Amphora Headphone Amp Impressions

[HeadphoneAddict]

Originally Posted by Vinnie R.

We (Ken and I) were looking for a name that had "amp" in it, and had some vowels and was also a real word

I forgot how I stumbled on the word amphora, but when I looked it up and saw that amphoras where used to transport wine (so there is some connection to Red Wine Audio), we thought it was a fun name and unique enough to use for our headphone amp. I suppose if we put two handles on it, it would have an even stronger connection to the word


Glad to see the positive feedback on the Amphora feeding the HD800s. Thanks for all your posts!

Vinnie

Two headphone jacks instead of 2 handles? Or 2 inputs instead of 2 handles.

I got the connection immediately, and thought you had picked it to go with Red Wine, and it had Amp in it - which seems clever enough for you to take full credit for that.

[M3NTAL]

Originally Posted by Vinnie R.

We (Ken and I) were looking for a name that had "amp" in it, and had some vowels and was also a real word

I forgot how I stumbled on the word amphora, but when I looked it up and saw that amphoras where used to transport wine (so there is some connection to Red Wine Audio), we thought it was a fun name and unique enough to use for our headphone amp. I suppose if we put two handles on it, it would have an even stronger connection to the word


Glad to see the positive feedback on the Amphora feeding the HD800s. Thanks for all your posts!

Vinnie

Thank you Vinnie for that explanation that I honestly never even thought of (The Red Wine correlation!)

Very cool guys! Wish I could afford to add this to my arsenal, but my balanced amp would probably get up off my shelf and kick me for trying to steal its spotlight!

[soundlogic]

I just received my ALO Amphora SE yesterday...ser.#01 of 10...and it is a beauty to behold!
Pictures and more feedback to follow after break-in and further listening.
I do not have the HD 800's...but it is on the wish list. In the mean time, my WELL BROKEN IN (>1000hrs.) 702's sound very promising with only 2 hrs. on the amp. It is wired with cotton jacketed silver, and I know that silver takes a little while to smooth out...and started doing just that after the first 2hrs.
Stay tuned.

[arrowmark]

I also purchased an Amphora S.E. from Ken. It has about 50 hours on it so far.It is my favorite Amp right now.Source is an i-mod with a Superdock.

[mrarroyo]

Originally Posted by soundlogic

I just received my ALO Amphora SE yesterday...ser.#01 of 10...and it is a beauty to behold!
Pictures and more feedback to follow after break-in and further listening.
I do not have the HD 800's...but it is on the wish list. In the mean time, my WELL BROKEN IN (>1000hrs.) 702's sound very promising with only 2 hrs. on the amp. It is wired with cotton jacketed silver, and I know that silver takes a little while to smooth out...and started doing just that after the first 2hrs.
Stay tuned.

Stay tuned nothing! Post pictures, NOW!

[soundlogic]

Miguel;
Even though I am at work right now, and I have not personally taken any pics of my Amphora since receiving it last night...( I only had a few hours to listen to it )... Your wish is my command...thanks to the pics that Ken, from ALO, sent me of my amp, prior to purchase.
Thanks Ken for the great pics and the even "prettier-in-person-amp"!
And, as Ken put it in the email that arrived with my pics:
"The pictures just don't do the amp justice"
He's right!
BTW, there is a Beautiful-Mystical-Magical look to this amp to which I keep thinking: if I rub this beauty hard enough, a Genie might puff out of it.
And seriously, the last song I listened to last night before shutting down for the night:
"Ballad of a Dead Dog" by Alex Machacek from the album: [sic], confirmed there very well might be a "Sonic Genie" lurking inside this beautiful box/lamp, looking for a way out.

[mrarroyo]

So nice! I am drooling ...

[h.rav]

^ That thing is beautiful, I wish my GF would let me buy one of those. Btw, how small is the Amphora compared to Woo Audio 6 or any home amps?

[arrowmark]

Amphora S E. & SuperDock

[h.rav]

^ The SE looks much more luxurious.

[cardude]

Originally Posted by soundlogic

I just received my ALO Amphora SE yesterday...ser.#01 of 10...and it is a beauty to behold!
Pictures and more feedback to follow after break-in and further listening.
I do not have the HD 800's...but it is on the wish list. In the mean time, my WELL BROKEN IN (>1000hrs.) 702's sound very promising with only 2 hrs. on the amp. It is wired with cotton jacketed silver, and I know that silver takes a little while to smooth out...and started doing just that after the first 2hrs.
Stay tuned.

Congratulations Tim! I'm sure you will love it. I wish I had known about the SE version when I ordered mine, but I'm enjoying it just the same.

[krmathis]

soundlogic, that Amphora SE is stunning. Congratulations!
Really love the wood texture.

[yossi126]

Just heard matanoosh's Amphora. Great piece of gear. Sounds stunning with my Beyer.

[sbulack]

I received my Amphora: iMod/iPod, Walnut, back in April, along with an ALO-modded Ultrasone HFI-780 (an ALO-780). The burn-in, improvement and refinement of the sound has been a long and slow process. I can cleanly and clearly say now that the two together have arrived to a point of sound quality which is unsurpassed by any other headamp that I currently own. The bass is as full, as deep, as rich, and as textured as I could want, without it being too much of a good thing, without ever obscuring voices in any other portion of the acoustic spectrum. The mids are full, present and, in the case of human voice, spookily real and "there with you". The highs are really lovely. Not at all "too much treble energy" or edgy. To give some context on that, I LOVE the Ety ER4S presentation of highs from a modest, but decent source and amp, which, I am aware, some would label artificially boosted. The Amphora/ALO-780 presentation of highs is not as forward as that, but it gives a comparable level of detail and nuance so as to bring forth the comparison from me.

For me, I am totally loving my iMod/ALO VCap Dock (VHAudio OIMP caps), and a good quality (Zynsonix solid-core silver, Eys, mini-to-RCA) IC from VCap Dock->Amphora. It's interesting that there seems to be more actual detail and crystal clarity using the iMod on the Amphora's iMod dock, but more fullness of sound (weight and textural/timbral richness) using the VCap dock. I've got a custom set of RCA pair ICs in the works with Zynsonix which, when they arrive, I'll use between the VCap Dock and the Amphora. Now, THAT will be really delicious.

In those wee-hours-of-the-morning listening sessions, when I'm, frankly, spent and cranky, and demanding of only the best listening experience before I mentally and physically pack it in for the day, the iMod/VCap Dock, Amphora and ALO-780 deliver more of what really satisfies my ear and the yearnings of my heart than I can ever remember experiencing before using any rig I've ever owned. I simply get drawn INTO the music, transported to the scenes being depicted by the music (from live, contemporaneous performance venues, through historical venues and scenes on Earth and on into hallways and communications centers of extraterrestrial intergalactic motherships, or joyous or melancholy meetings in strange dark woods at dusk with celebrating, or fallen and fading, bands of Elves). As I've posted before, the experience of listening using the Amphora is less like that of hearing the amazing reproduction of recorded sound, and more like that of replaying and reliving someone else's recorded memories of the places, inhabitants and events being portrayed in the recording. The iMod/VCap Dock, Amphora and ALO-780 used together are a very special set of listening instruments which I am coming to treasure more and more the longer I use them and the more I realize just HOW much they are bringing to my listening to recorded sound.

Pretty soon, I'm going to have to move the Amphora to my main rig, and pair it up to what I currently think of as my best source and IC to date: wave and 24/96 flac files into a HeadRoom Ultra Micro DAC (via Optical Digital SPDIF), with VD Master IC into the Amphora and ALO-780, just to see what they can do together. I currently have my Caliente/HD650 in that "main computer rig". I've been hesitating to make this move because I've been SO enjoying the Amphora/ALO-780 in my bedside rig, and I don't currently have an amp and phones that can perform up to their level for that rig. But, I've gotta know how good it can get with them in my main rig.

It's been a long, slow burn-in and adjustment process getting to this place, though. And worth every bit and every minute of it.

[E Leung]

I am currently using the Amphora and ALO-780 for more than 400 hours. One word i can said - "Lovely". For the time being, it is my main rig with Pioneer DV-989AVi and Larvy DA-11 or PS Audio DLIII with Cullen Stage IV Mod as the source with Audio Note Vc as Interconnect. I cannot critize anything and can listen for it in my whole life.