Amphora por ALO

[mrarroyo]

Gracias a la generosidad de un soldado me han prestado un Amphora. Esta es la unidad que tenia Larry (HeadphoneAddict) de Head-Fi. Lo recibi hoy y espero poder probarlo este fin de semana, he aqui una foto.

[azelais]

Gracias a la generosidad de un soldado me han prestado un Amphora. Esta es la unidad que tenia Larry (HeadphoneAddict) de Head-Fi. Lo recibi hoy y espero poder probarlo este fin de semana, he aqui una foto.

Estás que no paras¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡. Menudo arsenal estás montando allí.
Ya nos contarás.
Un saludo.

[mako]

  Joer! parece una cajita de bombones ¿que llevará dentro?

[Torpedo]

Ja, pues esperad a que Miguel os cuente lo que piden por el juguete

[Eduardo]

Ja, pues esperad a que Miguel os cuente lo que piden por el juguete

Ya con solo saber que pone "ALO" al final del nombre ya se me pone la piel de gallina

[azelais]

Ja, pues esperad a que Miguel os cuente lo que piden por el juguete

Ya con solo saber que pone "ALO" al final del nombre ya se me pone la piel de gallina

Pues debe ser el más barato de ALO. La verdad es que esteticamente es muy agradable. Supongo que el fncionamiento con baterias de litio-on lo hará inmune  a los problemas de red, pero hay que reconocer que vale una pasta. Aunque comparado con el Isabella......
Saludos

[ogran]

No sé lo que lleva por dentro, pero desde luego el remate de la madera no parece especialmente bueno.



Mirad donde va el conector mini jack. Creo que se debería esperar algo más de un aparatito de 1000 dólares en lo que a acabado se refiere.

[mrarroyo]

Hay fotos internas en Head-Fi, pienso copiar un par y ponerlas aqui.

[mrarroyo]

I started my listening by using my APureSound re-cabled AKG K701. The cable is a 10" silver plated copper terminated in a 1/4" Furutech plug. ( APureSound - Where The Music Is Always Pure - APS Audio LLC. ).



All the pictures of the Amphora I have taken in one place for your viewing pleasure.









For music I started w/ a bit faster music than I normally would listen to, specifically the album Unchain Your Mind by Heavy Shift. I then switched to Bill Evans album Waltz for Debby.



The music is recorded as Apple Lossless and I am using the latest iTunes (8.1.1.10) out of my Dell using a Chaintech AV710 sound card and a glass optical cable feeding a Monarchy NM24 DAC. The electricity is being filtered by a Monarchy AC Regenerator. I am using a pair of 1 meter Zu Gede interconnects ( Gedeâ,,¢ ) from the NM24 DAC to feed the signal to the Amphora.





I then switched to my Ultrasone HFI-780 which has a dual entry 7 foot long re-cable by APureSound terminated in a 1/4" Neutrik plug. I have also fitted a set of velour pads made by Beyer Dynamic for the DT250/280.



As a contrast for todays initial listening I used a Novo by Graham Slee including the much better linear PSU1. I do not have a second pair of Zu Gede IC's so I used a pair of LC-1 by Blue Jean Cable ( Precision Stereo Audio Cables from Blue Jeans Cable ).



Please be advised that the following is just an initial impression w/ just two headphones and just two albums of music. I felt the bass was deeper, punchier, and tighter with Graham Slee Novo, while the Amphora had more treble extension and a tad wider soundstage. The Novo has a bit more depth to the music, and the Amphora a bit more air between the notes. The mids in both amps is very good (very clear, detailed, but w/ an slight warmth which to me is a welcome way in presenting the music) and at this moment I can not decide, perhaps as I become more familiar with the Amphora it will be easier to hear the nuances. So far I can hear the Amphora has a better affinity for the K701, while the Novo has a better affinity for the HFI-780.

An interesting thing I noted but was in no way expecting is the change in sound after the amp had been on for about an hour. Normally I expect tube amps (and to a lesser degree SS amps) to change a bit after they warm up. I honestly did not expect a battery driven transportable amp to exhibit this phenomenon, but I heard it. Basically the sound became more coherent and a bit easier to tell where a note started/ended. To me this was a totally unexpected change and if I had not heard it I would not believe it.

Over the next couple of weeks I hope to compare the Amphora w/ the Rudistor Sistema NX-02 and a Graham Slee Solo SRG w/ the PSU1. I will use two additional headphones, a Grado RS-1 and a Denon AH-D5000 w/ MarkL mods and a pair of  Mark's V4 Bubinga wood cups.





In these comparisons I will use the same IC's, two pairs of  Silver Sonic BL-1's built by Drew of Moon Audio ( Interconnects ).

[Fulliver]

Madre mía Miguel, Menudo arsenal!

Qué aproveche la escucha!

[mrarroyo]

Cambie el archivo asi que valdria la pena re-leerlo. La ventaja es que hay mas fotos que escrito.

[picodeloro]

1000$, ya puede sonar bien.

Esta claro que los V-Cap son capaces de marcar diferencias y es todo un detalle que usen un mando de Goldpoint. Supongo que el cable empleado en el interior es de Jena, pero aún así me parece mucho dinero.

Aunque pertenece a otro segmento, yo por ese dinero me haría un Beta22 en SE.

-- o --
Rodrigo

[Torpedo]

No sé seguro, ése cable azul me recuerda mucho al Purist. Si por 1000 pavos, esa miniatura que no tiene un solo trafo y apenas una placa diminuta, no monta unos V-Caps, ya me dirás tú qué excusa tienen para semejante precio
Completamente de acuerdo, un B22, un Dynamite, un CKKII o un M^3 me parecen cosas más elaboradas por ese dinero.

[mrarroyo]

Part II: The Evening of Saturday, April 11, 2009

For this second listening section I chose my trustworthy Grado RS-1 that I have had since around September 2005. I posted a picture of them above. For music I chose Larry Carlton's Collection Album. As stated above the source, dac, cables, and amps remained the same.



I have to say this portion of the review presented a few challenges. First I expected the more extended Amphora to have the upper hand in the upper end of the presentation, while I expected the Novo to come on top in the bass presentation. Mids were expected to be very good out of both units w/ the result being very liquid and detailed yet having a level of tonal warmth not normally associated w/ your typical SS amp. Boy was I wrong! It almost felt as the amp internals had been swapped with the Novo having a more forward upper frequency that at times was a bit too energetic. This while the Amphora was a bit less extended and there I say it almost fell as it had treble roll-off. These are totally different sounds than what I heard earlier in the day with the HFI-780 and the K701. The soundstage was swapped as well; the Novo exhibited a more distant yet wider soundstage while the Amphora was more in your head presentation. Although not quite as wide, it exhibited a bit more air in between the notes. The funny thing is that while both were quite different from each other and from what I heard this morning they are a lot of fun to listen with perhaps a slight edge in favor of the Amphora with a bit more organic spin to the music.

[enos]

Hay fotos internas en Head-Fi, pienso copiar un par y ponerlas aqui.

Ouch, no volvere a quejarme del interior del Rudi NX-33 jamás