SPL Phonitor x Headphone Amplifier Review

Thanks to Head-Fi user sa11297 for the loan of Phonitor X!

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Timestamps:

00:00 Intro & Disclaimers
00:40 Shameless Self Promotion
01:07 Specs
02:00 Build & Features
04:23 What is Crossfeed?
06:04 Build & Features Continued
07:27 Test Gear
09:46 Sound
13:38 Pairing Sensitivity
20:43 Comparisons with Other Amps
22:35 Conclusions

[wavetheorysound]

About the sound of crossfeed (recording messed up that part)... It makes the biggest difference for older music that hard pans large parts of the music to one side or the other. The x's crossfeed reduces the pressure that places on the ears and makes the Soundstage a bit more realistic. It narrows the stage to varying degrees with the setting chosen. It also reduces the bass quantity. It's going to depend on the user as to whether the trade off is worth it. However, IMO there is a small amount of music out there that truly benefits from crossfeed so other that checking for its effectiveness, I didn't use it.

[SKY]

I recently got a used Phonitor 2 and it is a blast due to it's soundstage and more bass and treble on the Neumann NDH30. I love it. Other headphone sound different. I think the Sony MDR M1ST has more visible back earcup sounds bounce more often in less appealing songs, quality-wise. For 900€ since I am German it is a 10/10. It is brighter but I FREAKING LOVE IT. To me it is brighter but as a comparison: Sennheiser HD600 (I do not like the headphone that much but HD 6xx are great) will get to the max before it might go bright. Same with NDH30. Bass for the Phonitor 2 got way deeper. I used a Topping A90 which is softer than probably something like THX amps and lacks bass resolution, reverb is less and treble is with the Sony MDz R50 minidisc player, exploding in harshness on Gabber music from Netherlands. Phonitor 2 is not exploding. It is more of a paring issue. I do not know what DAC would be fun for me and sine my FiiO Q5s lost its battery due to spicy pillow forming.... I went with the R50 on recording-paused and it is perfect LINE OUT.

[deltak]

Thanks for the review. I've always liked the look of that amp, it reminds more of one of my amateur radio HF transceivers than a headphone amp.

[gdubyadubya]

As a reluctant headphone user ( needed for late night listening ) crossfeed is an excellent feature. I bought the basic Phonitor one to try crossfeed rather than dive right in and it’s ability to get the band slightly forward out of my head is worth the price of admission. Headphones can’t and won’t replace my proper hifi set up, not possible as drummers don’t play in your scull so no headphone can possibly compete with a decent 2 channel set up but it makes headphone listening tolerable.

[gliutubeo]

I find the Phonitor (XE) pairs very well with a Meze Empyrean and a Sony MDR-Z1R. To my ears, it tightens the bass and improves imaging and makes vocals more natural. An Audeze LCD4 is also very fine with it, also benefiting from a more transparent bass and sweeter highs. All of these are using single-ended 1/4-inch headphone cables (with the Sony-Kimber cable on the Z1R).

[dmarcus]

I kind of wish I would have bought this headphone amp years ago. The reason I didn't is because the crossfeed, stereo/mono, speaker angle are features I would never use. After watching this review however I realize this is probably the headphone amp that best matches my sonic preferences. I like the fact that the soundstage and the resolution is higher than the Ferrum stack. The Ferrum stack, although sounds good, lacks the "wow" factor especially in the high end. I bet the Gustard X26 Pro DAC would make a great pairing with the Phonitor X.

[nickmimi]

The quality of the bass is top notch w/ vintage rock, and the other soft genre’s, I wanted to emphasize that. Great quality review 👍

[booom]

I have currently paired DT990s 600 Ohm with this amp and they sound great, also nice bass although sometimes I wanna boost it a bit. I wonder if you set the jumpers on the backside to +12/+22/+24 dB? Actually this was my first amp which could drive these headphones to satisfaction, some cheaper ones struggled with them a lot!
What you described, I should definitely checkout the HD6xx though.
Also since you say the amp emphasizes high frequencies, I guess that's a signature/property of the 120 Volt technology which follows the signal very quickly. I also have the SPL phono pre amp, which has this tendancy even more so and just realized by putting a lower voltage device in-between, the signal then flows a touch more mellow. So yeah, maybe the DAC you were listening to was bright? If I connect the RME DAC to it, I wouldn't call the sound bright, in fact pretty balanced.

[TerraBlacc]

Nice review, I was lucky enough to have been able to demo this along with the Phonitor Director, my own Quad ERA-1, and an HD820 a few years back. It was the first time I had felt offended by the response of an amp. To me, this amp sounded like a flat instrument, and while I was previously really interested with it, I quickly moved on with my life. I feel like your experimentation and review redeems it a bit, or at least what I perceived from it, but I am still incredibly happy I did not buy this one blind.

[RajivKumar-fnxw]

Like your no BS straight forward review style, will be great if you can review the Burson Soloist 3x Performance.

[bensolorio]

Good review as always! Can't wait for the g111 mk2, heard you mention it on the podcast

[stogies]

It would have been great to hear how the cross feed adjustment capabilities, which of course makes this amp unique,
can affect the different headphone pairings.

[callmevil]

19:45 those high wattage at higher ohms applies only for the quarter inch jack and your dt880s are on xlr..’

[heyguyslolGAMING]

I have one of these in my bathroom paired w/ the 6xx for when I'm sitting on the thrown taking care of business.

[ilikehiking]

I wish more headphone amps had the crossfeed feature since it makes so much sense. Music is almost always mixed with speakers for speakers, so even if certain instruments aren't hard panned to one side the sound will still be unrealistic. Soundstage wise I often feel like I'm standing in the middle of the band instead of in front of the band like with a good set of speakers.

I did demo this amp, and I also felt that it lacked on the low end so I did not end up buying it.

[seasterl]

You mentioned it paired well with the Senn HD6XX but didn’t circle back to say anything about pairing with the HD800. Also, any comments about using with Grado GS1000 or Audeze LCD-X. Thanks!

[blejzerosamigos]

Thanks for the video great job. I just have one question about your chain your Source in particular. Sounds to me like it is your weakest link (computer were never meant to be audio dedicated devices) did you ever consider or tried something like bluesound node or ifi streamer? Thanks again.

[carminedesanto]

Saw this with the Focal Stella’s at the Toronto Audiofest this past weekend...it was great ..but is it worth the money….🤷🏻‍♂️

[hdsarma]

What's your impressions about Burson headamps like Soloist 3xp or Conductor.

[nitraM]

isn't wattage supposed to go DOWN when impedance goes up ?, oh and you pointed at the matrix setting, saying it's crossfeed, it's not, that setting allows to select the width of the soundstage and makes this a unique product, if i understand it correctly