ALO Audio, Beyerdynamic and The New Woo Portable – RMAF 2014

ALO Audio has been touting their new Studio Six flagship headphone amplifier ($3,900) at RMAF’s Canjam for a few year’s now, but this was the first year their vinyl-loving phono stage accessory ($1,895) had made the scene.

The new pre amp offers 3 stages of Class A Triode amplification per channel with two 12ax7 and one 6SN7 tube. Its 3 position input load switch accommodates both moving magnet and high output moving coil cartridges of 1 – 10mv output.

ALO has always had an interesting background in wire. Their newest cable product called the Quad Ribbon attempts to push new boundaries with a combination of both copper and silver with each channel utilizing a different material for positive and negative connections. The wire is comprised of “pure silver ribbon wire matched with silver plated copper ribbon wire wound around a cotton fiber core. The conductor material starts as 32awg round wire that is then flattened for greatest surface area”.

Beyerdynamic had a full lineup of their products on display with a simple twist. Colors. Custom colors. On the company’s website you can now choose from a wide array of your favorite hues to adorn your precious audio babies. I have always been a big fan of Beyerdynamics 880s as well as the flagship T1. The 880s on display were a fine departure from the standard audiophile silver and black, but were still very far from some of the more gaudy beats variants. Classy yet still expressive, the new color option seems like a really fun move for something that you can hold as favorite collectable.

Beyerdynamic also brought along their new A2 headphone amplifier along for the ride. While the bible-size amp doesn’t sport an internal DAC section the output does allow for two simultaneous SE headphone connections and plenty of power to drive Beyer’s often high impedance headphones. The peak-a-boo top has a fun backlit design and the front panel offers up similar interactive buttons. The new amp retails for $1,699.

The new Woo portable WA8 was also on display along with  the a solid cross section of Jack Woo’s well received amplification lineup (I’m a big fan of the WA6 SE myself). This year’s Canjam was the first time I have interacted with the new portable in the flesh, and I was surprised by how heavy it was. I don’t foresee this as a major drawback, I have always been impressed by Woo’s durability and heft, just don’t expect this one to fit in your pocket. As with the other Woo amps, the product feels secure in the hand and well built all around.

You can find more on this product from our post from the NY show [here].