SPL Phonitor XE

:rofl::rofl::rofl:

That minor quibbleā€¦

Seriously, what a huge F-up.

But you get what you pay for, I guess. :rofl:

:man_shrugging: yeah. It was advertised as a ā€˜no dacā€™ modelā€¦ so I was very surprised to see it there in the first place. Amp still sounds spectacular. So no complaints from me.

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If I remember correctly, this was a B-stock unit. It sounds like you got a great amp on a good deal.

Iā€™m jelly. :blush:

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Will say as far as the amp is concerned, itā€™s definitely the most Iā€™ve wanted to use my headphones and listen to music. Now I just have to decide if my next purchase will be that Denafrips Ares 2 DAC or Iā€™m considering on just getting a turntableā€¦ but will probably decide towards the end of the month.

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Youā€™d have to spend a whole lot more to get a better performing solid state, imo.

Anecdotally, HEDD used the Phonitor E during the R&D of their much anticipated HEDDphone. This was confirmed by Taron at forum.headphones.com. I think this says a good deal about the amp you have.

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Torq wrote a really positive review of the Focal headphone ampā€¦ saying he enjoyed the Clears more in certain circumstances through it than even his reference setupā€¦ which I believe is the Phonitor XE with the RME Dac

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The Amp seems to be really well made and super clean on the soldering and parts placement. Getting the 2 because of the Features (And the VUs, Iā€™m a sucker for those, could get the X but the 2 seems to have slightly more features and more expanded features at the cost of a balanced output and 200 bucks more for the x).

Also gives me hope for the 2 since it seems certain parts can be easily replaced/repaired since itā€™s likely the same circuit concepts are used in their higher end stuff (the way the components are put on the PCB for instance is very friendly to soldering irons vs the DAC PCB which I wouldnā€™t dare touch with a normal iron), so if anything goes wrong since Iā€™m buying refurbished it can be more easily replaced or even upgraded to higher quality components, Except again, the DAC module since that probably need hot air soldering stuff, but the 2 doesnā€™t have that so I could get away with using a more traditional soldering iron, yippee.

Wouldnā€™t touch any relays in there though, more likely get better higher tolerance resistors (need to see if the ones in the unit are intentionally designed for wirewound impedance or if theyā€™re for non impedance) and lower ESR caps for the hell of it (although the ones used here seem to be good either way), maybe some better diodes for better rectification too, although transistorized units like this tend to have the biggest differences in changing the actual Transistors from what I could imagine, but probably wouldnā€™t go that far since at that point Iā€™d just be changing the sound instead of simply refining it somewhat (if there would even be a noticeable difference however since this is a higher end Solid State and not a tube).

Besides if the e looks this good internally Iā€™ll probably not have any issues with the 2 when I get it or even care for buying higher end components (which may just be boutique at this point honestly).

Also srsly though, is there a difference between the 2 and the X besides balanced output, is it too major because I can get either one at this point but rather save a bit on the 2 and the 2 seems to have some more sound shaping features. I mean idk, what would you recommend, Balanced Output at the cost of less of those sound shaping features, or keep the features and simply enjoy the variety that features allow?

Welp nvm, both the 2 and the X have been sold off before I could get the money. Shame but I guess Iā€™ll just go with the e then.

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They seriously sound so close itā€™s really hard to tell them apart

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Well thatā€™ll be great but they sadly sold both of the ones I were considering, Iā€™ll settle with the e I guess or just wait for another lucky break, I mean my money ainā€™t going anywhere.

Wait nvm, found it, I got confused with another listing, lucky day again then, went down 100 in price.
Also Also 2 vs Model 2730? any Difference or is one older than the other?

Oh Saw the Difference between the two, the 2730 is Long, like, Long Long, Longer than a Torpedo III long.

Is there really any reason to get the larger models over the ā€˜eā€™? I read SPL believes the amp themselves should sound ā€˜identicalā€™ and the large models are more for the featuresā€¦ complex analog crossoversā€¦ etc.

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The features and io pretty much, they both sound so close. If you are actually doing studio work the 2 will have more value to you

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The VU :3, Hail the VU

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haha, of course, the VU

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The 2730 is good but older, but I do prefer the newer 2

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Yeah, besides the 2730 is Looooooongggg af compared to the 2.

He become the long boi, but how do he do it?

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I will say using the presets that come with the SPLā€¦ which I guess can be considered a sort of ā€˜demoā€™ of the real thingā€¦ the crossover works very well. It actually just moves the sound-stage forward, without any weird negative effects Iā€™ve typically heard with DSPsā€¦ like the Dirrac surround crossover on the Monolith THX 788 DAC AMP. This crossover sounds a lot more natural

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He has several setups. Preferences are dependent on several factors-including music, and headphones used, but I think he really enjoys his Chord Dave.

These are all assumptions Iā€™ve made from what Iā€™ve read, and any discussions and interactions on the forum. I canā€™t speak for him.

Yeah good analog features like that just sound more natural imo