I just pulled the trigger on a Continental v2 and Solo combo. For a long time now I have been an almost exclusive IEM listener. A coworker bought the Continental v2/Solo and I was able to listen to it. I really loved the sound through my JH13's, and had a hard time going back to my iMod (w/ vCap)/Tomahawk. By comparison, the Continental v2/Solo was much airier, lusher, and the soundstage was noticeably wider. I had the experience on some songs I'm extremely familiar with (and use for reference comparison) of "oh my god, that is exactly how that song is supposed to sound". I tried other combos: Solo to Tomahawk, iMod to Continental. When I went Solo to Tomahawk, the sound was improved, but I don't remember specifics - I quickly determined it wouldn't be worth buying the Solo to replace the iMod for that combo. When I went iMod to Continental, the difference was bigger. It had all the benefits of the new combo described above, but there was now something noticeably missing without the Solo, which I can best describe as lack of details and the sound not being as "right there". The only advantage my old combo had was more bass, and theTomahawk could possibly hold some advantages with faster, bassier music like rock or techno (not to mention 2 AA batteries last for 6 months). But the Continental for me was terrific with my IEMs, one of those "how can I go back" experiences.
I just got a bit of cash to spend, and had been waiting to pull the trigger until the final JH-3A was fully rolled out with lots of impressions to see if I wanted to go that route. A couple things made me pull the trigger today:
- Continental is limited edition - it won't be available after tubes run out. I got a bit scared I might lose my chance. ALO just came out with the National, a solid state amp to try to match the signature of the Continental. That release sort of reminded and confirmed for me that the sound I heard is really special, to the point where ALO wants to try to replicate the sound signature when the tubes are all gone.
- Price point of Continental is way lower than the JH-3A for me, given that I already own the JH13
- I can always get the JH-3A (or whatever Jerry does next) later. Some JH-3A reviewers describe it as somewhat bright. Probably ideal for the faster music which will be a nice complement to the Continental. And if the JH-3A were to blow away the Continental for all genres, Continental will likely hold its resale value as a limited edition.
Just had to share!