ALO Double Mini3 amp

[Skylab]

Hey guys - Ken has already said he is on vacation this week. Give him a break. This is a thread HE PAYS FOR. Wait for him to get back, and I am sure he will address your questions.

[kpeezy]

No discussing while he's on vacation? Give him a break because he pays for the thread?

I'm not sure why either of those things matter.

[Skylab]

Discussing is fine. Demanding answers from the guy, which is what at least a few of the posts have amounted to, seems a bit harsh while the guy is on vacation with his family.

The overall tone of a lot of the above posts are pretty hostile, IMO.

[n_maher]

Originally Posted by Skylab

The overall tone of a lot of the above posts are pretty hostile, IMO.

You're not wrong. The naming issue is something for Ken and amb to discuss, which I suspect they have. What the rest of us think is all well and good and worth jack squat.

[MASantos]

.

[Skylab]

Originally Posted by MASantos

So we can't express our opinions or ask legitimate questions because he pays for it?????

The way I see it, since he pays, this is HIS thread. Asking questions is fine, but if you read the posts, Ken has been accused, including by you, of misleading customers. So the way I look at it, you have come into his house and thrown stones at him. He is under no obligation to follow your logic of what makes a good product name.

Originally Posted by MASantos

No one demanded for him to answer imediately. I know he is on vacation, I don't expect him to answer right away, but I can certainly write and post the questions I want whenever I want to!!!!!

I never said otherwise, but was just making sure people understood WHY he might not answer.

Originally Posted by MASantos

ps: this post has a tone towards you, because you jumped in and started to defend Ken, when no accusations were done or "tone" used... and I'm sure if such had been done, Ken would be more than able to "defend" himself.

I disagree that things like saying he is misleading customers is not accusatory. I am not the only one.

In any case, I have said enough on this topic.

[KB]

Originally Posted by PhaedrusX

i can't say whether these "mods" are going to make any improvement in the sound quality of the amp or not, but completely changing the name of amb's property seems wrong to me.

intentional or not, this is going to 1) mislead unwitting customers into believing this is a unique amp designed by ALO, while 2) doing a great disservice to amb by not giving credit where credit is due.

other audio companies mod pre-existing gear and charge higher prices, but i've never heard of one obliterating the original name of the product. personally, i hope you reconsider the front panel, and put "Mini^3" somewhere back on it.

imho.

Ummm did you read post #22? where this was addressed?

I discussed all this with Ti many months ago and everything was approved. I told him when I approached him about doing this that I would be sending people to his site and let it be know that the amp was a mini3 board etc... Moreover not only do I say it is Ti's AMB.or design I included a link to his site and encouraged those willing to try making one for themselves, so if that is not giving "credit where credit is due" then I do not know what else one can do. ?? I am not changing anything, nada, have no regrets and am totally excited about having this fantastic product to offer.

I do not want this thread to be a DIY technical thread on the amp, if you want to do this, please go to the Headwise thread started by Ti here

HeadWize: DIY Workshop > Mini³ v2: A portable headphone amplifier


Thanks

Ken

[KB]

The ALO Double Mini3 amp is now on the web page.

As for detail about the mod the mod part to the amp -

We begin with a proven solid AMB.org Mini3 "High Performance" model pocket amplifier board and add our own modification to upgrade the original design. We first use Black Gate capacitors on the voltage rails to the opamps to offer better bass and weight, punch, and control. The stock caps are used as bypass caps and the BGs are used in parallel for extra rail "stiffness". Next we changed a few resistors in the signal path with a brand that we believe offers a less grainy top-end and has more extension and is more effortless sounding. Because these resistors are directly in the signal path, they have a noticeable influence on the sound and we believe the upgraded resistors offer a clear improvement to the sound of the already wonderful original AMB.org amp. The installation of the extra caps was worth the effort and we are very happy with the result of the amp.

you can find the amp in the ipod cable section HERE

Thanks!

Ken

[dadozen]

Ken has already posted the original's amp website and anyone who wants to buy a stock one, is welcome to do that. Also, he stated more than once that he has discussed about its name, technical details and everything with the original amp's owner, so I don't see anything wrong here.

Considering the time and effort KB puts on his products, I'm sure that those changes will make a noticeable improvement and he charges what he feels it's worth of.

I completely agree with skylab here.

[KB]

Originally Posted by dadozen

Ken has already posted the original's amp website and anyone who wants to buy a stock one, is welcome to do that. Also, he stated more than once that he has discussed about its name, technical details and everything with the original amp's owner, so I don't see anything wrong here.

Considering the time and effort KB puts on his products, I'm sure that those changes will make a noticeable improvement and he charges what he feels it's worth of.

I completely agree with skylab here.

Thanks everyone.

I certainly never want any controversy over all this. The name is confusing, I will yield after this first run and turn Double M3 to Double Mini3. I hope this all moves on to a more constructive thread and we can get back to talking about audio qualities very very soon.

Thanks to all.

ken

[arrowmark]

How was your vacation?

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by KB

Thanks everyone.

I certainly never want any controversy over all this. The name is confusing, I will yield after this first run and turn Double M3 to Double Mini3. I hope this all moves on to a more constructive thread and we can get back to talking about audio qualities very very soon.

Thanks to all.

ken

Spoken like a true gentleman! A testament to your professionalism!

[KB]

Originally Posted by arrowmark

How was your vacation?

Oh man it was awesome. I had not been to my fathers place in like 5 years so it was good to get back to VA. I live in Oregon and he in Va so its kind of a long haul so I do not get out there much anymore. I had to Fed Ex my camera and computer so will not be able to post photos of the trip on the gone fishing thread until I get the camera back on Monday but will do ASAP. Its was more of a visit for my daughter who has never been out there as she is only 4, but she had a wonderful time. I was able to take her Kayaking right off my fathers dock. She fished and we caught some small crabs off the dock, she saw wild rabbits, captured a turtle (land variety) and such a total success.

Very good time, thanks for asking.

Ken

[KB]

Originally Posted by FishSauce

Do you have a plan to provide 220V charger for European/Asian customer?

I am working on this but any DC plug with a 2.5x5.5mm barrel plug, and the 15-24V DC output will work, of course it will need to have you countries plug part. I can subtract the cost of the USA wall wart off the cost of the amp for now.

Thanks

Ken

[PhaedrusX]

Originally Posted by KB

Ummm did you read post #22? where this was addressed?

I discussed all this with Ti many months ago and everything was approved. I told him when I approached him about doing this that I would be sending people to his site and let it be know that the amp was a mini3 board etc... Moreover not only do I say it is Ti's AMB.or design I included a link to his site and encouraged those willing to try making one for themselves, so if that is not giving "credit where credit is due" then I do not know what else one can do. ?? I am not changing anything, nada, have no regrets and am totally excited about having this fantastic product to offer...

yes, i did read all the posts before making mine. i made no claims about your mods or your intentions, and stated so up front. my concerns were stated matter-of-factly and i thought, diplomatically. i was also careful to use the term "unwitting" when describing the potential customers who might be mislead, which seems like a sensible enough notion.

as for the naming of the amp, i expressed my opinion, hence the terms "to me," "personally," and "imho." of course , you were under no obligation to take my suggestion, as was anybody else. it was merely my opinion, and i stand by it.

Originally Posted by KB

I certainly never want any controversy over all this. The name is confusing, I will yield after this first run and turn Double M3 to Double Mini3. I hope this all moves on to a more constructive thread and we can get back to talking about audio qualities very very soon...

i truly applaud your decision and think it it is the right one. kudos to you. i think the Mini^3 is a great and underrated portable amp, and if you can get it into more hands, all the better. again, this is just my opinion and nothing more.