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.
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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.
. It's a real beauty and very well build.
, we will see ...
