[Diethard Kuehrt]

I pause the music and turn down the volume before unplugging.

This means that there is still voltage at the output, regardless of whether music no longer plays or the volume is turned to zero. In my opinion, the only safe way is to switch off the output with the selector switch in the middle position.

 

[stuck limo]

This means that there is still voltage at the output, regardless of whether music no longer plays or the volume is turned to zero. In my opinion, the only safe way is to switch off the output with the selector switch in the middle position.

Well SPL recommends how I do it but there's certainly nothing wrong with how you do it either. I usually don't have any issue because that problem only really exists for the SE jack, not the balanced XLR.

 

[Diethard Kuehrt]

Ok, I thought we were talking about the 1/4" SE beech.-

 

[Tekunda]

I am looking into a new amp for my Final D D8000 Pro HPs and came across the Phonitor XE. I must say am intrigued by its "Matrix" and I wonder what role it plays in general in the enjoyment of a headphone amp/system?
Many much more expensive high-end amps do not have such sophisticated crossfeed possibilities, so why not ask the owners of the Phonitor XE how they feel about the Matrix?
Would you think it's better? Rather to invest considerably more money in a very good amp, the Feliks Envy comes to mind and "forget" more or less about crossfeed, or are you better off with a good amp plus DAC like the XE with its detailed crossfeed abilities?
May I ask you guys what is your take on this if you had a choice to make?

 

[Diethard Kuehrt]

I am looking into a new amp for my Final D D8000 Pro HPs and came across the Phonitor XE. I must say am intrigued by its "Matrix" and I wonder what role it plays in general in the enjoyment of a headphone amp/system?
Many much more expensive high-end amps do not have such sophisticated crossfeed possibilities, so why not ask the owners of the Phonitor XE how they feel about the Matrix?
Would you think it's better? Rather to invest considerably more money in a very good amp, the Feliks Envy comes to mind and "forget" more or less about crossfeed, or are you better off with a good amp plus DAC like the XE with its detailed crossfeed abilities?
May I ask you guys what is your take on this if you had a choice to make?

I have the Phonitor X because I also need a preamplifier for my active speakers. In my case, the Phonitor X is also the 3-in-1 solution. Headphone amplifier with matrix, DAC and preamplifier. I can only warmly recommend Phonitor X and also the XE. There is plenty of power for the headphones, also thanks to the additional symmetrical output, the matrix is wonderful for concerts or similar recordings where stage and spaciousness are required and in my case with the Phonitor X the preamplifier. In addition, the best construction quality and extreme low noise thanks to the 120 volt design.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

C'è qualcuno che può fare un confronto tra il Violectric V550 e il Phonitor XE? qualcuno che li ha posseduti entrambi e che alla fine ha fatto la sua scelta

 

[oldson]

i have really fancied one of the full sized Phonitors for years but could never justify the cost.
recently i have been looking to upgrade my old Vio V200 and compiled a (long) shortlist.
anyway i finally took a punt on a Phonitor SE , as i was led to believe that the amp section is the same as the bigger models but minus the balanced out.
managed to bag an ex-demo at half the retail price and it appears i may have got a real bargain.
it is easily the best SS amp i have heard to date and i have had loads over the years.

matched with my Qutest and JM Xtc sounds amazing.
quite shocked by it, tbh.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

i have really fancied one of the full sized Phonitors for years but could never justify the cost.
recently i have been looking to upgrade my old Vio V200 and compiled a (long) shortlist.
anyway i finally took a punt on a Phonitor SE , as i was led to believe that the amp section is the same as the bigger models but minus the balanced out.
managed to bag an ex-demo at half the retail price and it appears i may have got a real bargain.
it is easily the best SS amp i have heard to date and i have had loads over the years.

matched with my Qutest and JM Xtc sounds amazing.
quite shocked by it, tbh.

I had bought but returned a Phonitor XE, the sound was very very good, especially above 2khz, it was smooth but for my taste lacked grunt in the mid-bass range. Even the Crossfeed section didn't impress me much, I prefer Chord's simpler implementation, otherwise it was a great amplifier, good build, solid connections and beautiful faceplate

 

[xtr4]

The thing with the Phonitor that alludes people is that the Phonitor is absolutely transparent to the source. It'll sound almost exactly like your DAC, Turntable, CD player. That's the double-edged sword of the Phonitor I suppose.

 

[Strale]

i have really fancied one of the full sized Phonitors for years but could never justify the cost.
recently i have been looking to upgrade my old Vio V200 and compiled a (long) shortlist.
anyway i finally took a punt on a Phonitor SE , as i was led to believe that the amp section is the same as the bigger models but minus the balanced out.
managed to bag an ex-demo at half the retail price and it appears i may have got a real bargain.
it is easily the best SS amp i have heard to date and i have had loads over the years.

matched with my Qutest and JM Xtc sounds amazing.
quite shocked by it, tbh.

This is very interesting. Yesterday I had opportunity to listen to Phonitor XE. I saw your posts in Violectric V222/V202 thread and I just wanted to reply to you there regarding your questions about Violectric V200 upgrades. After yesterdays demo of Phonitor XE I wanted to suggest you trying Phonitor as an upgrade over V200, instead of going with V202 as you intended, but then I saw here you already picked Phonitor

Here are my impressions about Phonitor XE (I am quoting myself from another thread where we discussed amps with so called 'black background' sound signature):

Today I had opportunity to listen to Phonitor XE. It sounds fantastic, but I don't feel it belongs to the black background club.

People are saying it lacks bass, but I felt a contrary - sub bass is so strong, I never new AKG K712 can produce it down there. Maybe upper bass was just slightly missing (bass slam as it is usually called) but it sounded perfect to my ears, just the way it is. The mids (vocals) seem to be slightly pushed back in the overall tonal picture. The highs are very clean and precise. Really high definition of every single note. All that produced totally smooth, non-fatiguing sound which made me turning up the volume. I am very sensitive to shouty and harsh upper frequencies, and K712 is certainly not helping in that respect. However, Phonitor XE really put it under control. Nothing was rolled off, but high tonal accuracy and lack of any grain really made it smooth. Everything is under control, but yet very musical and engaging.

I was surprised with such amount of sub-bass. I think it somehow added some 'bloom' to the sound. So, that black background what we are talking about here, was not with Phonitor XE. I though it might be due to Zen DAC which was initially used as a DAC for testing, but then I switched to Phonitor's integrated AKM AK4490 DAC (DAC768) and it did not improve black background aspect of the sound. It just slightly added some sharpness, maybe clarity and punch compared to Zen DAC (I maybe liked more Zen DAC over that integrated DAC768 but not 100% sure...I would need much longer listening sessions to determine that). So something was always 'saturating the air, instead of having a void space'. I am comparing black background aspect with SR35 DAP.

I was in the similar boat as you - trying to decide between V222 (V202) and Phonitor SE (for me as well larger Phonitor models are not within my budget, and I am hoping that SE sounds like XE which I tested without any features). However, I did not have opportunity to listen to any of Violectric amps so far. So, how would you compare V200 to Phonitor SE?

 

[oldson]

i will try and compare when i get some time this weekend. the v200 is packed for sale at the moment.

 

[Strale]

i will try and compare when i get some time this weekend. the v200 is packed for sale at the moment.

Thanks!

Sound from a Phonitor XE is very natural. Tiny details in the voices are making it so 'organic' sounding. Really nice sounding device.

Despite the fact that Phonitor doesn't provide impression of completely 'black background' sound signature which I was seeking for (more details on 'black background' or 'silence between the notes' meaning could be found in this thread), Phonitor still seriously draw my attention. I am wondering if Violectric provides more silence between the notes...?

 

[oldson]

right i have just been comparing my Phonitor SE to Violectric V200.
please bare in mind i am not great at describing what i hear. and my ears are old!.
as far as background noise goes , to me there is no difference.
at listenable volume levels i hear no noise whatsoever from either when using my most sensitive cans Denon AH-d2000 (25 ohm, sens 114.3 dB/V).
i used the d2000 purely to check the noise floor.

the V200 does seem to be slightly warmer in tone and seems to reach deeper into the bass region, however the SPL seems to have better control and tightness to its bass.
mids seem more forward to me on the SPL and slightly better in clarity.
i get the impression of better treble resolution/ extension from the SPL.
the biggest difference to me between the 2 amps is the much wider soundstage on the SPL.
both amps are very enjoyable, to me, but if i had to pick one to keep right now it would be the SPL.

my 2 prefered headphones at the moment are Sony mdr-z7 m2 and JMaudio XTC (300 ohm).
the Sony is warm sounding and the XTC is tuned "warm but detailed".
the V200 is regarded as on the warm side, so i feel the SPL better compliments my headphones of choice.
dac is Qutest, btw.

 

[Hengstenberg]

right i have just been comparing my Phonitor SE to Violectric V200.
please bare in mind i am not great at describing what i hear. and my ears are old!.
as far as background noise goes , to me there is no difference.
at listenable volume levels i hear no noise whatsoever from either when using my most sensitive cans Denon AH-d2000 (25 ohm, sens 114.3 dB/V).
i used the d2000 purely to check the noise floor.

the V200 does seem to be slightly warmer in tone and seems to reach deeper into the bass region, however the SPL seems to have better control and tightness to its bass.
mids seem more forward to me on the SPL and slightly better in clarity.
i get the impression of better treble resolution/ extension from the SPL.
the biggest difference to me between the 2 amps is the much wider soundstage on the SPL.
both amps are very enjoyable, to me, but if i had to pick one to keep right now it would be the SPL.

my 2 prefered headphones at the moment are Sony mdr-z7 m2 and JMaudio XTC (300 ohm).
the Sony is warm sounding and the XTC is tuned "warm but detailed".
the V200 is regarded as on the warm side, so i feel the SPL better compliments my headphones of choice.
dac is Qutest, btw.

How do you compare the phonitor with your Eufonika H5?
I'm just surprised because a lot of people don't go back from tube amps to SS.

 

[oldson]

good question, i really enjoy both.
the Phonitor and V200 for that matter do not sound at all clinical to me.
both very engaging just like the Eufonika.
i have never really had an amp that "measures" well, like a topping for instance, i dont know if i would like anything too clinical.

part of me wishes i still had my old hd800 they may have paired better with the Phonitor and Eufonika.
i grew tired of them from the V200 as there seemed to be little warmth/body to the music. (despite the amp being warm side of neutral).

i get the feeling the hd800 being 300ohm would have faired much better with the Eufonika as it is otl.
also the SPL 120v voltair tech is thought to better suit high impedance cans.