I started my listening by using my APureSound re-cabled AKG K701. The cable is a 10" silver plated copper terminated in a 1/4" Furutech plug. (
APureSound - Where The Music Is Always Pure - APS Audio LLC. ).
All the pictures of the Amphora I have taken in one place for your viewing pleasure.
For music I started w/ a bit faster music than I normally would listen to, specifically the album Unchain Your Mind by Heavy Shift. I then switched to Bill Evans album Waltz for Debby.
The music is recorded as Apple Lossless and I am using the latest iTunes (8.1.1.10) out of my Dell using a Chaintech AV710 sound card and a glass optical cable feeding a Monarchy NM24 DAC. The electricity is being filtered by a Monarchy AC Regenerator. I am using a pair of 1 meter Zu Gede interconnects (
Gedeâ„¢ ) from the NM24 DAC to feed the signal to the Amphora.
I then switched to my Ultrasone HFI-780 which has a dual entry 7 foot long re-cable by APureSound terminated in a 1/4" Neutrik plug. I have also fitted a set of velour pads made by Beyer Dynamic for the DT250/280.
As a contrast for todays initial listening I used a Novo by Graham Slee including the much better linear PSU1. I do not have a second pair of Zu Gede IC’s so I used a pair of LC-1 by Blue Jean Cable (
Precision Stereo Audio Cables from Blue Jeans Cable ).
Please be advised that the following is just an initial impression w/ just two headphones and just two albums of music. I felt the bass was deeper, punchier, and tighter with Graham Slee Novo, while the Amphora had more treble extension and a tad wider soundstage. The Novo has a bit more depth to the music, and the Amphora a bit more air between the notes. The mids in both amps is very good (very clear, detailed, but w/ an slight warmth which to me is a welcome way in presenting the music) and at this moment I can not decide, perhaps as I become more familiar with the Amphora it will be easier to hear the nuances. So far I can hear the Amphora has a better affinity for the K701, while the Novo has a better affinity for the HFI-780.
An interesting thing I noted but was in no way expecting is the change in sound after the amp had been on for about an hour. Normally I expect tube amps (and to a lesser degree SS amps) to change a bit after they warm up. I honestly did not expect a battery driven transportable amp to exhibit this phenomenon, but I heard it. Basically the sound became more coherent and a bit easier to tell where a note started/ended. To me this was a totally unexpected change and if I had not heard it I would not believe it.
Over the next couple of weeks I hope to compare the Amphora w/ the Rudistor Sistema NX-02 and a Graham Slee Solo SRG w/ the PSU1. I will use two additional headphones, a Grado RS-1 and a Denon AH-D5000 w/ MarkL mods and a pair of Mark’s V4 Bubinga wood cups.
In these comparisons I will use the same IC’s, two pairs of Silver Sonic BL-1’s built by Drew of Moon Audio (
Interconnects ).
