HA-L7A: Yamaha’s First Audiophile-Level Headphone Amplifier Announced

The Japanese company has announced its first-ever headphone amp, the HA-L7A, using Yamaha's patented technologies, such as its Floating and Balanced Power Amplifier.
The amplifier has an interesting L-shaped design, with two toroidal transformers mounted on the main frame above the power supply board to minimise the power supply path. The power supply also has independent transformers for the minute-signal circuitry in the front stage as well as the amplifier section in the second stage.
The HA-L7A runs on the ESS ES9038PRO DAC chip, with a dedicated master clock and crystal oscillator with ultra-low phase noise. The chip has a built-in eight-channel D/A converter that applies four-channel conversion to the left and right sides. With an output of 1,000mW + 1,000mW, the amplifier is powerful enough to drive most premium headphones, in addition to Yamaha's new flagship YH-5000SE headphones.
Yamaha has also implemented its Floating and Balanced Power Amplifier technology here, optimising it for the headphone amplifier with four sets of output stage circuits floating above the ground. Headphones can be driven without alternating between balanced and unbalanced to avoid sound quality discrepancies from different output terminals. All circuitry is also independent of the ground, eliminating external ground-related noise, so we are told.
Made out of aluminium, the chassis is sandblasted for a textural feel, with the master volume and mode selector dials located on the rightmost edge. Next to those dials, there's an OLED display for information such as the input source, sampling frequency, volume and which Sound Field preset is active. The chassis is made with rigid parts, including an 8mm thick extruded aluminium top, with the toroidal transformers mounted on a 2mm-thick steel plate to eliminate any adverse effects from vibrations. Weighing in at 5.3kg, the HA-L7A has dampers between each steel foot and the bottom panel for even more vibration dampening.
Yamaha's Sound Field effects can be found in the company's AV receivers and headphones, and in the HA-L7A, six presets are optimised for different use cases such as music, videos and more. In addition, the amplifier supports DSD 11.2MHz, or DSD256 if you prefer, as well as 32-bit /384kHz PCM files. There's also a Pure Direct function that bypasses all circuitry not present in the original source, such as DSP processing and DAC converters for analogue audio.
As for connectivity, the HA-L7A offers a 4-pin XLR balanced headphone jack, a 4.4mm balanced port, an unbalanced 6.3mm port, as well as a variety of other ports on the rear, including coaxial, optical, USB-B and built-in XLR and RCA pre-out/line-out ports. With those, the HA-L7A can even be used as a D/A converter or preamp.
Priced at £3,499, the Yamaha HA-L7A will be available in Q4 2023.
Visit Yamaha for more information

Marc Rushton
StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After writing for print magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET in 1999.
Posted in: Hi-Fi | Headphones
JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION
Want to share your opinion or get advice from other enthusiasts? Then head into the Message
Forums where thousands of other enthusiasts are communicating on a daily basis.
CLICK HERE FOR FREE MEMBERSHIP
Trending
applause awards
Each time StereoNET reviews a product, it is considered for an Applause Award. Winning one marks it out as a design of great quality and distinction – a special product in its class, on the grounds of either performance, value for money, or usually both.
Applause Awards are personally issued by StereoNET’s global Editor-in-Chief, David Price – who has over three decades of experience reviewing hi-fi products at the highest level – after consulting with our senior editorial team. They are not automatically given with all reviews, nor can manufacturers purchase them.
The StereoNET editorial team includes some of the world’s most experienced and respected hi-fi journalists with a vast wealth of knowledge. Some have edited popular English language hi-fi magazines, and others have been senior contributors to famous audio journals stretching back to the late 1970s. And we also employ professional IT and home theatre specialists who work at the cutting edge of today’s technology.
We believe that no other online hi-fi and home cinema resource offers such expert knowledge, so when StereoNET gives an Applause Award, it is a trustworthy hallmark of quality. Receiving such an award is the prerequisite to becoming eligible for our annual Product of the Year awards, awarded only to the finest designs in their respective categories. Buyers of hi-fi, home cinema, and headphones can be sure that a StereoNET Applause Award winner is worthy of your most serious attention.