There's a fair amount of 'buzz' around this amp (the good kind).
That's good to hear. I would appreciate it if you'd drop a link here when you come across a mention of the HPA-1.
Perhaps a logical next step would be a single-ended-only 'budget' version for those of us who don't really need balanced inputs.
Yeah. There are two logical ways from here:
- Up: Larger chassis, 4-pin XLR output, more bells and whistles, even better performance.
- Down: Lower cost, fewer features (maybe only one gain setting, definitely drop the differential input), still solid performance.
I do recognize that for many, $899 is a bit much for a first-time buy into a relatively unknown brand/company. It would be nice with a $399-499 product. Believe it or not, it is
hard to get to that price point without giving up too much performance, but I have some ideas. Going up in price is easier.
Great start though. Simple, clean, no-nonsense design. Wish TCA success.
Thank you.
Differential or single ended inputs are available through Tom’s buffer. All described on his website. And $149 for the buffer/ch is a bargain in my book. Especially since it can be configured with gain which really makes it much more than a buffer.
I think you're talking about two different things. dB Cooper is talking about the TCA HPA-1 headphone amp. I think you're onto my Neurochrome Universal Buffer (
https://neurochrome.com/products/universal-buffer) and/or Neurochrome Purifi/Hypex Buffer (
https://neurochrome.com/products/purifi-1et400a-hypex-nc500-input-buffer).
I think a good option for this if TCA isn't interested in an assembled product would either be a complete kit or even a list of parts including the case so that one could build it up. Many can build but less can research and complete a safe and well engineered unit.
TCA is
only interested in assembled products. No TCA product will ever be made available as a DIY product. They are designed from the ground up as retail (fully assembled, backed by warranty) products.
Many perceive DIY as cheap. As touched upon briefly above, I command premium prices for my premium products. I think that's fair...
However, it's hard to command a premium price (or to be perceived as a premium brand) if you're perceived as cheap. This is one of the reasons I chose to start Tom Christiansen Audio (TCA).
I understand that it's hard to separate the two. After all, many perceive Neurochrome (my DIY brand/company) as "Tom Christiansen" (the person - me!). And part of my reason for going with the Tom Christiansen Audio name was to leverage some of that name recognition. Maybe I shot myself in the foot that way. Time will tell...
I do want TCA to be a personable brand, though. Many seem to appreciate that they get to meet me directly at trade shows and such, and I intend to keep it that way.
This thread is about Tom Christiansen Audio, but allow me to veer off topic a bit with a brief summary of my DIY brand, Neurochrome. I hope this will highlight some of the differences between TCA and Neurochrome, thus reenforce my reason for keeping the two separate.
I started Neurochrome in 2010 while I was working full time at National Semiconductor as a circuit designer in their Precision Timing Group. I'd started working there only five years earlier, and spent the first three years of my career in their Precision Amplifiers Group designing precision opamps. The LMP2021 is one of mine. So I think it's fair to say that precision circuit design is my life, and precision audio circuits is my passion. Now, if I was better at marketing, I would write some sappy verbiage about how I carefully researched the market and found my niche and three months later was raking in seven figures, but my honesty seems to get in the way of that
. What actually happened was that I was working on a project for myself and needed some circuit boards. I can etch a board in my garage, but it's much nicer with a professionally made board. So I bought $100 worth of boards to get one for my own use. $100 seemed like a lot at the time. This was right after the 2008/9 real estate crash. Anyway, I decided to sell the rest of the boards. I opened up for preorders, and the first batch of boards sold before the boards even arrived from the manufacturer (note to self: charge more next time!)
After dinking around with vacuum tubes for a while, I decided to apply my precision circuit design skills to power amplifiers and headphone amplifiers. That's how the Neurochrome Modulus-86 power amp (
https://neurochrome.com/products/modulus-86) and Neurochrome HP-1 headphone amp (now discontinued) came to be, and I have been pushing the performance envelope ever since.
I mentioned that DIY is perceived as cheap. And, indeed, if you look at many of my older threads on DIY Audio, for example, you'll find that Post #1 is my announcement of the circuit, and Posts #2-200 are people clamouring about how outrageous it is that I charge more than cost, and how they can buy a cheaper circuit on eBay. I have argued for years that quality and performance cost money. Also, for a business to be successful, it has to charge more than cost. That's what separates a business from a hobby.
It seems that I have been able to successfully drive a bit of a cultural shift in the DIY community. Many now recognize that the circuits from eBay aren't worth the money (even at their insanely low prices) and that quality is actually worth paying for. So my more recent threads might have a post or two where someone grumbles about the price, but for the most part people have come to terms with the fact, that if they want quality, they'll have to find a bit more loose change between the couch cushions.
I enjoy playing in the DIY market. It exposes me to a lot of engineering challenges, and many genuinely appreciate my efforts and help. However, the DIY market is quite small. Furthermore, to continue to push the performance envelope, I have to use the more modern parts. These parts are now only available in surface mounted packages. That's generally not too much of a problem as long as the pins of the part are all visible.
Problems arise when the parts include an exposed pad under it or when it doesn't have pins at all (see the LLP and QFN packages for example). The DIYers out there will cry, "Don't be such a wimp! It's easy. You just take a frying pan and ...." (seriously: Google "frying pan solder reflow"). Um. Yeah. That's not a production flow. The pros use a reflow oven. The oven my board house uses has 13 temperature zones in it. This to ensure that the proper reflow temperature profile is followed and that the board and/or parts are not damaged during reflow. Many of the overseas outfits use ovens with only three zones... I'll let you ponder how that might impact product quality and reliability. The pros also X-ray the board after to check for voiding in the solder on the pads they cannot visually inspect. The pros charge money for this (how outrageous!!
).
Some argue, "just have that one part soldered professionally and let me solder the rest", but that doesn't really make sense. The startup cost of professional assembly would make such "one-part assemblies" insanely expensive. At that point, you might as well let the pros handle the assembly, which is what I have done on my more recent Neurochrome products, such as the Neurochrome Universal Buffer and Neurochrome Purifi/Hypex Buffer. Unfortunately, this upsets the more hardcore DIYers who want to build everything from scratch, but hopefully it opens some doors with others. Another major drawback of this approach is that to make the builds reasonably low cost, I have to order a significant quantity of boards. It's pretty common that I sink the value of a good used car into a board build. If the boards sell, great, but if not... Well. Damn. Thankfully, I've had more successes than failures so far.
Speaking of money. Some in the DIY circles have argued that because I run a business, thus charge more than cost, "I'm only in it for the money". If money was my main motivator, I would have stayed at Texas Instruments (which acquired National Semiconductor in 2012). Rather, I left to pursue a bachelor's degree in psychology (to pursue another passion and to complement my bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering) in 2015. I have relied on Neurochrome as my only source of income since then. I took an 80% (yes, eighty percent) pay cut when I left TI. Thankfully, I have grown my business since then, but still... My lifetime income would have been some $350-400k higher to date had I stayed. I would have hated life, but I would have been richer... So, no. I'm not "in it for the money".
I am not looking to get rich and famous here, but I would like to make an engineering income so I might be able to retire (or at least reduce my hours worked) some day. I thoroughly enjoy the freedom and flexibility that comes with self-employment, and I'm willing to accept a lower income to keep that freedom and flexibility.
My goal with Tom Christiansen Audio is three-fold:
- Push performance: Did I mention that precision audio is my passion? By designing for the retail market, I am no longer restricted to parts that can be hand-soldered. This means I get to push the performance to the max.
- Larger serviceable market: The retail market is much, much bigger than the DIY market. By capturing even a small piece of it, I could potentially nudge myself closer to an engineering income.
- Willingness to pay: In the retail market, there is a greater sense that a higher performance is worth paying for. Some rightfully will argue that you can find high-performance products at the various purchase clubs. However, I think many will find out (after repeated warranty repairs) that rock bottom prices means lower reliability. I hope to catch these folks on the rebound.
Now this is the part of the story where I tell you that I carefully researched the market, found my niche, and three months later was raking in seven figures (stop me if you've heard this already...)
. In full seriousness: I should probably sit down and write a business plan - even if in bullet points on a napkin. My first thoughts around TCA occurred after the Neurochrome HP-1 headphone amp took on a life of its own. Many started requesting that I delivered a finished product. Unfortunately, the Neurochrome HP-1 was a true Engineer's Amp. It was optimized 200% for performance without considering the assembly cost (it was a DIY project, remember). While it was a solid performer, it was ungodly expensive to produce, thus, not suited for mass production. Many also found the chassis "too DIY" (which it was). It was a good learning experience for me as it opened my eyes to the demands of the retail market (spoiler: It turns out that performance is not everything, the product has to look and feel good too).
With the TCA HPA-1, I set out to reproduce the performance of the Neurochrome HP-1 at a price point that would allow for mass production, and offer the features and the look and feel expected of a retail product. This involved a complete redesign of the circuit. Thinking about it, I think only a small piece of the protection circuit is common between the Neurochrome HP-1 and the TCA HPA-1. I did have to give a little on the output power (the HP-1 provided 3 W, whereas the HPA-1 provides 1.25 W into 32 Ω), but that was about it. The TCA HPA-1 is $899. The Neurochrome HP-1, fully assembled, was $1250. I think the slightly lower output power was a worthwhile tradeoff. That also gives me some room to grow when I move up the price ladder.
I can't read into what the future will bring. In particular not these days. I fully plan to keep both Neurochrome and Tom Christiansen Audio going for quite a while to come. However, once TCA takes flight, there might come a time when it will make sense to start winding down (or selling off) Neurochrome. But I'm getting way ahead of myself here. I do feel like I'm approaching the end of the DIY roadmap pretty quickly here. At some point revenue will start to decline. Business cycles... We'll see. For now, it's one year at a time here...
Anyway. That was probably the most longwinded "short summary" I've written in a while.
If you would like to experience the TCA HPA-1 in person, you will have the opportunity to do so this fall. I will be at RMAF in Denver in October. I plan to visit CanJam in Chicago the weekend after RMAF as well. Assuming the current pandemic situation will allow for such activities, that is.
You're also welcome to swing by in Calgary. And I have an amp sitting with Lawrence & Scott in Seattle (
https://www.lawrenceandscott.com/the-good-life/) for demo.
Tom
