Finally received the much anticipated special edition teflon/v-cap dock today, after customs and parcelforce holding onto it since the 14th and charging me the equivalent of $200 for the pleasure of that week + wait.
the dock came very well wrapped in a larger than needed box to give adequate outer shell protection for its long trip and was packed with different sorts of protection in and around the unit to pad out the inner space and afford nice bouncy protection inside.
the unit was sealed in a see through bag to size with bubble wrap around this.
i sliced it open and found the unit to be very well presented in its build, neat, compact, and solid as a rock to hold and look at. the metallic red is a nice colour and the silver engraving looks good as a contrast, engraved on the back of the unit is the number of the edition, 3 in my case.
i havent added any pictures as of yet as i havent had it long in my posession and have visitors here now, but stole away to write this mini basic review, i have managed to listen to it for only about 15mins, playing some W.A.S.P, interpol, and herbie hancock, the cables on this unit are a great length and are plyable enough to fit your situation i would think. all nicely proportioned.
and overall this smacks of quality build!
i have yet to peek under the hood and flash you my teflons, but this will occur when you are least expecting it (
see footnote)
hooking it up to my video imod and supermicro IV, with grado 325i's i was instantly, within its first few seconds of use, playing hands away by interpol (flac3), the tonal clarity was astonishing compared even with a nearly fully burnt in standard EFN v-cap muscle cap dock (OIMP - 8.0uF), the spacial sound and imaging is a step up already, with very upfront presentation, but whilst maintaining a smooth as butter airy feel.
this worried me somewhat, as i was always under the impression that teflon caps, apart from there mammoth burn in requirements, actually sounded pretty icky until settled in, i dont just mean, not sounding their best, again it is written that they actually sound overtly
bad until burn it, making for a non-pleasant experience on the way, well in this case it is not evident at all, whether this is because this is a hybrid dock with the OIMPS doing the main driving then passing off to the teflons for refinement at the back, could be!
living in the unfortunate U.K (referring to the customs imposed) which added nearly $200USD to the cost, meaning a grand total of $1050 for the ALO se dock.
IMHO this is still worthwhile, ok, i know i am likely to say that anyway, to rationalize a large expenditure, but if it wasnt worth it i wouldnt be writing this mini-review, while i have waiting guests upstairs sipping sherry!
it is worth every penny and the instant differentials i can hear from the standard V-cap are apparent! the imod upscaled beautifully and constatly amazes me as to the quality of the DAC and workmanship in, so a dual nod to apple and Vinnie at RWA, there still feels like room for manouvre too in this imod, maybe a pure tefllon solution? haha
will add pics when i can, most likely when i add it to photos of your portable rig, as an update.
this made my christmas, even though it wasnt a christmas present - cheers Ken
ADDENDUM
vcapus atlastus photographus
click here for dock based eye candy
edit: uploaded some photos rather hastily, terrible looking some of them, sorry, am no photographer. some look like virtual dupes, and the focus and the flash are random!
, i was just clicking away.
innards wise, its a very tight fit and everything is as optimal, and lean as you could get in there. good job ken, tiny little 0.1uf teflons in parallel with 4.7uf OIMPS.
Linear Mode
