The X-amp review, part I

[stuwee]

Part I because I don't think I'm hearing it's full potential yet, and I'm recovering from the flu with a stopped up head....

I know you guys know what I have equipment wise, but for the lurkers...er, guests...

Associated gear:
Thorens TD-125 MK II 'table
Shure SME 3009 II Improved tonearm
Shure V15 IV HE cart

Teac V-8000S cassette deck

Fostex E-2 RtR deck

Panasonic CD/DVD don't laugh, it's really very nice for redbooks

Marantz 2270 receiver for a pre-amp
Yamaha MX-800U amp

Martin Logan, the Sequels

Well, first, where's the bass?? Is this thing on? Yep, the pretty blue light is lit. I actually sounds pretty dang good. Just the bass is sorely lacking. I need to back up abit, it has an amazing grip on the 'stat panels. By that I mean, the bass coming from them is much more intense than with the Yammie.

Playing my acid test Cd "Companion" ~ Patricia Barber, the song 'Use Me' the acoustic bass strings actually sound on the panel like they are on the instrument heightwise, then bring in the bongo's and that wicked Hammond B-3 all at the same time, every sound is deleinated in the space, just not the low, low notes. Maybe it needs more play time to settle in.

I know some curcuitry needs burn-in time, and or warm up time to sound it's best, I plan a full on assualt tomorrow. Speaking of which, 70wpc just ain't gonna cut it with the Logans in my room, I detected some nasty distortions near the clipping point. It's been awhile since I had an amp clip, so it took me by surprise, yowch! Not pretty sounding close to the edge.

I'm really, truely amazed at it's interaction with the 'stat panels, that was really unexpected.

 

[Web Police]

So does this mean the Yammie has no bass also? On first thought I would blame it on your speakers. They probably need 125 wpc to open up the bass.

 

[speakerman1]

I got it fresh out of the box might have had it on 1 hour.

Larry

 

[stuwee]

Well, that kinda makes sense then, if it only has about an hour on it, I had it on about 3 hours Sunday and another 2 on Monday. I got up at 6am this morning and put the CDp on repeat before I left the house, so we'll see if that breaks it in a bit.

As to the bass, the Yammie has tons, very well defined. What's strange is all the music seems to come from the panels with the X, the woofers are working, just at a very low output. The spl's in the room are pretty high for where the volume on the Marantz is compared to the Yammie. I use a flat ribbon 20ft RCA connector (from one of Dale's radio stations) to the amp......maybe a capatetice, impendence issue? I know Jeff Rowland amps are very sensitive to long interconnect runs from the pre-amps.

Anyway, I hope to hear a change when I get back home tonight, if not, I'll shoot Mark an e-mail and see what he thinks.

And to answer your Q Web, yes I play them full out mostly near the 120+ @4ohms on the meters, so it could be more power to get the woofs moving

 

[laatsch55]

How bout 400 per side mosfet power?? Would that wake up the slabs??

 

[stuwee]

How bout 400 per side mosfet power?? Would that wake up the slabs??

Hehe 400wpc is a bit much for my room, 220@4ohms is concert level.

I sent Mark an e-mail about the break-in period. Hope he stops by to chat.

I have a weekend supply of margarita's (where's Rex btw?) to see/hear what happens this weekend

 

[Web Police]

How bout 400 per side mosfet power?? Would that wake up the slabs??

Who is calling stuwee a slab? Slob maybe, slab well ahh errh sure.

 

[stuwee]

Houston, we have bass, serious bass

After being on all week, the X-amp has semi-broken in ( I say this because past experience says there is more to go if it takes this long to settle ). Had a blast gourging on vinyl last night. Many favs stepped up to the plate. Just for grins I hooked up my vintage bakelite meters, kinda old school meets the new kid on the block. meters-t626.html for a pic of the meters.

It's a hoot to play with amps on speakers that demand the best upstream I really like this little guy, heard some things out of the mist on some recordings I didn't remember hearing before, Alan Parsons 'A Valid Path' to be exact.

I love the Yamaha's synergy with the Logans, not a fair comparison $1,300 1989 $'s vs $300 of todays, 300@4ohms vs 100@4ohms (? not sure of the X-amps specs). Gonna let it breath this weekend and enjoy the tunes

 

[laatsch55]

With some of my Shpongle I was actually setting off the current limiters in my Spec 2. Thats what has me so excited about getting these 700B's to sound like the Spec's. A Spec with more heaadroom, don't get no better than that!!!!
FLAME SUIT ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!

 

[speakerman1]

Stuwee
75 wpc @ 8 ohms. I'm glad it is getting there. All that I read said they were good amps.

Thanks Stuwee for the update.

Larry

 

[theaudiodesigngroupe]

How bout 400 per side mosfet power?? Would that wake up the slabs??

Hehe 400wpc is a bit much for my room, 220@4ohms is concert level.

I sent Mark an e-mail about the break-in period. Hope he stops by to chat.

I have a weekend supply of margarita's (where's Rex btw?) to see/hear what happens this weekend

Hello stuwee... thanks for the nice initial impressions.

My experience has been that 100 hours seems to really open the x-amp up. There are a ton of magnetics in these Class D guys - and the SWPS itself is chalked full with them

Please let mw know if you want to try the Mono Blocks - I'm sure Larry and I can get that worked out for you...

Enjoy your weekend...

Mark

 

[stuwee]

Lee, you really should see someone about your issues , I have a jacket with sleeves that buckle around the back

Thank you Larry for letting me break in this little gem, tho it really makes me wonder what the monoblocks would be like, have you decided on a price for them yet?

How much is this one I have?

 

[laatsch55]

Mark, what outputs are used on this??

 

[speakerman1]

Stuwee send me a PM and we can talk. Make me an offer.

Larry

 

[laatsch55]

Ah, make me an offer day, LOVE those.

 

[stuwee]

Stuwee send me a PM and we can talk. Make me an offer.

Larry

Will do very soon, I'm off to do another acid test, I put on Oleta Adams http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_One sit on the front porch with the door open and see if the music pulls me back inside like she's in the house

Thanks for checking in Mark! I'm digging what I hear so far I have 2 other system to play it with, JBL L-56's and AR-4x's, Yamaha CX-600u pre and a SAE P102 pre

 

[theaudiodesigngroupe]

Mark, what outputs are used on this??

Good Morning...

No outputs really - just the latest and greatest NXP Class D chip...

Many thanks,

Mark

 

[laatsch55]

Thanks for the reply Mark. Class D , hmmmmmmmmm...........

 

[theaudiodesigngroupe]

Hello stuwee...

I need your ship to address for the mono blocks...

Many thanks to all of you for your kindness...

Mark

 

[stuwee]

Hello stuwee...

I need your ship to address for the mono blocks...

Many thanks to all of you for your kindness...

Mark

Hey ya Mark , I'll e-mail it to you! I'm really diggin' this little guy (70wpc stereo amp).

My roomie Dale is a TE/EE, he was just floored by it last Tuesday, he plays 5 instruments and works with tube transmitters, now on to the digital ones this weekend, he and I are amazed at how it plays with the Logans, very impressive! I've never heard an amp come alive in the low bass like this one did, it took a little time tho. I have solid pine plank ceilings in the main listening room, ML's aren't known for their bass prowness, but let me say I had some vibration issues with this amp, I had to re-nail some of the beams , I thought the ML panel brackets had worked loose at first.

I thought it was clipping when I first used it, it had a nasty distorted sound when I cranked it up, that has settled down now that it's broken in . I can still make it clip, but it's much gentler in sonics when it does. It must really put out some current when called for, and it hardly gets warm to the touch after a long session.