not into this immersive soundstage and want something more realistic where the performer is in front.
Overall, Allnic-HPA5000XL is a great headphone amp. It won’t wow you in the short span of listening, but you will gain an appreciation of the headphone amp over time. Took me like probably 7 months of burn-in to understand that this headphone amp is truly special. I had my moments of FOMO for sure. Then I was able to satisfy my curiosity about other amps through local meets and audio shows. Going back to Allnic HPA-5000XL gave me the same feeling of coming back home. It’s a nice comforting feeling.
This is the last Allnic-HPA5000XL update post from me unless something breaks (which I hope doesn’t happen lol) or maybe a new power cable. I may give an update here if I got a hungry headphone coming in. My next headphone I got coming in very soon is the Sus. A headphone amp thread isn’t complete without knowing if it run the Sus, so I will probably give an update on that maybe next month if I remember. For now, happy listening!
Favorites headphones with the Allnic HPA-5000XL no order:
- ATH-L3000 (great imaging already plus the Allnic soundstage is incredible),
- Mysphere 3.2 (best soundstage in the collection and probably my favorite soundstage overall from what I heard),
- Onkyo A800 (bass have minimum bleeding in the midrange while preserving a satisfying bass for me and still got a decent size immersive soundstage),
- Sennheiser HD250 Linear 1 EP 600 Ohm (great soundstage, but a more studio-neutral clean sound output)
- Sony-MA900 (airy soundstage like the Mysphere 3.2, but not as wide. Still pretty special with the Allnic HPA-5000XL)
Other headphones that I like not because of the soundstage, but because they sound really clean vs when I first had them on cheaper amps:
- Beyerdynamic 770 Pro 250 Ohm,
- AKG K340,
- Sennheiser HD580 Jubilee,
- ATH-W10VTG
The amps and headphone chain couldn’t save the Mezes 99 classic or AKG 240 EP sextett for me. I think my 240 EP might be defective because I could never get them to sound good and the Mezes 99 classic just always sounds not good to me.
1 regret is that I couldn’t hear what the Sony MDR-CD3000, ATH-AD2000, and Final Audio D8000 Pro LE sound like on the fully burn in Allnic HPA-5000XL amp. I don’t like buying headphones that I already sold, but I may give that exception to the Sony MDR-CD3000 since that soundstage was pretty amazing from memory. Wonder what kind of soundstage the Allnic will give to the Sony MDR-CD3000.
Side Side Note that is not related to the amp: I had fun listening to all my headphones no matter what price range it was. I think the biggest shock was how fun and good the Beyerdynamic 770 Pro 250 Ohm and AKG 340 sound on my chain. I want to say that’s probably because the Evo B4B21 DAC is giving a lot of “fun” factor to the chain. I think the Mystique Evo B4B 21 and the Allnic HPA-5000XL a great factors for a fun and immersive experience.
My Chain: ROON Rock - Intel NUC 7i7 > EMM Labs NS1 > [AES] Mojo Audio Mystique EVO B4B 21 > Custom 45/6SN7 Tube Only Supratek Cabernet DHT > [RCA] Allnic HPA-5000XL > Headphones
… Although I don’t know how much it’ll cost yet lol
It’ s the same exact sensation I’m getting w/ My Shiny Eyes and Pasithea combo and it’s the liveliest most fun and enjoyable presentation I’ve ever experienced w/ HP’s. Great job on the write up 
I genuinely smiled and enjoyed reading that.
). So, to answer the very important question to any headphone amp thread, can the Allnic HPA-5000XL run a Susvara? The answer is looking like yes and he is only going up like 50-60% volume.
