Part I: The afternoon of Saturday, April 11, 2009
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 (
Home ) 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 ).
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.
Part III: The Morning of Sunday, April 12, 2009
As indicated earlier during this section I will be using the Rudistor Sistema NX-02 as a counterpoint for the Amphora by ALO. This Rudistor amp sold as a companion to the Ultrasone PROline 2500 and 750, and was available for $875 directly from Ultrasone. The source was a Meridian 506.20 and the electrical supply to the Meridian and the Rudistor was filtered via a Monster Power HTS 3500 MkII.
For music I chose three jazz compact discs, each with its own flavor in an attempt to “hear” different nuances between the two amps.
- The Buster Williams Trio Live – 65 Roses
- Madeleine Peyroux – Careless Love
- Samantha Siva – Rhythm of the Voices
In an attempt to account for the starting loads and warm up of the gear I let the music play for over 60 minutes. Yes some may consider this as overkill, but some would have asked the question. Plus interesting enough I heard a difference in the Amphora yesterday, it presented the music with an added smoothness and clarity after being on for about an hour. By the way, this morning I used a Denon AH-D5000 that has had the MarkL mods and a pair of Bubinga V4 cups (see pic above).
This was a very interesting comparison; it took me a while to pin down the difference I was hearing. First off both are very musical, the Amphora has a more relaxed presentation perhaps due to it being less extended. The NX-02 comes across as being more detailed and immediate, in other words it demands more attention since it has more upper end detail, which for some reason presents itself towards the middle of the stage. I am not saying the NX-02 has a narrower soundstage; nothing could be further from the truth. Both the Amphora and the NX-02 have very nice and wide soundstages, it so happens that the treble in the NX-02 is a bit more extended and it shows up in the middle.
The bass is much closer in these two units, to the point that it is a nonissue. Both present the bass lines in a very tight and clear manner. The upright bass notes cut right through and were crystal clear in Related to One (4th song in the 65 Roses CD). Both units are very clear and airy, the NX-02 uncanny in the way you can pick up the opening and closing of the hi-hat in Nikara’s Song (5th song in the 65 Roses CD).
If you had stopped reading at the end of the last paragrahp you would have thought the NX-02 was the slightly better sounding amp. Well, maybe so if you only used the 65 Roses as your basis of comparison. However when I swapped CD’s to Madeleine Peyroux’s Careless Love – KABOOM! What happened! The NX-02 continued with its very detailed, clear, and extended presentation, while the Amphora just EXPLODED (music wise) and Madeleine’s voice was just lovely to the point I could hear vibrations in her voice when she articulates the word “of” in “Dance Me To The End Of Love”.
I cannot find an explanation on why the Amphora “likes” Madeleine Peyroux voice so much, and frankly it does not matter. The Amphora just presents Madeleine in a very smooth and organic way. I could also make out Madeleine’s rasp in the song “Don’t Cry Baby”; at the same time I could also hear a bit better extension in the NX-02.
The recording of Rhythm of the Voices by Samantha Siva has more information (ie recorded music) in the upper treble and it is readily apparent when you transition between the Amphora and the NX-02. This album for some reason also had a wider soundstage as I could hear with the NX-02. Both of these of course are not something you would notice if you only had one of the amps, however when you go back and forth you cannot avoid noticing the differences.
For the next stage of the comparison I will use these same two amps as they are set-up but I will use the Grado RS-1 and music by Dianne Reeves and Renne Olstead.
Part IV: The Afternoon of Sunday, April 12, 2009
For this section of the review I will use the same source, interconnects, amps (Amphora and NX-02), and same power filtering. For headphones I will use a Grado RS-1 and a Denon AH-D2000 which has been re-cabled by HiGHFLYiN9 (Brian) using 10 feet of his Xev featuring a hand braided litz of 24 gauge silver plated copper in teflon wire (
Zynsonix - Headphone Recabling Service ).
As stated earlier I used Dianne Reeves’ A Little Moonlight CD and Renee Olstead’s CD by the same name.
It is really amazing the things that come out with extended comparisons which are done fairly close and for which you still have the rest of the gear available for comparison. It also validates the wide range of results obtained by so many on any given piece of gear. I say so because in the last 30+ hours I have heard three amps with 5 different headphones, two different sources, and eight different musicians; all have sounded differently and many are the arguments that could be made why one amp should be chosen over another. In my opinion all the arguments would be correct and yet wrong, depending on what you are looking for. To put it differently they all offer so much that you the end user will be very happy.
Back to the comparison! … Listening to the two amps with the D2000 re-cabled by HiFlYiN9 (not fully burnt in, only about 180 hours out of 250 hours) and using Dianne Reeves validates all my previous observations yet it did so with an entirely different flavor than the earlier listening experience I had with the MarkL modded D5000.
As it stands the words that come to mind are smooth and clear, both amps exhibit a level of smoothness and clarity that makes for a very enjoyable listening experience. Interestingly enough the narrower soundstage of the Amphora works to its benefit by helping it bring Dianne’s voice to the forefront. Almost as if they used a mixing board to bring her voice to the front and center of the soundstage, it is subtle but it sure “spices up” the presentation.
As I swapped the AH-D2000 to the RS-1 I felt the sound was more coherent with the Amphora than the Rudistor. There is an edge to Dianne’s voice in the NX-02 not present with the Amphora, perhaps this is due to the NX-02 being more extended and the Grado’s having a bit more treble energy. In short although the difference is very subtle that slight edge in sound makes me choose the Amphora when using the RS-1 and listening to Dianne Reeves’ A Little Moonlight CD.
As I started listening to Renee Olstead’s CD I felt the roller coast ride was in full swing. With this particular CD the presentation was almost a toss up, only in the extreme highs would I say the NX-O2 was on top due to not only being more extended but also because it has more air between the notes. Mind you these observations are with the RS-1, which just a few minutes earlier was not sounding this good.
When I listened to Renee Olstead using the re-cabled AH-2000 it was mostly a toss up between the two amps. On one side I preferred the NX-02’s extension but on the other hand Renee’s voice sounded less nasal on the Amphora. Once again these are minor differences that in my opinion could not be heard unless you had both amps side by side to do a comparison. Perhaps both amps would benefit from a pair of ALO’s Jenna or better yet SXC IC’s.
Part V: The Evening of April 13, 2009
Today I decided on a different approach, instead of comparing the Amphora to other amps I decided to just sit back and enjoy the music. For source I used Apple Lossless files from my PC via the Chaintech AV710 to the Monarchy NM24 DAC terminating in the Amphora via a pair of Zu Gede IC’s. The phone was a Denon AH-D5000 w/ MarkL mods and a pair of his Bubinga V4 wood cups. The intent was to just chill and just write what came to mind as I played varied music:
- Melody Gardot – Worrisome Heart
- Michael Bublé – Michael Bublé
- Michael Franks – Abandoned Garden
So, how would I describe today’s experience? The first word that comes to mind is enjoyable, just me and the music allows for a certain amount of freedom that liberates and allows pure unadulterated enjoyment without worrying about “hearing the differences”. Nonetheless I would lie if I did not indicate that although I was in “listening mode” and not in “testing mode” I do have a few observations.
Three words come to mind: smooth, musical, and engaging. The amphora has all three in great abundance and those who end with one will be very happy. As I sat I had a feeling of being complete and satisfied, not many components achieve this status. I probably will stay in this mode for the next few days and revert to testing mode in two weeks or so, by then a Graham Slee Solo SRG should be burnt in.
. I don't hear any colorations at all.
