Part III: The Morning of Sunday, April 12, 2009As indicated earlier during this section I will be using the Rudistor Sistema NX-02 as a counterpoint for the Amphora by ALO. This Rudistor amp sold as a companion to the Ultrasone PROline 2500 and 750, and was available for $875 directly from Ultrasone. The source was a Meridian 506.20 and the electrical supply to the Meridian and the Rudistor was filtered via a Monster Power HTS 3500 MkII.
For music I chose three jazz compact discs, each with its own flavor in an attempt to “hear” different nuances between the two amps.
- The Buster Williams Trio Live – 65 Roses
- Madeleine Peyroux – Careless Love
- Samantha Siva – Rhythm of the Voices
In an attempt to account for the starting loads and warm up of the gear I let the music play for over 60 minutes. Yes some may consider this as overkill, but some would have asked the question. Plus interesting enough I heard a difference in the Amphora yesterday, it presented the music with an added smoothness and clarity after being on for about an hour. By the way, this morning I used a Denon AH-D5000 that has had the MarkL mods and a pair of Bubinga V4 cups (see pic above).
This was a very interesting comparison; it took me a while to pin down the difference I was hearing. First off both are very musical, the Amphora has a more relaxed presentation perhaps due to it being less extended. The NX-02 comes across as being more detailed and immediate, in other words it demands more attention since it has more upper end detail, which for some reason presents itself towards the middle of the stage. I am not saying the NX-02 has a narrower soundstage; nothing could be further from the truth. Both the Amphora and the NX-02 have very nice and wide soundstages, it so happens that the treble in the NX-02 is a bit more extended and it shows up in the middle.
The bass is much closer in these two units, to the point that it is a nonissue. Both present the bass lines in a very tight and clear manner. The upright bass notes cut right through and were crystal clear in Related to One (4th song in the 65 Roses CD). Both units are very clear and airy, the NX-02 uncanny in the way you can pick up the opening and closing of the hi-hat in Nikara’s Song (5th song in the 65 Roses CD).
If you had stopped reading at the end of the last paragrahp you would have thought the NX-02 was the slightly better sounding amp. Well, maybe so if you only used the 65 Roses as your basis of comparison. However when I swapped CD’s to Madeleine Peyroux’s Careless Love – KABOOM! What happened! The NX-02 continued with its very detailed, clear, and extended presentation, while the Amphora just EXPLODED (music wise) and Madeleine’s voice was just lovely to the point I could hear vibrations in her voice when she articulates the word “of” in “Dance Me To The End Of Love”.
I cannot find an explanation on why the Amphora “likes” Madeleine Peyroux voice so much, and frankly it does not matter. The Amphora just presents Madeleine in a very smooth and organic way. I could also make out Madeleine’s rasp in the song “Don’t Cry Baby”; at the same time I could also hear a bit better extension in the NX-02.
The recording of Rhythm of the Voices by Samantha Siva has more information (ie recorded music) in the upper treble and it is readily apparent when you transition between the Amphora and the NX-02. This album for some reason also had a wider soundstage as I could hear with the NX-02. Both of these of course are not something you would notice if you only had one of the amps, however when you go back and forth you cannot avoid noticing the differences.
For the next stage of the comparison I will use these same two amps as they are set-up but I will use the Grado RS-1 and music by Dianne Reeves and Renne Olstead.
