Orchard Audio Valencia MG headphone amplifier

The Orchard Audio Valencia MG is an updated version of the fully-balanced headphone power amplifier developed in collaboration with Z Reviews. While the original Valencia featured a fixed 14 dB gain, the MG introduces modifiable 14 dB and 0 dB gain configurations, allowing it to better accommodate headphones with different sensitivities. The massively parallel high-current Class-AB architecture remains unchanged, delivering up to 17 W into 32 ohms with independent power regulation for each channel. Like the original, the Valencia MG uses balanced XLR inputs and requires external volume control, making it a dedicated power amplifier for balanced headphone systems.

Fully-balanced signal architecture

The Valencia MG uses Orchard Audio's proprietary fully-balanced signal architecture, maintaining separate positive and negative signal paths from input to output. Balanced XLR inputs allow direct connection to compatible DACs and preamplifiers, with differential signaling helping reject common-mode noise introduced along the connection.

For systems using an unbalanced source, an RCA-to-XLR converter can be used to interface with the amplifier. This provides additional source compatibility while retaining the Valencia MG's balanced internal amplification architecture.

Configurable gain for different headphone sensitivities

The MG revision introduces modifiable 14 dB and 0 dB gain settings to better match the amplifier's voltage gain to the connected headphones. The 14 dB configuration provides approximately five times voltage gain, making it appropriate for lower-sensitivity headphones that require additional signal amplification. The 0 dB setting operates at unity voltage gain, allowing high-sensitivity headphones to be driven without unnecessarily amplifying the incoming signal.

Choosing an appropriate gain setting also affects usable volume adjustment at the source. Lower gain can provide a more manageable volume range with sensitive headphones, while higher gain allows a source with limited output voltage to drive headphones that require greater voltage swing. Valencia MG can be ordered with the preferred gain setting preconfigured, and the gain configuration can be modified.

Dedicated power amplification with external volume control

The Valencia MG is a dedicated power amplifier without an integrated volume attenuator. Volume adjustment is handled by a connected DAC, preamplifier, or another source with variable output, making source-level control a requirement rather than an optional feature.

This arrangement separates volume management from the amplifier's output stage and allows Valencia MG to operate within an existing balanced signal chain. The external device controls the incoming signal level, while the amplifier supplies the voltage and current required by the headphone load.

Massively parallel high-current Class-AB output stage

The Valencia MG uses massively parallel high-current Class-AB buffers to distribute output demands across multiple devices. This architecture provides substantial current capacity while maintaining the operating characteristics of a Class-AB output stage, in which output devices conduct over more than half of each signal cycle.

Output power reaches 17 W into 32 ohms and 3.24 W into 150 ohms, with peak current capability specified at 1.2 A. These figures allow the amplifier to address the different electrical demands of lower-impedance, current-intensive headphones and higher-impedance models that require greater voltage swing. Its 0.02-ohm output impedance minimizes voltage loss across the amplifier's output resistance and reduces changes in frequency response caused by variations in headphone impedance.

Independent linear power regulation

Each amplifier channel receives power through an independent linear regulator, with a dedicated 1000 µF rail capacitor per channel. Separate regulation reduces interaction between the channels through their regulated power supplies, while the local rail capacitance provides energy storage for transient current demands.

These independent supplies support stable operation as headphone impedance and signal demands change, particularly when the output stage must deliver substantial current into lower-impedance loads.

Compatibility with headphones and high-sensitivity loudspeakers

The Valencia MG supports headphones with nominal impedances from 16 to 600 ohms. Its combination of configurable gain, 0.02-ohm output impedance, and high-current amplification allows it to accommodate a broad range of headphone electrical characteristics. The appropriate gain setting depends on headphone sensitivity, the source's output voltage, and the desired volume-control range.

The amplifier also delivers 7 W into 8 ohms, providing an option for powering suitable high-sensitivity loudspeakers. Its chassis measures 9.5 × 9.25 × 3 inches (24.1 × 23.5 × 7.6 cm), making it suitable for desktop audio systems and dedicated headphone listening spaces where an external DAC or preamplifier already handles source selection and volume adjustment.

Availability

The Orchard Audio Valencia MG is available now on Apos.