A different sort of 'X' box, with comparable flaws to boot (updated 7/5/02).
Written: Jun 23 '02 (Updated Jul 05 '02)
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Pros: Well balanced, detailed and precise sound, backed with very clean, responsive power.
Cons: Pricey w/ big footprint, powerful yet still not a blockbusting powerhouse.
The Bottom Line: The X603 is excellent amplifier, and works with many mid-power speakers. But I think I'd look elsewhere (or bi-amp)if those speakers want SERIOUS power.
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| monoblocks's Full Review: Xtant 650W x 3 Amplifier X603 |
For some time I've been particularly fond of Xtant amplifiers, if for no reason other than they tend to do their job exceedingly well. The X-series amps in particular have been in the periphery of my mobile audio want list for some time, but they stayed out in the suburbs of my desires because of several reasons, not the least of which is their high price of admission and the fact that I've been more than happy with the current amplifiers I'd been using. My 4-channel Nakamichi 1000PA and M-series Xtant 121M were doing an admirable job of powering things in our designated 'audiophile' car. But that all changed when I upgraded to a pair of Focal 165W separates. Here’s where the real bloodletting began.
All it took was a single day of listening to the Focals in their new environment and it was audibly clear that the existing Nakamichi amp wasn't capable of supplying enough power to the new speakers. The sound performance had become so corruptibly poor compared against the replaced setup that the Focals really forced my hand. At least that's how I like to think of the justification for buying the X603: blame something else other than my finicky taste in sound quality for ultimately spending three large just to replace the front stage of my car's speaker setup. However, at the time when I discovered how badly the Nak was performing I didn't realize the solution would be the big Xtant. All that was certain was that I would need a new amplifier to run the Focals properly, and based on my listening habits, it would have to be soon before I end up blowing out this new set of $1000 (less install) speakers.
The Search:
At first I wasn't at all clear to me what my solution would be. Naturally I started with the thought that anything I’d buy would have to meet the Focals’ steep thirst for power (min. 100W continuous RMS); beyond that I didn’t really know what I wanted. As a starting point, I decided that any solution would be a four-channel one, as a direct replacement for the 1000PA. The Focals had been in the car for only a very short period of time, but it was painfully self-evident the power being supplied by the Nak was woefully inadequate. The ease of clipping the amp had become a very REAL problem, and so was the possibility of doing serious damage to the Focals. Where the 1000PA was perfectly capable of driving the previous set of a/d/s 335i separates, the Nak simply was too anemic for handling the power-hungry newbies. Hence the search centered on replacing the Nakamichi, and drove the choice of amplifiers that I would initially audition.
I decided to keep my options as open as possible and look at different brands covering a wide price range, though virtually all amplifiers from the mass-market manufacturers (Kenwood, Alpine, Sony, etc.) were ignored from the outset, as were the broader marketed, popular lower-end equipment from amplifier-focused makers. Well, it seems keeping my opinions totally open wasn't proving to be as easy as I let on; there are audio prejudices (hatred, actually) that I will probably never overcome when it comes to certain electronics manufacturers, no matter how good they actually are now or will become in the future.
The first shop I started with pointed me at Phoenix Gold, which had an lower-priced amp--I don't recall the exact model number, but it ran around $400--that seemed to fit the power requirements the Focals were looking for. But not knowing much about the product or the company, not being able listen to the amp with the Focals (the PG dealer wasn't a Focal retailer) and not getting much in the way of recommendations from others I trust, I ultimately walked away from them, as well as several other makes that are considered PG’s direct competition. The same dealer also tried to convince me that the JL Audio amps they sold as their higher-end gear were a viable choice, but I've heard enough disappointing scuttlebutt about these amplifiers to know when to stay clear.
As I turned my attention upmarket, another design option was presented. Rather than going with another 4-channel amp, the idea was bounced that I could run the front and rear speakers in parallel with a 2 or 3-channel amplifier instead. Generally, the rear speakers in a properly setup 4.1 system are only around for infill service; an 2 or 3-channel unit with adequate power could do this as long as the speakers were set properly, or so I was told. The logic of this still eludes me, given I didn’t understand how the power would be chopped and the differing levels funneled to the fronts and to the rears, but a couple of different installers assured me that this was indeed possible, and commonly done as long as the amp used was stout enough.
As a result, I next auditioned a rather neat-looking, stainless steel and clear housed Diamond Audio D7152 2-channel with a set of the Focals like those I have. That amp in the showroom proved to be a VERY nice unit, with excellent, clean power and was well up to the task of feeding the Focals. Additionally, the price of the amp was equally nice, on sale for over 40% off from its regular retail asking price of $900.
I also wanted to try amplifiers from a German company called Brax, which for the 4-channel model I had particular interest in was even more upmarket, retailing for about $1500. But fortunately for my VISA card, there was no local retailer who regularly carried the product; there is a local custom shop who can get Brax products and even went as far as to promise to makes some calls on my behalf to get a demonstrator model or two in. But as soon as I left the showroom I was apparently promptly forgotten about, never again to hear back from them. It’s their loss. Other names that came up for discussion were Zapco and McIntosh, both of which make fine, high quality mobile amplifiers. But before I had a chance to seriously pursue either make beyond the cursory listening stage, I returned to my Focal dealer and started talking about the Xtant X-series they carried, that line of amps that was always in the corner of my eye. Being a past Xtant customer and a fan of the brand in general, I found choosing an Xtant easier to handle, even if the price tag wasn't necessarily what I wanted to pay.
Initially the focus was on the Xtant X604, the 4-channel sibling of the X603 and sporting an even bigger footprint than the three-channel unit. Much of the internal components between the two are shared, but the X604 is over an 1 1/2 inches longer, measuring just under two feet long. They pretty much sound identical at comparable audio levels, and both units would provide a minimum of 75 wpc to the Focals. But the idea of running a 3-channel kept cropping up, so the focus shifted to the X603. Listening to the Focals through the showroom X603 only once was enough to convince me that I found the right amplifier brand and model line, even if I wasn't certain of the exact model. Though the power was a bit down from the Diamond, the detail and ambience of the music more than offset what amount of punch might have been lost. The sound generated by the Xtant was to my ear warmer than D7152, and the extra sparkle in the definition in the musical details was too irresistible to ignore. The only question was whether to go with the three-channel X603 and run the front and rears in parallel, or run the fronts off the X603 with the Nakamichi taking care of the rears, or replace the Nak altogether and go with the four-channel X604. Both Xtants were the same price, but the X604 would only power the front and rear speaker in the passenger cabin, and not the subwoofer in the trunk. I began to agree with the sales staff; the 3-channel scenario was the better, more flexible choice.
The Xtant X603 can be configured for a number of scenarios; its standard form is in a three-channel configuration, where a pair of stereo speakers and a subwoofer is driven by it. Power is rated at a conservative 75W per channel RMS into a 4-ohm load for the stereo speakers, and there’s 150W for the subwoofer, also into a 4-ohm load. The impedance load can be switched to run 2-ohm speakers/sub(s) as well, effectively doubling the wattage output. The stereo channels can be bridged as well, powering only a single primary channel if a vehicle's audio system layout demands it (though it's hard to imagine ANY vehicle short of a Suburban or Excursion having room for a second X603). This amp is also stout enough to run a rear stereo pair of speaker when connected in parallel with the fronts, in effect making it something of a simplified 5-channel amp, though you lose F/R fader control in this configuration. All of these configurations were considered by me; after it was all said and done, what the choice ultimately boiled down which of the existing amps in my car I felt that I would miss the least, and most importantly, how much room within the car we had to work.
The Xtant 121m monoblock powering the sub had always been reliable, but I occasionally felt there wasn't enough power to properly drive the subwoofer, something the more powerful X603 as demonstrated in the showroom on the same sub could easily take care of. The Nak, while anemic driving the Focals, was more than a match (actually, a VERY good match) to the rear set of Boston Acoustics RM9s, delivering a very warm, rich and pleasing sound in conjunction with those excellent 6x9s two-ways. As infills, there wasn't much more I needed to ask of the RM9s; the Nak was in, the old Xtant subamp out. And though with 20/20 it was frightening to see just how easy it happened, I became an owner of a new Xtant X603.
The Installation:
I have to say that amps from Xtant's X-series demand a lot of their owners, chiefly when it comes to the headaches caused as a result of finding available space in the particular car it's supposed to be going into. Aside from the polished stainless steel housing it comes with, an X-series amplifier's size is the thing most everyone can't help but notice. The X603 has a massive footprint as most amps go; even for a simple single-amplifier installation, you'd be hard pressed to find enough unencumbered free room for placement of this monster in most any smaller vehicle, at least without seriously compromising some aspect of the car's functionality. Even in a standard midsized sedan as I had this amp installed in, there are very few places in the car where the mounting of an X603 could take place without disrupting at least one or two things.
As for the installation...well, since I had the dealer install the unit I can't say how difficult it really was to put the thing in the car, other than the time estimate for the install took nearly three times as long as the shop initially thought it would. Though the intent was to reuse the area where the old Xtant subamp resided, the installer still had to relocate my subwoofer just to add adequate board space in order to mount the monster X603. Fortunately my car had the room, and that the location chosen for the X603 didn't interfere with anything else in the car. The amp is slightly inverted, which is perfectly acceptable given that its cooling is augmented by an internal fan, and is not solely relying on a collection of heat sinks whereby heat buildup in an upside-down amp installation could lead to premature failure of the unit.
Most of the amp's internal setup was done at the bench, where the installer fiddled with crossover and pass settings there (based on past experience and installations), and then adjusted as necessary when the amp was finally installed in the car. He did have to run heavier 4 gauge wire to the mounting location (the previous 8 gauge that the old subamp used was nowhere close to adequate in meeting the load needed to power the X603, according to the shop), as well as replace a set of Monster Cable connectors feeding into the area from the head unit. No internal modules were added to the amp at this time, though it's been suggested by the shop that two of the optional parametric equalizer boards (one for each channel) might be needed to tweak the system just THAT much more, and in addition to adding a new sub-level control to better tweak the sub in back (both extra-cost options). Both I passed on both at this time, with the reverberations still oscillating over the escalating expenses to date of changing out my old front speakers. I was getting a first-hand feel that this escapade was not unlike some pork-bellied, Department of Defense pet project.
In use (and the lessons learned):
I've already used all the glowing adjectives I can possibly think of when I wrote my review of the Focals. So, to be succinct: at low up to moderately high volume levels this amp WORKS, and very well, thanks much. You can read my exact comments about the sound quality in the Focal review; but suffice to say that it's detailed, precise, warm, and has just about the perfect timbre to match the way I like my musical reproduction. I ALMOST couldn't have asked for a better-performing amplifier. The BA Pro subwoofer has never sounded better, the Focals sound great, with tremendous prescience and fortitude. But now that I've had the benefit of several weeks of additional usage (read: punishment of the system) over that experience I had when I typed out the Focal review, there are a couple of issues I have to comment upon. And they’re issues that erupt especially when the volume level is turned up on high.
The key issue is power, the one thing I NOW KNOW AS GOSPEL that the Focals need in mass. Despite the strength and power of the X603, the conservative 75 wpc RMS that everyone and their mother had been telling me still isn't quite enough to drive the Focals cleanly at the highest levels. Granted, we're talking volume levels high enough to literally inject a dose of pain for any poor listener seated in the car, but the crackling and distortion is there, especially from those titanium Focal tweeters. I've encountered a number of discs, mostly jazz and classical, when played through the system, that really tax the Xtant's ability to deliver power precisely to the Focals when the volume knob goes way up. Moreover, this problem occurs at a level that's not as high as I would've expected for such a degree of degradation in performance to first start. These speakers are proving to be really demanding, and it's clear that their 100 wpc RMS rating is one that you can't gloss over, even though I and most true music aficionados will never listen to them at such ear-splitting levels. Perhaps not, but knowing that the Focals have beaten back even the mighty Xtant X-Series is indeed disappointing, especially considering that it was my wallet which funded this little case study on wheels.
Another thing I’ve had to grow accustomed to is the slowness of the amp in switching on, which I'm guessing is because of the amp's circuitry design. With a multiple amp system, it’s indeed noticeable. The Nakamichi turns on faster (almost instantly, in fact), so content pours out of the rear speakers for as much as a second before the Focals start up. It's not so much a problem as an irritant in actuality, but it has taken a bit of getting used to in hearing the music spit out of the weakly tuned rear speakers first (remember, these are set to be infill drivers augmenting the front soundstage), then flood in from the Focals in the front a bit later when switching the system on from a cold start (ok, so I'm nitpicking here). One other issue I have concerns the amp housing. Being a polished stainless sheet metal cover, there is some trepidation with exposing the surface to anything that can scratch or dent the thing, especially easy to do in the trunk of my car, and in the manner that I sometimes drive (power-slide, anyone?). It looks cool in stainless, but to protect the surface in my volatile trunk environment, I had the shop leave the white protective shipping film on the cover. While it won't protect against the big hits, it at least can keep minor scratches at bay. Unfortunately the factory wrap looks terribly bland when compared to the polished stainless beneath it. Perhaps someday I’ll devise some sort of protection bar or grillework that will keep wayward parcels from bouncing off the amp, but somehow I doubt it.
While the amplifier is capable of some serious fine-tailoring in order to get the best performance out of the car's audio speakers, so far in actual use I haven't felt compelled enough to believe anymore is needed beyond what the installer initially has done. There's always been something offensive to my mindset about having too many noise-generating, add-on signal processors and like-minded equipment, though the realities of the environment in a car's passenger compartment often makes the need for such things inevitable. The EQ chip available for the X603 and initially suggested by the shop seems like it might be money better spent elsewhere, though they could conceivably help improve the focus of the front soundstage by better emphasizing the midbass frequencies. It’s just more money.
One problem that has cropped up is that the system as it now stands tends to sound brittle when the front windows are completely closed at higher volumes, but as soon as the sunroof is opened, or the front windows are rolled down a couple of inches, the problem goes away. I don't believe that it's an Xtant problem, other than the amp is capable of generating more power and that the car's environment is not matched up for it. More Dynamat or other sound insulating material might be in order here, but I'm not sure that's the cure-all since it sure doesn’t seem likely that the car's structure is causing the problem (rather it sounds more like it's the reflection of the sound content off the glazing). I wonder if putting one of those tinting films on the car's glass will help, but for the meantime, it's another one of those fine-tuning nitpicks.
As as for functionality, well...once it's set up correctly, like any other amp it becomes easy to use. It's getting there that's the difficulty. The X-Series can be viewed as an audio freak's coolest dream, or their worst nightmare. There are plenty of things that can be added or adjusted internally in this amp; how well one does it depends on how knowledgeable and experienced one is. User-friendly it's not, unless you know how to speak its language.
That Old Bottom-Line:
Now that I’ve had a few more weeks to digest this, it does seem that the Xtant X603 has proven to be only a good choice for what I needed. Whereas I first thought I’d hit a home run with the selection, it now seems more like a ground-rule double; the ball still technically left the yard, but I still only get to go to second base, halfway to home. It was a big, pricey solution, and though I still feel strongly positive about the audio characteristics of the amplifier I also feel that more affordable and viable alternatives were available. The Focals are FAR AND AWAY superior to the old a/d/s separates, and the X603 offers all sorts of tuning options that at some point I’m sure to tinker around with. But I can’t help but feel that the at least a bit of buyer’s remorse I’m still feeling weeks after the installation of the Xtant is justifiable. The results so far are very good, but not perfect.
Well, I suppose I COULD add ANOTHER X603 to fix the power issues (yeah, right). Contrary (and apologies) to the message of that Righteous Brothers oldie: I think I’ve gained that ‘money pit’ feeling.
Sometimes I wish I wasn't so picky (but then that's half the fun...)
Like the Focals, I RECOMMEND with reservations.
Update: yup, I couldn't leave well enough alone. The fuzzy imaging with the front stage prompted me to act (the soundstage is focused somewhere around mid-dash height, with a fair amount of content focus towards the Focal locations in the doors and kickplates). Like any good tinkerer and gadget freak, I decided to add the Xtant equalizer module cards into the X603. What I didn't realize was the cards are actually a parametric type EQ, where the card itself only focuses adjustment centered on a single frequency. However, that frequency can be anywhere from 20Hz up to 20,000Hz, depending on setting. The cards come with three frequency range chips, each covering a specific section of the 20-20,000Hz range; decide on which range to work on, plug-in the right chip; it can't be any simplier. The X603 itself allows for two EQ cards to be added to both the front stage and the rear, so for the Focals I could tailor the sound around two frequencies if I so chose.
Unlike a graphic equalizer where a series of specific frequency 'bands' can be boosted or cut based on need, the Xtant parametric EQ card forces the user to pick a band to work with. Once the specific frequency is chosen, you can then adjust the breadth of the effect around that frequency. For example, say I decided to adjust the music around 3,000Hz. I can also adjust whether the boost is a narrow spike centered at 3000Hz, or whether it's a broader 'hump' that may boost a range of frequencies from, say, 2,000Hz up to 4,000Hz (again centered on 3,000Hz), the boost being shaped much like a symmetrical bell curve, with the greatest impact around the 3,000Hz center. Finally, I can then adjust the amplitude of that curve, or more coloquilly, the gain around 3,000Hz. With a second card, I could do the same, say, at 10,000Hz.
All of this is to say that to get it adjusted right is not easy at all. With a lot of advice from the shop, I went with a single module to begin with ($100/pop), and used the plug-in chipset that allows me to adjust the upper ranges, from 2,000Hz to 20,000Hz. The soundstage within a car can be altered significantly by playing around with signal boost around 2,000 to 2,500Hz--information again acquired from the shop. Using this tip, I played around with the X603, hopping in and out of the trunk with every adjustment to hear the results, to which I was amused at how easy it was to totally foul things up, getting the entire system to sound gawd-awful. To say it wasn't easy to fine-tune is an understatement. A lot depends on experience, or dumb luck, or having a spectrum analyzer around. Dumb luck was probably my saviour, since I didn't much if any of the other two traits when it came to this amp. But I got a much sweeter sound out of the Focals, though the imaging is only marginally better. For now, the need to speed another $100 for the second EQ module is unnecesary, but that's what I first said about this module that I'm tinkering with right now.
The adjustment 'dials' (they're only bare rotating shafts w/o the knobs, detents or any sort of indicators) are rudementary at best. There's no way to know what frequency your adjusting by sight; w/o markings or an analyzer, it's just adjusting by feel. Considering what Xtant charges for these plug-ins, I would think there should be a better way to show the person fiddling with this exactly what frequency all this is taking place at. But, at least until I get the itch to fool with the system again, I think what I've got it set at will do fine, even though it's something of a compromise and doesn't really work perfectly with all types of music. But as it stands, the soundstage is now higher up in the dash, though still not quite up to the top of the dashboard--or roughly shoulder-height.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1000
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Epinions.com ID:
monoblocks
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Location: PacNW
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 3 members
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