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Hovland HP-100 stereo preamplifier T
heres a whorish aspect to review-
ing that some readers and indus-
try critics never tire of mention-
ing, as if theyve stumbled onto some
great revelation: that we writers seem
to flit from new product to new prod-
uct, sometimes gushing like cracked
fire hydrants over one amplifier one
month, only to gush over another amp
the following month.
While the goal of most consumers is
to find one true love of a component and
stick with it for a long time, our job is to
wolf-whistle or blow raspberries at the
endless passing parade. Its the reviewers
job to try to remain dispassionate. How-
ever, no reviewer can listen to everything
available before writing a review a
reviewer is only as all-knowing as the
last product he or she has reviewed. Ive
just evaluated Audio Researchs superb-
sounding Reference Two line stage
($9995, September 2000). Before that, I
reviewed ARCs mouthwatering Refer-
ence phono stage ($6495, February
2000). Now along comes Hovlands
HP-100, a one-box, all-tube line stage
($4995) with optional built-in MM
($5995) or MC ($6495) phono stage.
Im backing into this review slowly so I
dont crack a fire hydrant.
Caps, Cables . . . and a Preamp?
Hovland is best known for its propri-
etary film and foil polypropylene Musi-
Cap® capacitors, which the company
began distributing in 1991, and which
more than 200 audio companies around
the world now use; and for its custom
tonearm, interconnect, and speaker
cables, which go back to 1979. But com-
pany spokesperson Alex Crespi assured
me that those products came out of
research conducted by Robert Hovland
and his associates while they were
attempting to design tube and solid-state
preamplifiers and amplifiers, projects
that date back to the late 70s. At the
time, Hovlands business was mainly
Description: Vacuum-tube full-func-
tion preamplifier with built-in phono
stage and optional MC step-up trans-
former module. Line-stage tube com-
plement: two 12AX7s, one 12AU7.
Phono stage tube complement: two
12AX7s, one 12AT7. Line-stage: Volt-
age gain: 14dB. Frequency response:
10Hz25kHz, +0/0.25dB. S/N Ratio:
80dB (wideband) ref. 3V out, (with
level control fully clockwise). THD:
<1% at rated output. Output imped-
ance: approximately 2500 ohms.
Input impedance: 100k ohms. MC
phono stage: Voltage gain: 66dB at
1kHz. Frequency response: 25Hz
25kHz, ±0.15dB. S/N Ratio: 60dB
(wideband) ref. 0.2mV input signal,
75dB ref. 0.2mV input using 400Hz
high-pass filter. Input impedance:
450 ohms.
Dimensions: 18
1 4
" W by 5
1 4
" H (in-
cluding feet) by 17
3 8
" D (including
knobs and rear jacks). Weight: 27 lbs.
Serial number of unit reviewed:
1048.
Prices: $4995 (line stage only). With
phono stages: $5995 with MM,
$6495 with MC (this version re-
viewed). Internal 20dB step-up trans-
former module for MM stage: $695.
Warranty: 2 years, parts & labor;
tubes, 90 days. Approximate number
of dealers: 15.
Manufacturer: Hovland Company,
1545A Pontius Avenue, Los Angeles,
CA 90025. Tel: (209) 966-4377.
Fax: (209) 966-4632. Web: www.
hovlandcompany.com.
Hovland HP-100 stereo preamplifier
Hovland HP-100 stereo preamplifier
Reprinted from November 2000
Vol.23 No.11
E q u i p m e n t R e p o r t
M i c h a e l F r e m e r modifying vintage gear for audiophiles
and studio equipment for professionals.
So while the HP-100 is Hovlands
first publicly traded audio component, it
is not an afterthought, or even a natural
extension of the cable and capacitor
business, but the fulfillment of whats
been Robert Hovlands goal all along: to
bring such a product to the market. Or
so I was told. Its just taken . . . some
time to get it all right. Given the com-
panys history of more than 20 years,
that sounds like an understatement.
When I expressed my skepticism
about the 20-year gap between inspira-
tion and fruition, I was told to visualize
Apples core team working in a
garage for 20 years and coming up with
the G4 as its first product. But no soon-
er had Crespi and the rest of the
tightknit group Robert Hovland,
CEO Jeffrey Tonkin, and design con-
sultant Michael Garges (listening in via
speakerphone) unleashed that analo-
gy on me, than they all chimed in
almost simultaneously to assure me that
Hovland is not a garage-based company,
and not some hobby run amok!
Out-of-Box Experience
With its three smooth, gleaming,
chrome-plated knobs and
3 8
"-thick
faceplate of aluminum plated in black
nickel (the same plating process used
for the sinks on the Sultan of Bruneis
jets) and backed by a sheet of translu-
cent plastic thats softly backlit blue, the
HP-100 exudes tasteful luxury and
authoritative simplicity. More impor-
tant, the heavy-gauge, polished, ano-
dized top and bottom plates and mono-
coque chassis help ensure structural
integrity. The stiff, heavy box feels as
good as it looks, though those of con-
servative tastes might find it a bit
Rodeo-Drive garish. If you dont like
the blue glow, you can turn it off via a
switch on the rear. Mikey liked it.
Under the lid are three distinct com-
partments: one each for the optional
three-tube phono section, the three-
tube line stage, and the solid-state power
supply, with cabling neatly routed in
between. Mounted on the chassis rear to
keep signal paths short is a complex
switch, meticulously hand-soldered, for
selecting among eight sources. On the
faceplate is a stepped attenuator switch,
also hand-soldered, that is wondrous to
behold. The quality of the workmanship
H o v l a n d H P - 1 0 0
M e a s u r e m e n t s
T
he drop-dead gorgeous Hovland
HP-100 preamp offered a maxi-
mum line-stage gain of 13.6dB the
silky-feeling switched attenuator oper-
ating in accurate 2dB steps down to
58dB, with then a step to a full mute.
(Theres also a separate Mute button.)
The volume control didnt have an exact
unity-gain setting; the nearest was the 3
oclock position, which featured a
0.135dB insertion loss. The 12 oclock
position was equivalent to 14dB
referred to the unity gain setting.
The Hovlands line stage didnt
invert absolute polarity. Its input
impedance was a usefully high 100k
ohms in the midrange and bass, with
just a small reduction to a still-high 86k
ohms at 20kHz. Despite the claim that
the HP-100 uses a cathode follower
output stage, its source impedance was
high at 2.4k ohms, rising to 4.3k ohms
at 20Hz. The partnering power ampli-
fier would best have an input imped-
ance of at least 47k ohms if the bass is
not to sound lean.
Line-stage frequency response (fig.1)
was flat within the audioband, rolling
off above 10kHz to reach a probably
negligible 0.25dB at 20kHz and 3dB
at 80kHz. The response did not change
at different volume-control settings.
The HP-100s channel separation
(fig.2) was disappointing: While good
at low frequencies (78dB LR, 73dB
RL), it degraded at 6dB/octave
throughout the midrange and treble to
a merely adequate 45dB (LR) and
37dB (RL) at 20kHz. This is presum-
ably due to capacitive coupling
between channels, perhaps due to a
twin-triode tube shared between chan-
nels at or ahead of the volume control.
I suspect the latter as the channel sepa-
ration did change with the volume-
control setting.
Mikey said he felt the Hovland was
not the quietest preamp around. Line-
stage noise was only okay at 71.5dB,
unweighted ref. 1V. The S/N ratio im-
proved to 95.1dB when A-weighted,
suggesting that the noise is mainly
high- or low-frequency in nature. Fig.3
shows the line stages THD+noise per-
centage, plotted against frequency at
750mV output into 100k ohms. The
true distortion is buried within the
noise below 10kHz; there is a rise in
harmonic content above that frequency,
but as it reaches just 0.1% above 30kHz,
it is probably subjectively inconsequen-
tial, particularly as the primary distor-
tion component is the second, at twice
the frequency (fig.4).
This gr