It's been called a lot of things. A beast. A monster. A gorilla. An abominable snowman on steroids. It's been called names that can't be repeated in this article...and they're all compliments. They're compliments from serious audiophiles in the throes of elation over the discovery of the XPA-2, our new high power 2 channel amplifier.
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These are people looking for power, performance and detail. They found what they were looking for in the XPA-2, at a fraction of the price they expected.
Following their discoveries, many lapsed into name-calling, expletives, shouting, wild gesturing...or worse. It makes us proud.
The XPA-2 was designed and built around two specific ideas: Power and finesse. |
1. Power. Inside the heavy gauge steel chassis, a massive torroidal transformer pumps 300 watts per channel through 24 high current output devices into 8 ohms, and 500 watts per channel into 4 ohms.
It's power that will wake up your speakers and inject a life into them like you've never heard before.
The kind of power that gives you serious headroom, and total control over your sound.
You'll notice detailed highs and a powerful, tight, extended low end that can take whatever's thrown at it. As one user gleefully commented, 'It's a rock concert in an 80 pound box.'
The XPA-2 employs an enchanced output stage, pushing it a step above the XPA-5 and XPA-3, and allowing for even greater concentration of power.
2. Finesse. Power is nothing without control. The XPA-2 was designed and constructed to be a very transparent/neutral amplifier. There is no 'coloring' of the sound, it's just amplified with a flat response across the entire, extended frequency bandwidth. The 'more' you're hearing in a familiar movie or CD? It's been there all along, finally being revealed to you.
The neutral aspect of the amp, combined with its massive power, opens up the sound stage, bringing greater resolution, detail, imaging and separation to all types of music and movies.
Listen to your jazz open up and breathe like never before. Hear that favorite symphony recording gain a new level of dynamics and sense of tangibility. Feel a part of the action and excitement of movies like never before. And yes, crank up the rock and get lost in it.
• Number of Channels: 2
• Topology: Fully Discrete, Dual Differential, High Current, Short Signal Path Class A/B
• Power output (all channels driven):
500 watts RMS @ 4 ohm (0.1% THD)
300 watts RMS @ 8 ohm (0.1% THD)
• Power Band Response: 20 Hz to 20 kHz with less than .05db deviation at rated power
• Broadband Frequency Response: (-3db): 5Hz to 150kHz
• Amplifier Gain: 32db
• Signal to Noise Ratio:
1 watt: >91db
Full Power: >110db
• Input Impedance:
Unbalanced - 23.5kohms
Balanced - 33kohm
• Transformer Size: 1,200VA
• Secondary capacitance: 45,000uF
• Output Devices: 12 per channel
Size: 17” W x 7.75” H x 19” D
Weight: 75 lbs (89 lbs boxed)
FEATURES:
• Fully protected from all fault conditions
• Soft start circuitry
• External trigger turn on
• Soft touch power switch
• 4RU chassis w/ solid milled aluminum faceplate
• IEC power inlet, 120/230 VAC configurable
• Output design: Triple Darlington with On output stages
• Differential Drive: Dual Differential input
• Types of inputs: Balanced (XLR) and Un-balanced (RCA)
• Type of outputs: Audiophile quality 5 way binding post
• Display type: Digital status indicators
* Specifications subject to change without notice.
Additional notes: Glass epoxy pc boards, 1% resistors, metal film capacitors, soft start circuitry (does not have a current spike on start up).
Modular channel design for greater channel separation, auto rail detection relays for automatic voltage selection. The unit also has switches for turning the metering and/or the status LED's on or off.
This is a no compromise design. Every aspect of the amp was designed for superior performance and reliability.
X-Series Amplifier Manual (PDF) |
