T+A SD 3100 HV Reference Streaming DAC

Technology

Since more and more audiophile music enthusiasts use high-quality headphones, we have developed a particularly good, high-performance analogue headphone amplifier which also exploits HV technology; it works completely in Class A mode, and offers outstanding sound quality. The connection sockets for 6.3 mm jack plugs and high-quality, quadrupole-symmetrical pentaconn plugs are located on the front. Like all our HV devices the SD 3100 HV is built of pure aluminium, without any ferro-magnetic materials at all, and features five compartments separated by aluminium dividing walls. These sections house the motherboard with digital inputs, the D/A converters with analogue output stage, the analogue mains section, the digital mains section and – in the massive front panel – the control section with its bright display and sensor buttons.

The HV Series

Within just two years the HV series has developed into a line of high-end electronics which has gained some of the finest reviews and assessments world-wide. In that short time it has made T+A the leading high-end manufacturer in Germany. The HV series first appeared in 2013, and was based on our thirty years of experience in the development and construction of first-class transistor amplifiers and valve devices. The new series incorporates a revolutionary concept combining the sonic and technical advantages of both technologies, at the same time avoiding the inherent disadvantages of present-day valves. The HV = High Voltage technology is employed in the amplifier stages of all the machines in this series, and is the secret behind their outstanding performance and sound quality. The source devices of the same series are just as uncompromising and superb as the amplifiers. They represent absolutely the highest level in the processing and reproduction of all digital sources.

Design Philosophy

The HV series is the true embodiment of the original meaning of the term ‘high-end’: innovative technologies, uncompromising construction and absolutely peak performance. For the HV series we developed a whole raft of unique and superior technologies which are available exclusively to T+A: amplifier stages work at very high voltages, and are therefore inherently more linear in character than conventional circuits; the players feature separate high-performance converters for PCM and DSD, digital and analogue signal processing are kept consistently separate from each other, and specific subassemblies are galvanically isolated. All devices are fully channel-separate and designed on the double-mono principle. They are of entirely discrete construction, without operational amplifiers (op-amps). Amplifier output is more than 500 Watt per channel. The mechanical construction of all cases is extremely sophisticated, based on an internal framework of 10 mm thick machined aluminium plates. All case components are manufactured from pure aluminium, some of them machined from the solid. Absolutely no ferro-magnetic components are used.