Amphora Headphone Amp Impressions - Page 16

Forgot to ask a question. If I wasn't the most annoying, then who/what was?

Texture, Texture, Texture!

Ok guys,
I have had my Amphora for about 4 hours now and I could not be happier. This amp, (and its got at least 200 hours before being burned in) has already given my my holy grail of sonic attributes.

If I had to describe this goal of mine, and what the Amphora does so well, it would be texture.

Texture, texture, texture! A violin sounds like, drum role please... a violin! Full of emotion and body, overflowing with the richness that it should.

My best rig before this one, (a Headroom Micro Stack with DPS) was sorely lacking in this regard.

What I heard were strings and brass, drums and vocals, but only in the sense that I recognized what the amp would let me hear. To clarify, a violin sounded, well, not quite right, I recognized the sound and tonality, but there was no texture that one gets in a live performance. The sound was a little harsh, and this is exactly what Tyll Hertsens of HeadRoom has stated before that he tries to avoid when designing his amps. The Amphora gets this instrument and others like the piano and female vocals near perfect as far as I am concerned.

As HeadphoneAddict stated before, this amp and Denons are a match made in Heaven, and mine haven't ben modified yet. The bass that was unruly has been tamed and the mids peak through a little more, revealing that texture I so lust after.

So here's to Ken and Vennie, to the Amphora, and my now famished bank account.

I wont have pictures until next week as I have no camera at school.

Kevin,
now back to my headphones!

Kevin glad to hear your Amphora has arrived and you are loving it. The unit I had on loan sounded beautiful and looked even better, hope to see a picture of your unit.

When are the colors expected to change? I ask because I go a lot to North Georgia, where I rent a private cabin or in one of the state parks. Hope to make a trip next month or so.

Really... ...is that legal in your state.

The leaves should be starting to change by then as it looks like we may get an early winter.

Hey all,
Well it was a long weekend with almost no amphora time as I worked a lot. At 35 hours there has been a greater sense of ease with which the amp operates and the soundstage. Plus, my elusive quality of instrumental texture has improved. Trumpets sound like their made of brass, not tin. Violins sound like their made of wood, not plastic. Its so easy to hear when a musician puts love into a performance. I've been listening since 10:00 AM this morning and hove no intention to stop anytime soon.

Crappy webcam pics as promised!



The wood grain on this thing is stunning, in the right light it almost seems to have a radiant glow of its own. Drop dead gorgeous.

Kevin

Hi kboe,

Thanks so much for your post and pictures! Glad you are loving your Amphora - that is a beauty!

A special thanks to you and all our Amphora customers - we really appreciate all your feedback and support, and love for the music and this hobby. This is what fuels us to keep it going and looking forward to the future!

Happy listening, always,

Vinnie

Had to sell all that stuff to afford the amphora, and boy was it worth it. After listening to a rig thats off the grid, I never, never plan to go back. This morning I took my Amphora, iPod, and D2000s outside on my porch, sipped coffee and just relaxed. So good, highly recommended.

Kevin

I think your right HeadphoneAddict. If the iPod unmodified can sound this good the iMod must be heavenly. Same with the LA2000s versus my unmodified D2000s. But other than those two things I think I am all set. Almost 90 hours on the Amphora now, umm umm umm umm ummmm, Toasty!

Kevin

Kevin, nice looking gear there! Enjoy it.

120 hours, Right now I am listing and all I can think of is smooth, smooth, smooth. Decay - Oh, so this is whats its supposed to sound like!
Kevin

Can someone tell me if there is any hiss using jh-13's with this amp? Thanks.

will

Over the weekend, it started drizzling and I was carrying in my chair, my HD800's, a copy of Stereophile (wouldn't want that to get wet, now, would we)?. I was also carrying my prized Amphora possession (did I mention that it was a prized possession?)
...and lo and behold, I dropped the Amphora right on the door jamb threshold (4' drop) and performed some irreparable damage.
Besides damage to the finish, it has since become more of a parallelogram than a rectangle.

I am in a deep funk and every time that I look at it, I think of a MGD 64 commercial.