[dgiles]

I am replacing my iMod and TTVJ Slim.  They were stolen.  Bah.  Anywho... I am considering replacing these with a CLAS and ALO Continental.  My concern is does the CLAS justify the cost.  I am all for the best possible sound quality I can get.  But I don't want to spend more money than needed.  I think you get to the point where you begin spending a great deal of money for relatively little gain.  So does the CLAS offer very significant improvements to the sound, significant improvement or moderate to little improvement.  I use closed headphones exclusively, generally Ultrasound Ed.8's.  I know not everyone loves them,  but I preferred them over similarly costing Beyer's.  But my point is, the headphones won't be the weak link in my set up.

 

[DimitriTrush]

Simplicity and sound quality is had with Colorfly C4 without all the mess and cabling of lots of amps and other machines. I think the ALO product is good but much harder to make fit into portable use. 

 

[ANDEROAN]

I have the CLAS, and I pair it up with my LisaIII-GS Voyager-TTVJ amp/dac or-C&C xo2, and i always run then with my ZOv1! and it has a wonderful improvement over just running an amp by itself, brings out some great detail, and improves the sound stage, a much better signal bypassing the iDevices dac, read up on it, you will be convinced, I am thinking about getting the MKIII to go along with it also!

 

[dgiles]

I've obsessively read the threads and reviews.  I recognize that the iPod is not the best player ever, but its UI and memory trump everything else out there.  Though the Color Fly is the best designed DAC and has a good sound, I can't jump onboard because the memory is useless.  Nor do I want anything HiFiMan offers for the same reason.  And yes, I get that the CLAS improves the sound quality from your DAC of choice.  But is the sound improved $600 more?  At some point you hit diminishing returns and I want to know if the CLAS crosses that boundary?

 

[kiwirugby]

Quote:

I have the CLAS and it has a wonderful improvement over just running an amp by itself, brings out some great detail, and improves the sound stage, a much better signal bypassing the iDevices dac.

This pretty much summarizes my experience using it with an iPod Classic and Pico Slim.  I also use the CLAS with the JH Audio 3A system.

 

[shigzeo]

On all output fronts, the CLAS is ahead of anything I've used. Pair it with a great amp and you have an impenetrable portable system. Both its digital output and analogue outputs are as good as it gets.

 

[Vicks7]

Quote:

I have the CLAS and it has a wonderful improvement over just running an amp by itself, brings out some great detail, and improves the sound stage, a much better signal bypassing the iDevices dac.

 
Agree also with the above. I am using the CLAS with an Ipod Classic and a Pico Slim with Unique Melody Miracle IEMs and it sounds fantastic and I am now well and truly off the upgrade train.