Great read! Love the basic no frills design! But what about the price?
Headphone Reviews and Discussion - Head-Fi.org
Bansaku
mscott58
Thanks and good catch! The nickel plated is $349 while the black is only $299. I picked up the nickel plated as the black had not yet been released. As you can see from the pictures the nickel does build a little bit of a patina. Cheers
Wuthoqquan
Thanks for your review! It was an enjoyable reading as well as an accurate representation of the key features of this truly amazing portable amp. I also own a nickel-coated ALO RX and I pretty much concur with your observations on its very well balanced and detailed sound signature.
I would say that the ALO RX is so brilliantly amazing that I can hardly believe I will ever feel the need to go shopping for another portable amp, at least for many (many!!!) years to come! What ALO has put together - and in such a small form factor - is really commendable!
However, I've just a few additional comments that I would like to share and that relate specifically to the overall build quality of this amp. It's probably like being nitpicking or hairsplitting here, but in my opinion this is still something worth noting, for the benefit of those (like me!) who pay attention also to small/minor details.
In particular, for a moment - while reading your review - I was expecting that something similar would follow after this statement:
"The ALO Rx is made in the USA and looks hand assembled (because it is!) - almost bespoke."
And that's what it is most likely: a hand-assembled - or largely so - unit. This certainly adds up to the quality and intrinsic value of the RX Amp, but it also introduces some minor blemishes, which I could at least notice on my personal unit.
I can confirm that the RX is very well constructed, but I have some reservations with regard to the sturdiness and build quality of the plugs... to the point that I also question if they will actually remain in perfect working conditions for the many years to come. In particular, both the line-out and headphones plugs are not perfectly aligned with the chassis and they also wiggle quite a bit! The misalignment is clearly visible when the Headphone/LO jacks are plugged in, since they remain inserted to an angle rather than straight into the unit.
But what is more unsettling is how the plugs slightly wiggle even if just gently pushing on the inserted jacks. The wiggle is part of the design, singe the plugs are not mounted onto the chassis but only positioned in correspondence of the respective holes drilled into the frame structure, hence also the reason for their misalignment.
These are certainly very minor points, which fade away pretty quickly in front of the many astonishing features of such a really good sounding portable amp!
As a matter of curiosity, however, I'd be like to know if anything vaguely similar actually applies to your unit as well, even though a couple of photos you have included in the review seem to already provide some sort of confirmation in this respect.
Many thanks again for your very detailed and enjoyable review!
I would say that the ALO RX is so brilliantly amazing that I can hardly believe I will ever feel the need to go shopping for another portable amp, at least for many (many!!!) years to come! What ALO has put together - and in such a small form factor - is really commendable!
However, I've just a few additional comments that I would like to share and that relate specifically to the overall build quality of this amp. It's probably like being nitpicking or hairsplitting here, but in my opinion this is still something worth noting, for the benefit of those (like me!) who pay attention also to small/minor details.
In particular, for a moment - while reading your review - I was expecting that something similar would follow after this statement:
"The ALO Rx is made in the USA and looks hand assembled (because it is!) - almost bespoke."
And that's what it is most likely: a hand-assembled - or largely so - unit. This certainly adds up to the quality and intrinsic value of the RX Amp, but it also introduces some minor blemishes, which I could at least notice on my personal unit.
I can confirm that the RX is very well constructed, but I have some reservations with regard to the sturdiness and build quality of the plugs... to the point that I also question if they will actually remain in perfect working conditions for the many years to come. In particular, both the line-out and headphones plugs are not perfectly aligned with the chassis and they also wiggle quite a bit! The misalignment is clearly visible when the Headphone/LO jacks are plugged in, since they remain inserted to an angle rather than straight into the unit.
But what is more unsettling is how the plugs slightly wiggle even if just gently pushing on the inserted jacks. The wiggle is part of the design, singe the plugs are not mounted onto the chassis but only positioned in correspondence of the respective holes drilled into the frame structure, hence also the reason for their misalignment.
These are certainly very minor points, which fade away pretty quickly in front of the many astonishing features of such a really good sounding portable amp!
As a matter of curiosity, however, I'd be like to know if anything vaguely similar actually applies to your unit as well, even though a couple of photos you have included in the review seem to already provide some sort of confirmation in this respect.
Many thanks again for your very detailed and enjoyable review!
mscott58
Hmm...you made me pull out my Rx and check. My 3.5mm plugs are not misaligned at all - they sit flush and appear to be right where they should be. If I move the plug up and down there is a little bit of play, but it's what I would consider small. I compared it to the plugs on my Fiio and and they also have a little bit of play, although it's incrementally less than the Rx. Agree that I hope this isn't an issue. If it becomes one, I have confidence that Ken would take care of it. If you're unhappy with how it is now I'd recommend reaching out directly to him as I know he's a stickler for details and doesn't want any unhappy customers. Cheers and thanks for your input and kind words
Wuthoqquan
Many thanks for the quick reply!
Well, it looks like that little bit of play is definitely there, as you could also confirm... but that was something to expect, since the plugs are by design not mounted on the outer frame but only soldered internally onto the board. It is therefore normal that the plugs wiggle a little bit whenever the connected cables are gently pushed up or down. No surprises here... although I would have preferred a more sturdy design!
However, I'm not convinced about the alleged perfect alignment of your plugs (sorry!), since your photos seem to suggest the contrary! To clear the possibility of any misunderstanding about what I was actually intending as "misalignment", I'm providing links to a few photos of my RX that I could take tonight (in Italy it's already 1:20 am).
You will notice that, while the plugs are "flush" to the holes in the RX chassis, they are certainly not perfectly mounted and they both show a certain degree of misalignment.
In my unit it is particularly the LINE-IN plug that is clearly misaligned, which I tried to make even more evident with the photo taken with the interconnect cable plugged in. The headphone plug is not that badly aligned (I would say that it's almost ok), as also shown by the other photo taken with the same interconnect cable plugged in. I believe the difference of alignment between the two plugs is quite visible...
I really hope this is not going to deteriorate in the future (if the connections inside are properly done, there should be no fears!) but, in my humble opinion, these slight glitches reduce the level of craftsmanship of the ALO RX, which remains of course a pure gem in the arena of the portable headphones amps! Its sound signature is simply stunning!
Honestly, I like it so much that I would gladly inquire about the possibility of a replacement with a "better" manufactured unit... simply because I really like it THAT MUCH! But living in Italy does not help at all and I'm not sure, considering the distance, how ALO would be able to assist for concerns/complaints that still remain classifiable as pure nitpicking ... especially if all the above is something that they consider within standard!
https://wuthoqquan.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/pic1.jpg
https://wuthoqquan.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/pic2.jpg
https://wuthoqquan.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/pic3-lo.jpg
https://wuthoqquan.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/pic4-head.jpg
Well, it looks like that little bit of play is definitely there, as you could also confirm... but that was something to expect, since the plugs are by design not mounted on the outer frame but only soldered internally onto the board. It is therefore normal that the plugs wiggle a little bit whenever the connected cables are gently pushed up or down. No surprises here... although I would have preferred a more sturdy design!
However, I'm not convinced about the alleged perfect alignment of your plugs (sorry!), since your photos seem to suggest the contrary! To clear the possibility of any misunderstanding about what I was actually intending as "misalignment", I'm providing links to a few photos of my RX that I could take tonight (in Italy it's already 1:20 am).
You will notice that, while the plugs are "flush" to the holes in the RX chassis, they are certainly not perfectly mounted and they both show a certain degree of misalignment.
In my unit it is particularly the LINE-IN plug that is clearly misaligned, which I tried to make even more evident with the photo taken with the interconnect cable plugged in. The headphone plug is not that badly aligned (I would say that it's almost ok), as also shown by the other photo taken with the same interconnect cable plugged in. I believe the difference of alignment between the two plugs is quite visible...
I really hope this is not going to deteriorate in the future (if the connections inside are properly done, there should be no fears!) but, in my humble opinion, these slight glitches reduce the level of craftsmanship of the ALO RX, which remains of course a pure gem in the arena of the portable headphones amps! Its sound signature is simply stunning!
Honestly, I like it so much that I would gladly inquire about the possibility of a replacement with a "better" manufactured unit... simply because I really like it THAT MUCH! But living in Italy does not help at all and I'm not sure, considering the distance, how ALO would be able to assist for concerns/complaints that still remain classifiable as pure nitpicking ... especially if all the above is something that they consider within standard!
https://wuthoqquan.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/pic1.jpg
https://wuthoqquan.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/pic2.jpg
https://wuthoqquan.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/pic3-lo.jpg
https://wuthoqquan.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/pic4-head.jpg
