XTZ Class A100D3 Amplifier - partial report

[jandl100]

Are you keeping the Krell Jeremy Jerry ?

It seems to have stayed with you for quite some time (by your box swapping standards)!

Yep - the Krell is a "keeper" - with a good passive pre it's the best I've heard my system sound.
The XTZ is good, but it's not that good.
I fully expect to still have the Krell a year from now, whereas I am sure the XTZ will have moved on.

[Macca]

Ah well - I can't answer that. It all depends on the overall gain structure of your system including the sensitivity of your speakers, as well as how loud you want it to go and how big your room is.

My Tisbury passive is out on loan at the moment (I have a Glasshouse passive as well), but I'd be happy to have the loanee send it on to you to have a try with once they are finished with it if you'd like.

Thanks Jerry that would be great. If you don't still have my address send me a PM when you are ready. Cheers.

[Macca]

My experience with the XTZ is that it's rather fussy when it comes to cables. It sang with TQ Blue speaker cables and sounded flat with the Blacks. Any old interconnect won't do either and it was only when I stuck in the Albedo Flat Gold i/c's that it came to life. A "brighter" pair of i/c's sounded a tad grainy.

Hi Frank

I've found the pre amp section to be a bit bass shy compared to external pre amps I've tried. Not tried any different speaker cables although I could, I suppose. I see you are Thuling around now

[realysm42]

Apologies for the mistake Jerry!

I'm impatiently awaiting the Sanders amp today, 1st time I'll have had a power amp in the system!

I'm also going to try a different angle of attack, no pre-amp in the chain; simple is better (supposedly) and will be using Jrivers 64bit volume.

You gents ever tried that approach, when using power amps?

[Effem]

Hi Frank
I see you are Thuling around now

Yes Martin, I am very pleased with this little Thule amp. When I sold the XTZ there was a huge sense of foreboding what I was going to get as replacement for the XTZ that had the same welly and musicality. I spent many hours on ebay rejecting a vast amount of amps I knew wouldn't fit the bill and this Thule was another one of those "collection only" listings that mercifully the vendor agreed to letting a courier collect. It had the original shipping box so it was laziness really that he couldn't be arsed to post.

The reviews say the Thule has a prodigious bass output and they are not wrong, but in my tiny room with some small JBL standmounters it works beautifully

[Macca]

Hi Frank

They have a good rep the Thule although I've not heard one meself. I guess you sold it to Jerry? Anyway I think the XTZ overkill power wise for your system - it is a watts and current amp on the cheap really, for people like me who won't spring for big Musical Fidelitys or Krells. Don't belive in this 'musical' amplifier thing though as I said at the start of the thread. Amps for me are like engines - it will either drive the car along satisfactorily or it won't, a bit simplistic I know but that's me

[Effem]

Hi Frank

They have a good rep the Thule although I've not heard one meself. I guess you sold it to Jerry? Anyway I think the XTZ overkill power wise for your system - it is a watts and current amp on the cheap really, for people like me who won't spring for big Musical Fidelitys or Krells. Don't belive in this 'musical' amplifier thing though as I said at the start of the thread. Amps for me are like engines - it will either drive the car along satisfactorily or it won't, a bit simplistic I know but that's me

Really am pleased with the little Thule to be honest. It certainly puts plenty of other amp I have owned in the shade.

I didn't sell my XTZ to Jerry, I sold mine on ebay to a chap who was most insistent on buying it for not much less than new price

I am sure I read that Jerry got his XTZ integrated through some sort of swap deal.

[jandl100]

I've just got back from a week away, and turned on the ol' stereo - which was still wired up with the XTZ amp.

A/B comparisons aside - it sounds fab, it really does.

I have to conclude that I could easily live with the XTZ for the long term if my boxswap-fun had to be curtailed.

I can't hear any difference between 'class A' mode and class AB, this perhaps related to the sliding bias arrangement previously described, so given the big difference in heat dissipation, and hence presumably leccy useage, I always have mine on in AB mode.

I am sure I read that Jerry got his XTZ integrated through some sort of swap deal.

Yup, I got mine as part of a swap deal with a Wammer for my Ming Da 18W SET valve amp. The XTZ certainly drives my speakers better than the Ming! - but then my speakers are designed to work with hundreds of solid state watts.

[Macca]

I've just got back from a week away, and turned on the ol' stereo - which was still wired up with the XTZ amp.

A/B comparisons aside - it sounds fab, it really does.

I have to conclude that I could easily live with the XTZ for the long term if my boxswap-fun had to be curtailed.

I can't hear any difference between 'class A' mode and class AB, this perhaps related to the sliding bias arrangement previously described, so given the big difference in heat dissipation, and hence presumably leccy useage, I always have mine on in AB mode.



Yup, I got mine as part of a swap deal with a Wammer for my Ming Da 18W SET valve amp. The XTZ certainly drives my speakers better than the Ming! - but then my speakers are designed to work with hundreds of solid state watts.

That concurs with my findings re the class A option, I came to the same conclusion. It does puzzle me when people refer to the 'quality of the watts' when talking about amplfiers, as though a mega-bucks amp puts out some 'better' power somehow, than a cheaper alternative.

I did wonder about your loudspeakers, Jerry. They do look like they need a fair bit of power but then I recall you saying you had good results with a T-amp that can only deliver a couple of watts.

[jandl100]

Yep, I very much enjoy the leetle 8wpc Amptastic Mini-T with the MBLs, although others don't agree with me on this! - but I have to (reluctantly!) admit that they only really show their full capability with a serious amount of power up the jacksie.