ALO Panda Mini-Monitor Review
Hello everyone! Even though I just joined here, I thought I'd try my hand at a review; both because I've never done one of this nature before and also to help me get to know you guys better.
Of course, I wouldn't have bothered if I thought there wouldn't be genuine interest. The speaker I've chosen to review is a little known but fantastic widebander, and at $268 US, they're a steal. I've owned them for about a year.
First, a bit about the manufacturer:
www.aloaudio.com
ALO audio (Audio Line Out) is a manufacturer of cables, most known for their iPod Line-Out Dock cables and headphone cables. They do an assortment of braided designs of copper, spc, and silver. They also make cables for Red Wine Audio. They are located in Portland, Oregon, USA, and operate the retail store 32 Ohm Audio.
I had previously purchased a LOD from them, but believe it or not, it wasn't for me! Yes, I know two real live people near me who are into audio nirvana too! The cable seemed to be of excellent quality build wise. Unfortunately, I never heard my buddy's current portable rig with any other cable, so I have nothing to compare it against. However, I'd say the fact that he still has it in use today is a good sign.
The Pandas are their first loudspeakers. They feature a 3.5'' driver that is a clone of the Aurasound NS3. The specs of the bare drivers are:
Frequency Response: 80hz-15khz
Impedance: 8 Ohms
Sensitivity: 82 db/w/m
Xmax: Something ridiculous. The surrounds on these things are huge!
Max Power: 20 Watts continuous
The speaker cabinets are made out of sustainably grown bamboo and finished with natural oils. They have large, nickel plated binding posts that can accept spades, bananas, and bare wire. The internal wiring is 18 gauge copper by ALO. They have two ports in the back that are fairly large relative to the bite sized cabinets. There's a lovely engraving of a Panda on the back of each monitor with the model name, and “made in Portland, Oregon.” These speakers are really beautiful, more so than the photos can reveal. They'll surely have a very high WAF, so I anticipate them staying with me longer than most of my other gear. (I don't have a ball and chain yet, I'm just a planner. In fact, I'm not even close) Oh yeah, and did I mention? These things are tiny!!!
Before we talk about how the speakers sounded, we need to cover my prior sonic reference. The first real system I used as a reference was my Dad's (and now mine) Sony STR-7055a and JBL L166. Since the age of 8 or so I grew up with that 70's West Coast (sometimes derogatorily called “Boom, Tizz”) Sound. Right or wrong, I love it; it's what sounds 100% like childhood, and frankly better than most $2,000 systems I hear today. I also have a TA2024 amp that is quite decent, although decidedly “cheap Class D” sounding with the JBLs.
Right out of the box, I plugged these into my T-AMP and used my iPod to test them out. I played a track off of Oscar Peterson's We Get Requests. These little guys were REALLY excitable! As in, knife sharp piano and roller coaster bass! It was definitely a “jumpy” speaker. I put it in my basement with the t-amp and an old iPod set on continuous shuffle plugged in to the wall. I told my roommates to leave it alone, and I revisited it in ten days.
Part Two after the jump!!!