Chord Electronics Launches Alto Headphone Preamplifier

British company Chord Electronics has announced general availability of its Alto headphone distribution preamp and nearfield monitor amplifier, originally introduced at the 2024 NAMM Show as a solution for professional studio applications. First introduced as part of the Chord Electronics Pro range, designed specifically to meet the exacting demands of critical monitoring, the Alto headphone/monitor amp is now accessible to all.
 
With its compact dimensions and portability, the Alto was also designed for professionals wishing to easily move between studios and production facilities. Since its debut, the response from users and dealers motivated Chord Electronics to expand access also to home users and headphone enthusiasts. 

The new ALTO compact analog amplifier delivers the company’s low-distortion ULTIMA amplification circuits to power both loudspeakers and headphones. The Alto is capable of driving up to four pairs of headphones and smaller loudspeakers. Notably, it marks the first Chord Electronics product to include a 4.4mm Pentaconn TRRRS output (pseudo balanced), catering to the increasing popularity of balanced transmission in high-end headphones.

In its front panel, the Chord Alto features four headphone outputs: one 3.5mm output, two 1/4”; plus a single 4.4mm Pentaconn. The array of outputs, not only facilitates easy A/B comparisons, but also allows multiple users to listen simultaneously, something that made completely sense in a studio environment, but apparently also excited the imagination of headphone enthusiasts who seldom are able to share their experiences with someone else while listening to headphones. Designed to support small passive nearfield monitors (an increasingly rare bread), the Chord Alto is actually useful to power passive bookshelf loudspeakers, which are much more common for home environments. Delivering 25 watts into 8 ohms (50 watts into 4 ohms) with the transparency and characteristics for which the Chord ULTIMA amplifier topology is recognized to offer, this actually works well for users who just want to switch from headphones to speakers once and a while. Stereo banana plug outputs are provided on the rear panel, accommodating all but the largest loudspeaker plugs. 

The Alto’s ULTIMA amplifiers use Chord’s dual-feed-forward error-correction technology, which monitors and then immediately corrects signals before the output stage. The twin-input design benefits from both balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA inputs, as well as balanced XLR outputs for bypass/throughput to other devices. The balanced XLR output can also be used in conjunction with headphones or loudspeakers in joint output mode. 

In a compact chassis — slightly larger than A5 — it is a convenient desktop system that can easily serve multiple purposes for minimalistic hifi setups in living spaces. The front panel also includes volume control, power on/off and input selection controls, with Chord Electronics’ signature color-changing LEDs indicating power status and input/output choice. A remote control is also supplied for added convenience.

As with all of Chord Electronics’ products, the chassis is precision-machined from aircraft-grade aluminum, with high-quality anodizing undertaken locally. All hand assembled in the same Kent (England) factory, alongside the rest of the Chord Electronics portfolio.

The Alto is available now from participating Chord Electronics dealers priced at £3,000 or USD $4,000 and is supplied with a three-year warranty.
www.chordelectronics.co.uk