Amphony Model 2500 5.8 GHz Digital Wireless Headphones

Amphony Corp.
824 Rad Street
Lockport, IL 60441
www.amphony.com
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I auditioned and reviewed some time ago Amphony’s earlier wireless headphones, the Model 1000. The newer Model 2500 steps up from the increasingly crowded 2.4 Ghz band – where Wi-Fi, microwaves, garage door openers, Bluetooth devices, and who knows what else also operate – to the less-crowded 5.8 GHz range. That alone is a major improvement. The less expensive 1000s are still available from the German-based company. My 1000s weren’t picking up other audio signals, but they tended to cut out or make loud annoying scratching sounds in my ears if I tended to move just a foot or two from my position on the sofa; leaving the room entirely to go to a different room resulted in a barrage of noise in the phones. The volume control on the right earpiece also was very noisy to adjust.

If you ever want to listen to music or view a DVD late at night when others in the house are asleep, or if you want to work in a noisy area such as your kitchen or workshop while listening to sounds, you absolutely need a good wireless headphone. And this one is it. The original Mode 1000 had a noisy volume control on the right-hand earpiece, and just a few small moves of the head could result in quite loud static sounds as the connections with the transmitter cut in and out. The Model 2500 has a very wide range of coverage and there is no noise when it cuts out – it just silences.  I was able to go out the front door of my house and walk all the way around it without any cutting out of the signal – just a couple of loud clicks. So once again (come milder weather) I’ll be able to sit out on my deck in the sun and read or relax while listening to stereo sources on my main audio system. Bravo that! If you happen to need even greater range than this, Amphony can provide RangeBooster transmitters which extend the operating area even further.

The transmitter has two small bays on the front for charging the rechargeable AA batteries provided with the phones. Four batteries are provided so you can replace two right away when they need it, since complete recharging takes about 48 hours. The two green LEDs on the transmitter light up when charging is in progress. There are two options for connecting the Model 2500 transmitter to your preamp or receiver: analog or digital.  The analog connection is similar to the Model 1000, with a pair of RCA jacks, except that now there is a level control on top of the transmitter to adjust to a setting that gets a good signal to the transmitter without distorting.  It is rather sensitive so try some different recordings until you have the proper setting. Quality sounds very good using analog input. When no audio is provided to the transmitter it will go into standby mode in about a minute. Power is provided by a wall wart which converts the AC to 9V DC at the input on the back of the transmitter. The left phone earpiece has the on/off switch and the level control is on the right earpiece. The phones are large but quite light in weight.

The digital input is a single coax RCA jack.  It will work with either standard 44.1K CDs or 48K DVDs but will only produce noise with 96K DVDs or DVD-As. By using a direct digital in connection, the Model 2500 eliminates an A-D converter, achieving an improved signal-to-noise over the analog connection. A noise-shaping filter in the phones removes any quantization noise from the audible band. The sound is considerably cleaner and crisper with the digital input than the analog, though the enhancement isn’t as strong as going from the model 1000 to the 2500.  That was like going from some so-so minimonitor speakers to top-of-line tower speakers. The newer 2500s provided more clarity, a much stronger deep bass foundation than the 1000s, and more atmosphere. The 1000s didn’t sound thin with nothing to compare them to, but with the 2500s for comparison they sounded quite inferior. To keep the similes in the headphone realm, it was like going from some well-worn Sennheiser 414s to Grado HP-1s or 2s – there was much more bass, a much wider frequency range, and more transparency to the sound.  No audio compression is used in the 2500s (as in some wireless phones), which must contribute to the transparency of the sound.

I compared the 2500s to my Grado SR-80s as well as a new headphone model from Ultrasone. There is probably no wireless headphone that can equal the fidelity of a really good wired headphone such as the top-of-line Grados, AKGs or Sennheisers, but the Amphony 2500s come the closest I have yet heard.  I will now be able to continue enjoying high-quality sound for reviewing stereo-only recordings late at night without disturbing anyone else in the house, or watching videos later in the evening.  And my wife will not trip and fall flat when crossing in front of my screen to close the drapes! 

Attempting to create a 5.1 surround soundfield is not a part of the Amphony’s ammunition, and I have only heard one really effective circuit which does that – which is not yet commercially in production. It’s difficult enough to produce a good sonic picture with wireless phones anyway.  I suppose it would be possible to use the analog connection to a Dolby Headphone jack on components providing that option, and then benefit from the pseudo-5.1 effect that would thus be feeding the Amphony transmitter.  But I didn’t have a component with Dolby Headphone to try it.

I did have an odd acoustic resonance in the right side headphone earpiece of two samples I tried. When slightly tapped on, moving quickly or cause a physical movement of the headphones, one hears a bell-like tone around the G below middle C on the piano. However if you don’t move around a lot and don’t tap the side of the phone, it’s not a problem. (Strange, since the Model 1000 doesn’t suffer from this.)  In general, I would have the highest recommendation for this wireless headphone system.

 – John Sunier