This is the official thread for the Nectar Sound Ambrosia
This thread is for discussion and reviews.
- Type: Over Ear
- Amp needed: Yes
- Open Back 50mm 32Ohm Dynamic Driver
Nectar Sound LinkThe Ambrosia is a new headphone from Nectar Sound down in Georgia, USA.
Nectar is a small one man operation and the headphones are hand made by one guy, at this point. He started out making Electrostatic headphones called the HiveX that have been really well received.
Next up was a planar called the Bee. It was not quite as warmly received. I own these and while I think they are flawed, I really like them.
This thread is about his newest headphone, the Ambrosia. It is a dynamic driver with a 50MM driver. The headphone is rated at 32 Ohms and they are very easy to drive. And they are Very open back. Think Sennheiser HD6XX’s, HD600’s, HD660’s, HD660S2’s. My wife could Shazam me from several feet away.
These are light and very comfortable. He has chosen to use Brainwaves earpads. This has the same frame and cups as the Bee’s, which works for me.
The sound really changed for me on its first day in the house, depending on the amp.
First up, the mids are great and the treble is more than enough for me. With my first amp, the Schiit Valhalla 2, they sounded a little bass light in the first few hours. After a while I changed over to the Little Dot MK9. The sound got a little thicker and a little bassier. I was playing rock and things were sounding really good.
Just before ending my listening session, I moved up to the iFi Pro iCAN. I had to IMMEDIATELY drop the gain, the volume and the bass boost, (Yesterday was Senn HD660S2’s).
They sounded much better, much bassier and my head was bobbin’.
Then I moved over the Violectric V220. Again, the sound was blowing me away.
I am still in the shiny new toy phase, but I am super impressed with these.
I use a Schiit Bifrost 2 for a DAC.
I should also mention the very reasonable price of $499.00.
One last point on the Bee’s and the Ambrosia’s: the inputs are 3.5mm mono. Many folks have several stereo 3.5mm cables laying around, but they will not work with these. I use Hart modular cables and get a TON of use from my stereo 3.5mm cables. However, I had to order a new cable, dual 3.5mm mono.
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That is interesting that he used Brainwavz pads for the tuning. From my experience playing with the peerless by tymphany drivers they sounded kinda strange with those pads on. I know that a fan favorite for Aurorus Borealis 3d printed copy cats was the Dekoni fostex hybrids though these seem to have much more steel mesh . Strong suit of those drivers are the mids for sure
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With his his earlier 'phones, including the Bee’s, he used little pieces of velcro to hold the pads on. With these, he is going for a friction fit. So there is a trick to getting them to fit securely without wrinkling up the pads.
I like the idea of using Brainwavz as you can roll pads without spending tons of money. I have bought several pairs of Dekoni pads and they are crazy expensive landed in Canada.
I am listening to these right now and going through my jazz collection. With Miles Davis and Stanley Turrentine the horns are not sharp at all. A plus or a minus depending on your preferences. With jazz, these are reminding me of my iBasso SR2’s. Strong bass, very good mids and milder treble. Not bad at all. 
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@ShaneD, How are you liking them now? These have my attention. Any comparisons to more mainstream cans?
I am actually wearing them right now. I have moved from a John Coltrane collection into lots of live Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. I enjoy these headphones a Lot! Light, comfortable and cheap.
Good bass and will take some bass boost/EQ. Mids are very nice and treble is enough. Let me try some comparisons:
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The mids/treble don’t match my Grado GH2’s, but the bass is better.
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I don’t think they match my Focal Clear’s (OG), but you could call them Clear “lights”. Nice all round sound like the Clear’s.
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My iBasso SR2’s have better bass and mids, but lack the treble of the Ambrosia’s. To me, the iBasso’s are more a specialist headphone than the Ambrosia’s.
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I haven’t A-B’d them, but I would think that the HD660S2’s are in the same category as the Ambrosia’s. Both are very nice all rounders and both enjoy a shot of bass boost on my iFi. Of course they both sound nice and full on the Violectric. Now that I think of it, I do need to compare these head to head.
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No use comparing with HE6se V2’s.
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Meze 109 Pro’s are too new right now, but with a small amount of experience, I would choose the Ambrosia’s at half the price. They seem like the better all rounder, but that may change with more head time on the 109’s.
The bottom line is that I have gone through about forty five sets of headphones in the last decade and these are a no-brainer at $399.00US.
Not the prettiest, but what are you gonna do? 
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Thanks for the detailed response! Lots of Trane on my playlist 
Some very helpful comparisons here for me - interest stoked. 
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Bought a great Trane package last night!
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Ooh - which one?
It doesn’t seem to officially exist on a lot of resources. It is called:
John Coltrane - A Giant Step in Jazz.
I bought it on iTunes last night. I have included a link to it on YouTube in the What are you Listening to thread. You may already have some of the album’s in it.
Thanks - I will check it out! Always looking for new nuggets from JC…
… looks like a nice slice from his Atlantic Records era, so def prime Coltrane. 
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