Now that I’ve been listening to the X1 for long enough to get a feel for it, I thought I’d post some of my impressions for anyone that might be interested.
For starters, I like the fact that the X1 does not have tone controls. Over the years I've become accustomed to a “flat” presentation. When my amps do have tone controls I always play them flat anyway. It’s what I prefer. If you like a “tweak” or “boost” of certain bandwidths this may not be the amp for you. That’s probably why when I initially (briefly and cautiously) listened to the X1 (pre-restoration) I was encouraged. I could hear the unaltered sound I like. With that said, the restoration made clear improvements and allowed this amp to show its full potential. I haven’t had the time to take it out of the rack and take pictures of the interior work. I’ll get to that soon.
Apologies in advance for this long post. If you prefer not to read through the rest, the takeaway is that the hair on the back of my neck and forearms has stood on end at least 5 times since I started giving it a careful listen. This amp is an enigma, it lets you feel the music and still lets you hear all the fine detail that is there. It’s like a hybrid between an emotional amp and an analytical amp. It seems to deliver both attributes without sacrificing either. That’s a unique combination. This is a head bobbing, goosebumps kind off amp.
Here are some thoughts I had as I listened:
-Amazing soundstage. It’s not only very wide but it’s deep. The perception of depth and height is great, you can sense the room where the content was recorded. There’s a pinpoint dimensionality with the placement of the instruments surrounding the vocalist. In some instances I could sense the musician slightly swaying to the left or right as they played almost as if they are leaning or slightly turning their body. Hard to explain. In some cases some of the instruments are projected into the soundstage, closer to the listener. This should not to be mistaken with a forward sounding amp which in my opinion the X1 is not. Soundstage (width-wise) this amplifier almost made my conventional speakers sound like SDA-SRS speakers. That say’s a lot.
- The bass is either there or it’s not. It’s in and out just like that…all business. There’s absolutely no overhang.
- Control is the word that came to mind to describe how it handles highs. It’s like the amp can take the highs as high as they require - right to where they should be, and holds them there, maintains a grip on them then pulls them back when needed. Very smooth. There are no run-away highs. No harshness or stridency.
-Midrange is very natural and clean. Initially during the first few days of listening I had trouble getting pinpoint imaging from the vocalist. It was like the voice was coming from a space about a foot wide as opposed to 2 inches wide. It’s the only thing that struck me as “wrong” about the presentation. That concerned me, I fiddled with my speaker placement but ended up returning them to their original position. After a few days of auditioning one day I turned on the amp and it just happened… the vocal imaging was razor sharp with pin-point placement. This improvement wasn’t in my mind or that I got used to it because until it happened all I kept thinking was- bummer, I gained a huge soundstage but lost the vocalist. Not sure what it was but luckily it resolved itself. Vocalist are “right there” as they should be.
- This amp has a very clean sound, there is no perceived “reverb” for lack of a better term. There is no “filler’ with this amp. Since I’m used to listening “flat” I think I’m very sensitive/perceptive of that “reverb/filler/hum” thing.
-Silence and a blank background are very noticeable.
- In some ways I expected this amp to sound cold and clinical due to its design goal of being the ultimate in the pursuit of a “wire with gain”. I was surprised to find that this amp is extremely musical and involving all while being highly resolving and as I mentioned earlier very, very clear.
- Here’s a weird one, the music sounds slower (in a good way) not in its attack which is awesome but in the fact that the music is not hurried or rushed. It’s like every sound has its place and makes itself known so you can savor it better.
- I noticed that faint hi-hat, cymbal taps and snare drum wire vibrations were making themselves known. Not in an obtrusive way, they were just noticeably there keeping the pace of the music and not lost in it.
-The volume knob is not detented which is nice because it allows for precise volume control. At first turn of the knob, the amp seems sedate. You get the impression that the pre-amp doesn’t give the initial boost that some amps give you early on. That along with how clean the X1 plays can be deceiving. Some amps give you all the goods upfront, not the X1. As you turn the volume up all you get is more music. That’s when you realize how powerful and clean this machine is. The best way I can describe it is to paraphrase my tech who warned me to be careful, this thing is like a Ferrari he said. Turn that volume knob up and zip---you won’t even realize how much power you are pushing because it is so clean.
-Due to WAF and other reasons, a while back I put my large floor-standers in storage and I’ve been using modern stand-mounts that go down to about 50 Hz. I’ve been very satisfied so far. But this amp puts on such an immersive presentation that I’m considering adding a sub or two because I want to see how it handle that last 30 Hz that I’m missing.
More to come…
For starters, I like the fact that the X1 does not have tone controls. Over the years I've become accustomed to a “flat” presentation. When my amps do have tone controls I always play them flat anyway. It’s what I prefer. If you like a “tweak” or “boost” of certain bandwidths this may not be the amp for you. That’s probably why when I initially (briefly and cautiously) listened to the X1 (pre-restoration) I was encouraged. I could hear the unaltered sound I like. With that said, the restoration made clear improvements and allowed this amp to show its full potential. I haven’t had the time to take it out of the rack and take pictures of the interior work. I’ll get to that soon.
Apologies in advance for this long post. If you prefer not to read through the rest, the takeaway is that the hair on the back of my neck and forearms has stood on end at least 5 times since I started giving it a careful listen. This amp is an enigma, it lets you feel the music and still lets you hear all the fine detail that is there. It’s like a hybrid between an emotional amp and an analytical amp. It seems to deliver both attributes without sacrificing either. That’s a unique combination. This is a head bobbing, goosebumps kind off amp.
Here are some thoughts I had as I listened:
-Amazing soundstage. It’s not only very wide but it’s deep. The perception of depth and height is great, you can sense the room where the content was recorded. There’s a pinpoint dimensionality with the placement of the instruments surrounding the vocalist. In some instances I could sense the musician slightly swaying to the left or right as they played almost as if they are leaning or slightly turning their body. Hard to explain. In some cases some of the instruments are projected into the soundstage, closer to the listener. This should not to be mistaken with a forward sounding amp which in my opinion the X1 is not. Soundstage (width-wise) this amplifier almost made my conventional speakers sound like SDA-SRS speakers. That say’s a lot.
- The bass is either there or it’s not. It’s in and out just like that…all business. There’s absolutely no overhang.
- Control is the word that came to mind to describe how it handles highs. It’s like the amp can take the highs as high as they require - right to where they should be, and holds them there, maintains a grip on them then pulls them back when needed. Very smooth. There are no run-away highs. No harshness or stridency.
-Midrange is very natural and clean. Initially during the first few days of listening I had trouble getting pinpoint imaging from the vocalist. It was like the voice was coming from a space about a foot wide as opposed to 2 inches wide. It’s the only thing that struck me as “wrong” about the presentation. That concerned me, I fiddled with my speaker placement but ended up returning them to their original position. After a few days of auditioning one day I turned on the amp and it just happened… the vocal imaging was razor sharp with pin-point placement. This improvement wasn’t in my mind or that I got used to it because until it happened all I kept thinking was- bummer, I gained a huge soundstage but lost the vocalist. Not sure what it was but luckily it resolved itself. Vocalist are “right there” as they should be.
- This amp has a very clean sound, there is no perceived “reverb” for lack of a better term. There is no “filler’ with this amp. Since I’m used to listening “flat” I think I’m very sensitive/perceptive of that “reverb/filler/hum” thing.
-Silence and a blank background are very noticeable.
- In some ways I expected this amp to sound cold and clinical due to its design goal of being the ultimate in the pursuit of a “wire with gain”. I was surprised to find that this amp is extremely musical and involving all while being highly resolving and as I mentioned earlier very, very clear.
- Here’s a weird one, the music sounds slower (in a good way) not in its attack which is awesome but in the fact that the music is not hurried or rushed. It’s like every sound has its place and makes itself known so you can savor it better.
- I noticed that faint hi-hat, cymbal taps and snare drum wire vibrations were making themselves known. Not in an obtrusive way, they were just noticeably there keeping the pace of the music and not lost in it.
-The volume knob is not detented which is nice because it allows for precise volume control. At first turn of the knob, the amp seems sedate. You get the impression that the pre-amp doesn’t give the initial boost that some amps give you early on. That along with how clean the X1 plays can be deceiving. Some amps give you all the goods upfront, not the X1. As you turn the volume up all you get is more music. That’s when you realize how powerful and clean this machine is. The best way I can describe it is to paraphrase my tech who warned me to be careful, this thing is like a Ferrari he said. Turn that volume knob up and zip---you won’t even realize how much power you are pushing because it is so clean.
-Due to WAF and other reasons, a while back I put my large floor-standers in storage and I’ve been using modern stand-mounts that go down to about 50 Hz. I’ve been very satisfied so far. But this amp puts on such an immersive presentation that I’m considering adding a sub or two because I want to see how it handle that last 30 Hz that I’m missing.
More to come…
