Sweet! Congratulations. 
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congrats on this beast!
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@Andrew_Davis
With your Phonitor E, if you set the output gain to high, do you hear any differences between xlr balanced and unbalanced single ended output aside from volume difference?
And anybody else who has the Phonitor E, XE, X too can answer too of course. =)
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When I first got it I played around with high gain and found that I didnāt need anywhere near that much power. Even with low sensitivity planars. And as you know the gain is a dipswitch on the bottom not a knob so Iāve just kept it in low gain.
Iāll probably have some Head-Fi time later today so Iāll report back!
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Got some time just now to do a couple times through on a familiar test track, SE, XLR, SE, XLR, on headphones I am very familiar with (Focal Elex). Really tough to volume level because I had to turn down the volume, disconnect the cable from the amp and the cans, then do the same in reverse for the other cable, and then try to volume match by memory.
I tend to question my senses a lot so take this for what you will. Nothing stood out immediately- no noise, distortion or other obvious performance difference. Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe a tiny bit more detail with the balanced XLR?
But probably not. That was probably a volume difference.
Helpful? Probably not. 
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I didnāt ask prior because I didnāt want to know what to bias my observations.
But what was I was looking for?
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My understanding is that balanced (as opposed to SE) provides more āweightā and soundstage due to the higher amount of power. This may affect detail retrieval as well.
I donāt have a balanced amp, so this is based on readings and conversations.
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Thanks for taking the time. Lol
Yeah, as you said it was hard to volume match. Fast switching is a bit easier with the Hart Audio Cables by just swapping the interconnects though.
But yeah, just felt like I was hearing something of a difference, but itās probably too subtle to really matter. I think Iād rather not say what I was hearing to avoid biasing anyone towards it, though. Lol
It could just be meā¦ 
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So, 600%, 800% the price of SMSL THXā¦
I understand why people canāt call THX endgame, but, with that price difference, most people will stop at THX.
Itās perspectiveā¦ Iād say the THX is a comparatively tiny jump over a lot of $100 amps as well. Maybe less so than going from the THX than to the SPL amp.
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I mean I would suggest people to stop on something like the archel 2.5 pro or asgard 3 imo, as I donāt really think itās worth it to go thx at that point (when imo you can get better sound out of the a3 or 2.5 pro). Thx only makes sense imo if you really want something bright and forward, and actually need the power
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Like even an iphone gets you MOST of the way there to āenjoyableā musical listening. To some people paying ANYTHING for a headphone amp is ridiculousā¦ just have to look at it from a certain angle. Iād definitely wouldnāt take out a loan for the SPL amp. lol
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It also depends on the headphones too, there are some headphones that are just fine out of a phone, and some that just sound pretty bad out of one
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Synergy is a big factor.
My current āstableā (
) of headphones are relatively low impedance, and donāt necessarily require a very powerful amp.
The RNHP powers them very well, but I definitely see myself needing to upgrading to something more powerful in the future as my collection grows.
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Correct, once you pick a higher tier headphone itās good to look at what it pairs well with and that can dictate what amp you go with
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Vs smsl thx vs atom?
(Poor peasant with a 100$ amp poisons XE thread with a question about budget amps)
Iād be tempted to get a SMSL THX, but not for fun, for music production. As in, āthis thing makes everything sound clinical and flat, so if the end result is musical, it will sound glorious on everything non-THXā.
Or is it a bit masochistic? Lol.
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I would seriously say the atom matches or outperforms the thx for actual music production. I think if you wanted to upgrade from the atom, the archel 2.5 pro is where you would want to look
I see what you are saying for the analytical amp to make the mix come out warmer thing, but I think you then risk overcompensating imo. Also the thx stuff can be too forward in itās presentation and can mess with separation and coherency in your mix imo
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There are some exceptions that have lower requirements, but thatās pretty rare.
Focal Stellia is an example of ātop-tierā that are super efficient.
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Well to have good synergy you have to have a good sounding headphone in the first place lol
Yeah some headphones are designed for portable, but they still do benefit from better amps and sources
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Thank you very much for the quick answer 
100$ amp pleb out lol.