Hi, sorry I still haven't done a proper one-on-one against the SR-71B. Primarily 'cos I wasn't happy with my SR-71B in the first place - I don't think there's anything wrong but the signature is just somewhat warm for my taste. But I'll get around to doing the test against the SR-71B later in the week. Meanwhile, I spent a couple of hours listening to the RxMk3 today after yesterday's 10 hr burn-in. I'd like to add that please take what I say with a huge pinch of salt as I was literally documenting whilst listening - i.e. these are notes created along the way. Looking back now at the notes, I realise that the RxMk3 was changing during today's listening session so please bear that in mind. In addition whilst the RxMk3 was warming up, I spent most of my time listening through my new FitEar TO GO! 334 too. So possibly another variable changing there. As such, the aforementioned huge pinch of salt comment. The only exception is the last tracks where I put on my already burnt-in UM Merlins. - Cut Here - Bill Evans Trio - My Foolish Heart/Waltz for Debby (live recording) Go-DAP: narrower soundstage compared to RxMk3, somewhat mid forward RxMk3: clearer instrument separation, more 3D, more detailed. Similar trebled extension as Go-DAP but slightly less than the DX100 DX100: bigger sound, more detailed & picks up bad recording more easily. Even more 3D than the Mk3. Clearer mid bass than the Mk3 Above comments was tested at Low Gain setting for both RxMk3 & DX100. At Mid/High Gain, the gap difference narrows considerably whilst the Go-DAP drifts further apart. I can't say whether it's the RxMk3 that setups up, or if the DX100 that steps down with the gain increase. Diana Krall's Look of Love (S'Wonderful, Love Letters & Besame Mucho) At this point, the Go-DAP is out of the picture Mid Gain: RxMk3 vocals sounds a tad clearer, but DX100's highs/treble sounds more transparent. Basses sound similar. Vocal placement on DX100 seems narrower/specific, whereas RxMk3 feels wider/more even (L/R). I have a tendency to want to listen more to the Mk3 than the DX100 with the "Look Of Love" album. Primarily it's the clarity of the vocals that sways the tendency. Original Footloose Soundtrack (Footloose & Let's Hear It For The Boy) Medium Gain: RxMk3 sounds more musical & fun. DX100 a tad more transparent highs. RxMk3 & DX100 are more similar than dissimilar at this point. Low Gain: The differences between RxMk3 & DX100 narrows unlike the initial difference with the Bill Evans Trio's Waltz for Debby Just to keep in play, I pulled the Go-DAP back into the picture and it couldn't keep up with the lushness of the other two. Black Eyed Peas' E.N.D. (Boom Boom Pow & Rock That Body) RxMk3 bass has more impact than the DX100. The boom was a real boom to the heart! RxMk3 continues to sound more fun. DX100 vocals continue to remain narrower then the RxMk3's. RxMk3 seems to have strength in the lows & mids whilst DX100 upper mids & highs. DX100's soundstage is now marginally larger than the RxMk3. Low gain now both are very similar. Strangely after 1 hr of tests, the highs of the RxMk3 sound a little more extended than before. Wonder if constant listening has changed the RxMk3 from a cold start. Isaac Stern's Vivaldi Four Seasons (Summer III: Presto to Winter I: Allegro non Molto) RxMk3 beginning to have the bigger sound now slightly. The DX100 sounds somewhat more mellow but marginally. Dynamic range sounds similar. Again, the DX100 & Mk3 sound more similar than different. The RxMk3 sounds to have more impact whereas the DX100 almost sounds more mellow. For fun, I decided to swap the FitEar TO GO! 334, with the Unique Melody Merlins and the IEM change there doesn't affect the aforementioned statements. - Cut Here - Please forgive the messy notes above. If you find anything contradictory mentioned above, please note that again, they are live notes of which I've not actually tried to "make sense" out of them. I'm just writing what I heard/felt at that time. Balanced RMS output power (both channels): 640mW into 32Ω, 630 into 50, 150 into 300 and 80mW into 600Ω Unbalanced: 320mW into 32Ω, 220 into 50, 40 into 300 and 20mW into 600Ω Bass adjustment at max: +3.5dB@<40Hz, 3dB@80Hz, 2dB@160Hz, 1dB@260Hz, 0.5dB@360Hz and <0.5dB@>360Hz <1 Ω Output Impedance Built in Rechargeable Lithium-Polymer Battery Playtime: 19-24 hours Recharge Time: 3 hours Charges via included wall power adapter Made in USA ALO Rx MKIII -B+ 649$ USD ohmage & porridge: haptics On the outside, little beside the font stencilling technology has changed. Still the inputs queue across the back. Still the outputs queue across the front. Still a twist of the volume pot powers the amp up and powers it down again. Still a twist of the bass knob amps the lows. Because ins and outs occupy different sides of the amp, cables protrude from both ends; pocket use is all but precluded. Because inputs and outputs line opposite sides of the amp, you can use the fattest of fat pipe in/out connectors. Not a one interferes with gain, volume, or bass functionality. And that understated lamp? Still there, still making good bedside rigs possible. Still shining as you and your beans bump and grind to Manilow or Denver. ohmage: kitsch and quality Aside from the original Rx amp, which somewhat bristled with fiddly switches, the Rx series has always been solidly built. Proven construction - plate-braced ports, thick chassis, good use of steel fastening hardware - makes it possible. Seams are tight and knobs aligned with ruler-straight precision. You will find no excess dust or residue from final finishing processes. You will find no hair sandblasted to your amp. ALO take pride in their work. The Rx MKIII-B+, like all modern ALO amps, is brilliant. The only niggle I have is the logo’s new paint job, whose dried-out-tongue-papillae feel gives me the fuzzy bunnies every time I run my prints over its surface. But I don’t do a lot of rubbing. That is, not without Manilow. ohmage: sound One thing that Rx owners have mildly complained about since the very beginning is background noise. Simply put, as a series, Rx amps output more shhhhhhh than is necessary. For the most part, that noise fades to the background whilst music breaks into the amplifier circuit. Over the years I have gotten along quite well with it. But I won't snub improvement. The Rx MKIII-B+ certainly improves on the B. Hiss is both quieter than in previous Rx amplifiers, and smoother. It exhibits no dips, no troughs, no peaks, no scratches. And despite that hiss still being clearly audible hiss it really does melt before the music. The new gain system is phenomenal. Let me say that again, this time with quotable bits. “Phenomenal.” Into either single-ended or balanced ports, highly sensitive earphones are able to achieve perfect L/R balance at low volume levels. The previous Rx MKIII-B did what every Rx amp did, output flawless resolution into any earphone or headphone. But it also output too much volume at the lowest left-right balanced volume levels. Eardrums bled. It also had less than a 10% margin of error between its on state and a volume level which was too loud for pairing with sensitive IEMs. B+ allows around a quarter turn of the volume pot before driving your eardrums bonkers. Whatever mileage you cover, these sensitive ears are thrilled. The benefits of control would be for naught if output power dropped across the board. It does not. The B+ retains the same power that its predecessor boasted. That is, it exhibits incredible top to bottom control at every current and voltage requirement. It is one of a baby's handful of portable amps that effortlessly powers both earphones as well as it does voltage-hungry planar magnetic headphones. Output impedance of less than 1Ω along with the current necessary to sustain high-resolution images really is key. But B+ takes the Rx series to a couple of new places. It is the first of the series to round the spatial image into a mild parabola. The parabolic bulge is parsed thusly: a mild directrix rather directing the midrange, highs and lows fluttering at the sides and back. Top and bottom tails curl away to infinity on either side. The net effect is a greater 3D image than ever before. Similarly, contrast between mids and spectral extremities is starker than in earlier models. Is it a funner sound? Maybe. It is a softer, more subtle sound; a sound I realise now that I have long longed for. Okay, damn it, the B+ is the funnest Rx yet. Its bass enhancement of ~5dB is subtle and less prone to bloom at high and mid-bass frequencies. Subtlety and fun. It's a wry combination upon which the Rx perches, looking down on the competition, like the Triad Audio L3, that is too big for its own good, or the VorzAMPduo, whose bass enhancement switch is far too much of a good thing. Subtle as the new Rx may be, speed remains top, and that famous resolution is as crisp as ever it was. ohmage explained I have no hesitation in recommending the Rx for any earphone or headphone setup out there. Performance is still Rx hardcore. But it is the B+'s refinement of the Rx image that endears it. It retains the signature Rx detail, stage width, and power, but reins in the bits that weren’t perfect. There is precious little else ALO Audio could do to further impress me. My beans thoroughly have been cooked. |
