ANT Audio "Amber" Amp Review - Prologue...

[Duncan]

Hi All...

I've had this amp for a couple of weeks now, and am quite comfortable with being able to comment on its sound quality etc, so there will be a review coming from me week commencing 20 December

I want to make it slightly interactive though, so - If anyone has any suggestions for CDs / Genres etc (bear in mind that I have a thing for female vocals, so there has to be some of those in the mix!

) then that'll be great

I'll be basing this review on the Amber being an upgrade to the likes of the (in my case) META, or any other amp in that class...

I'm not looking forward to doing this review, because that means I know its nearly going to be time to hand the amp back... c'est la vie... just means that I'll have to buy one

I'll check back on this thread later.

Thanks.

 

[Jahn]

I found that the soundstage on that baby was huge - so please review it with the track "Thriller" or "Black and White" by Michael Jackson - yeah i know it's cheesy but both intros bring some eyepop believe me.

 

[Duncan]

Okie doke... can do both of those (have the HIStory CDs...)

Will do!

 

[PinkFloyd]

Can you test it with some really complex music to see how well it seperates the individual instruments.. something like the 1812 overture crescendo would be ok.

Cheers.

Mike.

 

[Kirosia]

How bout some Everclear? And maybe some Beatles. And don't forget Oasis.

 

[skitlets]

Is it possible for you to compare the amp to say....a gilmore lite or ra-1?

 

[1UP]

That's a long time to wait! Looking forward to reading it. Would like to hear comments on piano and drums.

 

[Duncan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by skitlets Is it possible for you to compare the amp to say....a gilmore lite or ra-1?

Sorry.. no can do... I only have the META... as said before, this is looking at it as the next level... what the next level of cash can get you, especially for the fact that this is a very cheap variant of the Dynahi kind of amps...

I can do Oasis, and some piano music... not sure about the 1812 though...

 

[PinkFloyd]

I'll burn a copy of the 1812 and send her down with that haggis I promised you Duncan.

 

[skullguise]

- Holly Cole - Shade
- Eleanor McEvoy - Yola (awesome DSD SACD recording, but CD layer is also good sounding)
- Loreena McKennitt - the mask and mirror, or Book Of Secrets (the former a little more natural sounding, the latter a little crisper - kind of hi-fi-ish)
- Mary Black - anything that contains 'Song For Ireland' (though the recording isn't great on two different mixes I have of this, the music still gives me chills); or the whole 'No Frontiers' album
- Alison Kraus and Union Station - Live
- Beth Nielsen Chapman - the whole 'Sand and Water' CD (good recording though not great, and Beth's voice is not star material, but there is more emotion in this album than perhaps ANY other I've ever heard; the album was made after her husband died of cancer)
- Eva Cassidy - 'Live At Blues Alley' or 'Eva By Heart'
- October Project - s/t (recording just good, music great IMO; broody pop with poetic/ethereal undertones)
- Mary Fahl - ex-lead singer of October Project; soulful beautiful voice, some mix of song types, all pretty good, some great

I thimnk that's it, mostly off the top of my head. Looking forward to the reviews, no matter what music you use!

Thanks,

Todd.

 

[kevin gilmore]

quote
Sorry.. no can do... I only have the META... as said before, this is looking at it as the next level... what the next level of cash can get you, especially for the fact that this is a very cheap variant of the Dynahi kind of amps...

This is not even close to my dynahi design. About all you can say
that it similar is that it is fully discrete. It would be much more similar
to a Szekeres.

The ant unit is
Single-ended "Class A" FET-only discrete design
Zero feedback
Only one capacitor in the signal path
< 0.35% @ 1 kHz 0.5V RMS output into 100 Ohm
power supply 12-16V , 250 mA DC

My unit is
balanced fet input bipolar output pure class A
about 10db of feedback
Absolutely no capacitors in the signal path
<.001 % thd @ 5V RMS into 32 ohms
power supply 60 volts at 600ma

I have not heard the ant unit, but the chances that it sounds even
remotely similar to a dynahi is pretty low.

 

[Duncan]

My bad Kevin...

I meant the design principle (i.e. no op-amps involved) nothing more.

Your amps are the only point of reference I have (well, had) for that method.

Apologies

Duncan.

 

[Duncan]

Right, well... I think the music is now pretty much sorted...

So... I'll start setting the wheels in motion...

Again though, I will say to Kevin that no harm was meant by what I said, I was merely reffering (erronously) to the design principles...

I still feel sad that i'll soon have to let this amp go... maybe I can afford to buy one myself in the not too distant future (once I have myself a new job... redundancy sucks!)

Cheers!

 

[aerius]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Duncan If anyone has any suggestions for CDs / Genres etc (bear in mind that I have a thing for female vocals, so there has to be some of those in the mix! ) then that'll be great

Anything by Sarah McLachlan or Tori Amos, as I have all their CDs and can run a quick comparison on my own system.

 

[Jahn]

Hi Duncan, just checking in to see if there's any update on your upcoming review? I've been doing some fine listening to this amp versus my Solo recently, and I've found that the ANT still delivers more impact and punch and a wider soundstage, and the Solo has more extension high and low and a less distant presentation.