[ghostmusic]

Just came back from Queens, where I heard the Amphora briefly and had a nice chat with Vinnie. Only heard two songs on it - a Fleet Foxes track "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" and a track from Thom Yorke's Eraser LP - so bear in mind, this is barely an initial impression. But they are songs I know very well. Robin Pecknold from the Fleet Foxes uses a lot of reverb, like Jim James from My Morning Jacket, so the vocals, on lesser amps & many portable amps, sound syrupy and overly warm. Nothing of that sort. The sound out of the K701s was stellar, almost creamy through the midband extending into lower treble (a weird adjective to use for K701s, as I'm sure a lot of you know!) yet not muddled, with the clarity of musical line well delineated. It would be a good amp even if it's JUST for those people who are frustrated about their K701s sounding shrill or bright. I kept thinking about how it would mate with my ESW10JPN or the LA7000s that I have for review. Amphora, in my limited listening time, still made an imprint on me with a sound that was smooth, and "analogue-warm." I only heard music and not electronics.

Still, I'll have to reserve my judgment until I run some Richard Strauss or Stravinsky through the Amphora, see how it handles more violent and dynamically volatile material, like the explosion of the gran cassa in The Rite of Spring, which is a litmus test for sure...

And as the object of desire: hits that sweet spot. Very well made, and almost seems like an aesthetic object from a different era. Neatly portable so that you can tote this thing EASILY in your messenger bag, to & from your office. As a transportable/office amp, it may be unbeatable.

I tip my hat to both Ken & Vinnie, as they've outdone themselves here.