ALO Pan Am desktop/portable headphone amp/DAC: Impressions and Reviews - Page 9

I'm thinking he'll probably upgrade to a nicer set of orthos if he's getting the Pan Am. As for the DAC, I think it's great! I'm waiting for my Pan Am to get back from ALO before I go and say it sounds "better" than my ODAC

This is actually exactly what I am hoping to do. Looking to get a pair of HE500s or maybe even some LCD-2s by the beginning of summer or so.

shigzeo, I just have a quick question for you, having read many of your (great!!) reviews on touchmyapps.com: What is the rating scale you use? Is "kiss it" better than "grab it"? 

shigzeo, needs some Mullards?

I"m currently burning in a set of Mullard CV4010. Haven't had a real chance to listen to them, but first impressions are that I do enjoy them more than the Russian tubes. 

Just ordered the Pan Am with the Gateway.  I called ALO about deciding between the Gateway and the Passport because it would be plugged in on my desk 95% of the time (if not more).  Whoever I spoke with said I probably wouldn't want to leave the battery plugged in all of the time and that for my use the Gateway would probably be best.  I didn't really want to mess around with any possibly battery degradation over the long haul.  Either way really looking forward to it. 

A review unit is in the house. Stock tubes sound a bit boomy and the Siemens are a bit bright. I guess they'll both need some hours before they start behaving.  Extremely listenable sound out of the box though.

 

I find the Mullards to be the best sounding, overall. Even the Voshkods couldn't produce quality bass like the Mullards. Haven't tried any Siemens though,.

After a long wait, I finally put my hands on the precious...
Actually I agree to say it is so small!! You can't figure out how a so small unit can be able to deliver so much power!!
The build is ok, looks strong: no apparent problem: tubes are little bit left sided into their places but aren't in contact with the unit. The stack (with PassPort) is stable IMO.
I used to listen to my LCD2 via an O2 which was good honestly (regarding price) but via the Pan Am: damn perfect!! Every sound is at its right place, basses are present but not heavy, better spacialization; plus the volume is only at quarter...: means a lot about the power of this amp.
For the moment only russian tubes burnt in: really happy about vocals and bass rendering; I still got french R.T.C tubes to try and of course I'll purchase some famous Mullard to make my opinion. The Integrated DAC is making the job pretty well; would be great to compare with a Cypherlabs Class...
I connect my mac mini via a regular LaCie USB cable.
Yes Pan Am is expansive, but worth it if you own LCD2 ( or LCD3 I guess): they make themselves favors
My pleasure of listening to music or enjoying already known albums has never been so big!!
The only issue I found are the interferences you can hear in the headphones when your hands are near the tubes (or manipulating the volume button) when no music is playing otherwise I'm not able to hear some.
My only wish now is to compare with a WA7 Woo Audio unit which seems to be very promising even if I cannot imagine how it can be better ^^

PS: we could maybe open a new thread about the Pan Am tubes relating the Valentin's headfonia article and each headfier minds, notifying the name/country/year/type plus his musical feelings about it?
PS2: editing this rediscovering for the 45th time the Postal Service chef d'oeuvre: thank you Alo Audio, thank you Audeze!

I order two pairs different French tubes.

 

Neotron, 60s

 

RTC Military, 70s or early 80s. Dirty cheap, $5 each.

 

Pics from seller, update when I received.
 

Mullards has best soundstage, but bass is a little bit much for me.

 

I found Cifte is better smooth and high if compare with Mullard, but smaller soundstage and less bass. But nice with female vocal, sweet!

 

 

Edited by palchiu - 1/23/13 at 2:08am

I wouldn't say that the PanAm really has enough power for my LCD-3s, as it distorts at high volume on high gain, but that is way louder than I'd ever listen with it.

 

I've ordered some tubes off of eBay (good timing, as one seller had tubes for another amp I wanted which will save me considerably on shipping and having to buy locally at crazily inflated prices). However, the amp has just that bit of tube warmth to it that makes me feel it is only tube selection away from being a good all-rounder with more sensitive and less demanding cans. It also seems to be pretty good with IEMs with only a minimal amount of hiss on low gain with the volume knob turned right up.