[rmsanger]

More reviews the better right ?

Like him or hate him (I like him) he has a wide audience... He will bring a lot of people to the table in purchasing the products if he gives a positive outlook. But also keep in mind that there will be much longer wait lists after the review so if you want a product put in an order now.

 

[Harmonyx]

Here are my impressions after 2 days of intensive listening and comparing to my Phonitor X:

Preview:
The FA-10 is one of the best amplifiers I've heard so far and that have been quite
a few in more than 10 years I'm into this hobby. Please keep that in mind!!!

It reminds me of the iFi Pro iCAN with a more defined and powerful low end performance.
Compared to the Phonitor X I have to admit that the Phonitor does everything
a bit better, but thats no surprise for me. The single ended output of the Phonitor
sounds closer to the FA-10 but the balanced output pulls ahead in every aspect.

I will try to show up my findings in short words:

Build Quality and Operation:
Quality of the case is outstanding. It‘s build like a tank.
The frontplate is beautiful and the color and labeling without any flaws.
Connection elements are mostly of high quality and the volume knob and switches
feel rock solid. The volume knob could take some more resistance when turning it.
The Phonitors housing is made of thinner sheet, some connection
elements in the backplate are cheap standard (single ended/mains) and are
not really stable attached. It‘s a shame.

Bass:
FA-10's Bass is fast and full sounding. It goes very low but is a hint more prominent
in the midbass region. Punch is very good but not dry. The Phonitor has a flater
response and is more controlled. This translates to a slightly punchier and dryer mid bass
and more low level information at all.

Mids:
The Mids are rich and pleasing. They have a seamless connection to the mid/upper bass wich
leads to the overall full-bodied character of the FA-10. Again, the Phonitor presents
a more neutral midrange with better detail retrieval.

Treble:
The FA-10's treble is silky and smooth without any hint of harshness. The body and weigth
of the midrange is still apparent in this region. This means it sounds not thin in a good way.
There are many planars with a light and weightless treble reproduction wich would
benefit from that. The Phonitor is smooth in this region too but a little more crisp and
there is more "air" and surprise-surprise more detail.

Soundstage and Layering:
The FA-10 delivers a coherent natural musical experience.
Width of the soundstage is very good, height also.
The depth is fine but not the strongest part of the presentation.
Layering is decent and clearly above average but everything is still connected
as a whole, difficult to describe.
This is the one point where the Phonitors professional roots are obvious.
The soundstage dimensions are not necessarily greater but especially in the depth
there are better defined layers and there's more space between every single sound/instrument.
The ammount of air in the highs leaves more space for the room information wich
improves the three-dimensional approach of each sonic event.

Conclusion:
All together the FA-10 is really exellent and every time I switched to
the Phonitor I was really surprised because I enjoyed the FA-10's sound so
much that I could hardly imagine any kind of improvement.

_______________________________________________________________________________


The time I ordered the FA-10 I thought it to be more of a raw beast slightly on the cold
side, based on the early reviews/comments. Now it shows up as a very refined amp tuned
slightly more towads the warm and smooth side. This is not what I need at this point
for my already smooth and full sounding LCD-3.
I need an amp with a dry and controlled but realy hard punch,
combined with a flat midrange and untamed treble, to inject new life to my LCD-3
wich is not in use anymore because it has gotten somewhat boring over time.


So there is only one logic solution:

I will sell my FA-10 ... but only inside EU (sorry!).
Everyone who is interested, feel free to contact me.

Very helpful mini review / analysis Tesox!

Apologies if I missed it in the thread, but I would love to know if you have had a chance to listen to the QUAD ERA-1's with the FA-10 please? Was it a complimentary pairing? I am trying to decide between the FA-10 or the FA-12. (I've had a look at the specs of the FA-12S and it might be a bit under-powered for the planars imo).

Thanks in advance if you are able to clarify!

 

[NickT23]

Zeos will be reviewing the FA10/12S.

Oh gosh, another over hype product !

 

[Nostoi]

Like him or hate him (I like him) he has a wide audience... He will bring a lot of people to the table in purchasing the products if he gives a positive outlook. But also keep in mind that there will be much longer wait lists after the review so if you want a product put in an order now.

It's a shame there's not a more credible reviewer who has the same level of exposure.

 

[NickT23]

Like him or hate him (I like him) he has a wide audience... He will bring a lot of people to the table in purchasing the products if he gives a positive outlook. But also keep in mind that there will be much longer wait lists after the review so if you want a product put in an order now.

Thats why he is sponsored since manufactures can sell more units. Its all hype and marketing

 

[teknorob23]

Oh gosh, another over hype product !

You’re a tough crowd

He’s not my cup of tea either but my view is the more the merrier.

 

[NickT23]

You’re a tough crowd

He’s not my cup of tea either but my view is the more the merrier.

That is true. Impressions are important as well ! Eventhough he talks a lot of BS, but some of his impression are really great insight and good information somewhat

 

[omniweltall]

You’re a tough crowd

He’s not my cup of tea either but my view is the more the merrier.

In audio, quality is always better than quantity.

Unfortunately, there is currently no youtube reviewers that I can rely on. Most are shills. And even some are more objective and trustworthy, they just lack the ear and experience.

 

[teknorob23]

In audio, quality is always better than quantity.

Unfortunately, there is currently no youtube reviewers that I can rely on. Most are shills. And even some are more objective and trustworthy, they just lack the ear and experience.

I agree in terms of enjoying the consumption of a review, but all reviewers have their biases, preferences etc even the “quality” ones with the “ear” so I’d rather 15 reviews of mixed origin and look for a consensus

 

[omniweltall]

I agree in terms of enjoying the consumption of a review, but all reviewers have their biases, preferences etc even the “quality” ones with the “ear” so I’d rather 15 reviews of mixed origin and look for a consensus

Very true. That's why we still need to know his preferences and calibrate. But regardless of his preferences, his reviews will be very deep and insightful. There aren't many of those anyway.

But that doesn't mean we cant get good info from normal reviewers. As long as he is not a shill, there is still some info to be obtained. Just not as deep.

Once we follow a person's reviews over the years, we will be able to understand much much better about him. Whether he is a shill. How he hides his shills with words. Whether he gets overly excited with new toys. Etc etc.

 

[Bhk1004]

zreviews? his preferences = love everything and talk about his cat and wallpaper and whatever else for 19 minutes of his 20 minute review, then just scream he loves whatever it is that he is reviewing for 1 minute.

 

[teknorob23]

zreviews? his preferences = love everything and talk about his cat and wallpaper and whatever else for 19 minutes of his 20 minute review, then just scream he loves whatever it is that he is reviewing for 1 minute.

Yep thats about what I get out of his reviews too

 

[NickT23]

Yep thats about what I get out of his reviews too

Which is BS !

 

[elira]

zreviews? his preferences = love everything and talk about his cat and wallpaper and whatever else for 19 minutes of his 20 minute review, then just scream he loves whatever it is that he is reviewing for 1 minute.

He has a very positive approach, but he gives good information. He tries to find why someone might like the device, so his reviews are always something like “you will like this if you like these other things”, only terrible products receive a bad review from him.

It’s like the polar opposite of “no theme reviews”.

 

[NickT23]

Very true. That's why we still need to know his preferences and calibrate. But regardless of his preferences, his reviews will be very deep and insightful. There aren't many of those anyway.

But that doesn't mean we cant get good info from normal reviewers. As long as he is not a shill, there is still some info to be obtained. Just not as deep.

Once we follow a person's reviews over the years, we will be able to understand much much better about him. Whether he is a shill. How he hides his shills with words. Whether he gets overly excited with new toys. Etc etc.

There arent many because he gets all the products in the world.