Gold Note HP-10 Headphone Amplifier

The Gold Note HP-10 is a headphone amplifier of extraordinary engineering ambition — a component that establishes a new benchmark for what a dedicated headphone amplification stage can achieve at its price, and that delivers the fully balanced Class A dual-mono circuit architecture, the breadth of real-time analogue signal adjustment, and the versatility of balanced and unbalanced headphone output provision that previously demanded expenditure of considerably greater magnitude. Built around a fully balanced, dual-mono Class A circuit of Gold Note's own design, housed in the precision-machined aluminium chassis that defines the visual identity of the entire Gold Note electronics range, and offering a suite of analogue-domain signal adjustments — crossfeed, Harman Curve EQ, damping factor, gain, phase, and Superflat mode — whose breadth and musical consequence are without parallel at this price, the HP-10 is not merely an outstanding headphone amplifier. It is the component that transforms headphone listening from a private compromise into an experience of genuine high-end musical authority.

Fully Balanced Class A Dual-Mono Circuit — The Architecture of Uncompromised Performance

The HP-10's circuit topology is fully balanced and configured in dual-mono — an architecture of fundamental engineering importance in which the left and right channel signal paths are entirely independent from input to output, sharing no active or passive components and maintaining perfect electrical symmetry throughout the full signal path. The fully balanced design eliminates the possibility of inter-channel crosstalk contaminating the stereo image, and ensures that common-mode noise — the electromagnetic interference that single-ended circuits couple directly into the audio signal — is rejected before it can affect the musical presentation. The Class A operating mode ensures that the HP-10's output devices conduct continuously throughout the full audio cycle — eliminating the crossover distortion artefacts that Class AB designs introduce at the transition between positive and negative half-cycles, and delivering a musical presentation of extraordinary naturalness, low-level detail retrieval, and tonal purity that only a true Class A circuit of this engineering ambition can consistently achieve.

Six Analogue-Domain Adjustments — Real-Time, No Signal Compromise

The HP-10's suite of analogue-domain signal adjustments is the most comprehensive available in a headphone amplifier at its price — six independently selectable parameters, each implemented entirely in the analogue domain after digital-to-analogue conversion, that allow the listener to fine-tune the HP-10's presentation to their headphones, their music, and their own listening preferences without introducing any digital processing artefact into the signal path.

Crossfeed introduces a controlled and musically natural degree of channel blending that reduces the extreme left-right separation of headphone listening — the artificial stereo image width that no loudspeaker-based system reproduces — and creates a more natural, front-projected soundstage of greater musical ease and long-term listening comfort. The Harman Curve EQ applies the frequency response target established by Harman International's research into the preferred headphone response of a large listener population — a gentle low-frequency lift and high-frequency roll-off that brings the tonal balance of the headphone presentation closer to the response of a well-set-up loudspeaker system in a domestic room. Damping factor adjustment controls the HP-10's output impedance — and therefore its electrical damping of the headphone driver — across a range that allows it to be optimised for headphones of any impedance characteristic, from the lowest-impedance in-ear monitors to the highest-impedance reference headphones. Gain, phase inversion, and Superflat mode complete a suite of adjustments whose practical musical value, delivered entirely in the analogue domain without signal degradation, is without parallel at this price.

Balanced and Unbalanced Headphone Outputs — Every Headphone Connected

The HP-10 provides four headphone output options — balanced 4-pin XLR, balanced 4.4mm Pentaconn, unbalanced 6.3mm, and unbalanced 3.5mm — ensuring that headphones of any termination standard can be connected directly without adaptors or signal compromise. The balanced XLR and 4.4mm outputs deliver the full benefit of the HP-10's balanced circuit architecture — maximum common-mode noise rejection, maximum channel separation, and the doubled voltage swing that a balanced output stage provides over an equivalent single-ended design — while the unbalanced 6.3mm and 3.5mm outputs ensure that headphones terminated in conventional single-ended plugs are accommodated with equal quality and without any reduction in circuit capability. It is a headphone output provision of genuine completeness — one that ensures the HP-10 remains a relevant and capable partnering amplifier for any headphone the listener chooses to use, now or in the future.

Three Variants — Analogue, Bluetooth, and Ultimate

The HP-10 is available in three configurations of increasing capability. The HP-10 is the analogue-only model — a pure headphone amplifier of maximum signal path simplicity, accepting balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA analogue inputs and delivering the full benefit of its Class A dual-mono circuit without any digital stage in the signal path. The HP-10 BT adds digital inputs and Bluetooth aptX HD 5.1 connectivity alongside an ESS Sabre DAC — transforming the HP-10 into a complete headphone DAC and amplifier of the widest source compatibility, capable of wireless streaming from smartphones and computers at high-resolution aptX HD quality. The HP-10 Deluxe adds USB-C connectivity and replaces the ESS Sabre DAC with a premium AKM AK4493 converter of the highest specification — the same converter family used in Gold Note's reference streaming components — delivering a level of digital-to-analogue conversion quality that headphone DAC amplifiers of far greater cost cannot consistently match. All three variants share the identical analogue amplification stage, the identical suite of analogue-domain adjustments, and the identical headphone output provision — ensuring that the choice of variant is determined by source requirements alone, not by any compromise in amplification quality.

PSU-10 Evo and System Expansion

The HP-10 is designed from the outset to accept the Gold Note PSU-10 Evo external power supply — an upgrade whose contribution to the HP-10's noise floor, dynamic authority, and musical naturalness is immediately and unmistakably audible. Those building a complete compact Gold Note system around the HP-10 will find the Gold Note PA-10 power amplifier the natural amplification partner for loudspeaker replay of equivalent authority — and those whose system includes a vinyl source will find the Gold Note PH-10 phono stage the analogue foundation that allows every cartridge in the Gold Note range, from the Gold Note Vasari to the Gold Note Machiavelli MkII, to perform without limitation.

Technical Specifications

Who Is It For?

The HP-10 is for the serious headphone enthusiast who understands that the amplifier is as consequential to the musical performance of a headphone system as the headphones themselves — and who wants a headphone amplifier of complete, uncompromising capability that can accommodate any headphone, optimise its presentation through a suite of analogue-domain adjustments of genuine musical value, and grow through meaningful external power supply and digital source upgrades. The analogue HP-10 is ideal for those whose source is already of high quality — partnering a streaming DAC such as the Gold Note DS-10 Evo or a CD source such as the Gold Note CD10 with a headphone amplification stage of equivalent authority. The HP-10 BT and HP-10 Deluxe extend this capability to listeners who want wireless streaming or the highest-quality integrated DAC stage in a single chassis of minimum footprint.

Buying from Martins Hi-Fi

Martins Hi-Fi has been in Norwich since 1968. Elizabeth Gould runs the business today, and we stock only brands we have heard properly and stand behind. We can demonstrate the HP-10 in our Norwich showroom — driven by a range of source components and connected to a selection of reference headphones — so you can hear precisely what a headphone amplifier of this engineering ambition contributes to a serious personal listening system. When you get in touch, you'll be speaking with Dave, Chris and Tim — experienced specialists who can advise on this product and your whole system.

Contact us at info@martinshifi.co.uk, call 01603 627010, or WhatsApp on 07554 687137. You can read more about how we work on our Why Martins Hi-Fi page. We are at 85–91 Ber Street, Norwich, NR1 3EY.