The Single Shot 400 is an integrated amplifier built by JAVA Hi-Fi of New Zealand, a firm headed by its founder and chief executive Martin Bell. It doubles the output of the Single Shot 200 and combines a light dependent resistor preamplifier, GaN FET power amplification, a USB converter, a moving magnet phono stage and Bluetooth in one case. The model was announced in spring 2025, shown at AXPONA in April of that year and scheduled to ship in May, with a launch price from USD 11,995 in standard finishes. A CARBON edition was offered alongside the standard version.
Key specs that matter
Rated output is 400 W per channel into 8 ohm. The connection panel is single-ended throughout, with two pairs of RCA line inputs, an RCA input for the MM phono stage, a variable RCA preamplifier output and a USB input for the internal converter. Bluetooth with aptX adds a wireless input, and a headphone socket sits on the front. The converter is an R2R ladder design based on two Analog Devices AD1865 chips, which are 18-bit, non-oversampling parts, and it accepts sample rates up to 768 kHz. The case is 44 cm wide, 41.5 cm deep and 13 cm high and weighs 10.6 kg.
Engineering and use context
JAVA builds its amplifiers around two technologies. Volume in the preamplifier stage is set by light dependent resistors instead of a conventional potentiometer or a switched resistor ladder, and the power stage uses gallium nitride field effect transistors. An inverted PCB layout is the maker's method of controlling vibration and resonance. Signal and speaker connections are made through ETI Research RCA sockets and binding posts. The front panel is 8 mm anodised aluminium, offered in black, silver or copper, while the casework comes in white satin, black satin, ebony satin or gloss, and dark walnut satin or gloss, with real wood veneers in the upper finishes. Level and source changes are also available from the supplied remote handset.
Pairing
With its high power rating, the amplifier has the reserve to drive low-sensitivity loudspeakers and large floorstanding models, yet it can also run efficient speakers at moderate levels. The built-in phono stage accepts a record deck carrying an MM cartridge, so no external phono preamp is needed unless a moving coil cartridge is used. A computer or network transport connects over USB, and the variable pre-out allows an active subwoofer or an extra power amp to be added. Since all inputs are RCA, sources with balanced XLR outputs need adapter cables.
Alternatives
The JAVA Hi-Fi Single Shot 200 is the lower-powered integrated model in the same series, with half the output and sharing the AD1865 R2R converter.