XTZ - Thrift in the age of high prices
25/7/2009
Which of you know or has ever heard of XTZ? Chances are, very few. This, however, will pretty soon no longer be the case, as it is all about a holistic approach to the subject of “building” a system with audiophile origins. Furthermore, distribution is as direct as possible, mainly online, which means that aggressive pricing policy is, by definition, guaranteed.
Let us, however, take things in some kind of order, starting with the company’s identity. This is a network of Swedes who design and realize construction, with assembly in the Far East being their only breach, due to costs… There is an extremely enlightening website (www.xtz.se) , where a lot is explained and which will help you to better comprehend the entire venture.
Our first contact with XTZ’s products, concerns the integrated amplifier Class-A100D3, their CD player CD 100 and the floorstand speakers 99.26 (yes, that’s right; the number is also the model). This is where the distinctiveness begins. For example, the amplifier is also DAC (transformer of digital to analog signal AD 1955 Analog Devices) with 4 coaxial (SPDIF) and one optical (TOSLINK) inputs. I consider the lack of a USB input for connection to a computer to be a great omission, which would have completed the convergence of the two worlds (maybe in the next version). It is designed for operation in classes A and AB for the first 50 Watts (this is attested by its operation temperature – hot, darn hot!!!). The quality of manufacture is excellent for its price range (even better, I’d say). The remote that controls the amplifier exclusively is particularly solid, as well as the one corresponding to the source.
The speakers are bass reflex, but for the highs unit, use is made of ribbon and an excellent mid-low 6.5 inch unit by SEAS; as for the finish, it is unbelievable for its price range.
There are terminal connectors with jumpers in the back for customization of the tweeter, either by “cutting” it, or “pinching” it slightly.
At a slight additional cost, floorstands with the same finish as the speaker are offered, which can also be filled for greater stability.
The representative of the digital school, namely the CD player, turns out to be the most conventional item of all, concerning which I was unable to acquire much information. We shall see in the near future. Anyhow, when listening to the set, it acted as transport.
We finally come to the point, which has to do with how it sounds as an ensemble. I need to simply remind you that we are referring to our first contact with a set, only recently received and hardly broken in (just a few hours, especially the speakers).The speakers were connected to the amplifier with cables by Aural Symphonics Purple V3 (1,470€ for a pair of 3 meters) and respectively the CD player with the coaxial Digital Standard (187€ / 1m) by the same company.
The effect is particularly vivid upon a first listening. We have a very good imprint of the scene of action, with “space” around the performers. As for their positioning in space, it is clear and strictly defined. Any low reproduction (I guess it stops at around 60 cycles per unit) is of excellent quality, with weight, body and correct damping. The resulting cohesion of the output is attractive and definitely surpasses by far the set’s price range. The voices come out nicely condensed and the strings are rendered correctly on the whole. Any objections as to the outcome have to do with a dose of “overzealousness” and brightness which the speaker demonstrated occasionally in the highs. All this is very strictly judged, using speakers costing 15 times as much for comparison (just like the rest of the set). And I’d like to explain, so as not to be misunderstood: the speaker performs excellently; I just believe that the “energy” it produces is, at times, excessive. That is clearly the reason why the manufacturer anticipated this “risk” by customization of the highs unit (listening was done with flat tuning, that is at 0 dB). It is possible that a heightening of this phenomenon was noted due to the insufficient breaking-in period. I just keep it in mind for when the 99.26 is fully tested.
To round up this first contact, I’d like to point out that I consider this to be an excellent realization, which exhausts the price range of the set, as well as of the individual devices, providing a complete proposition for a first demanding set, at an extremely low cost of acquisition. This result is bound to be confirmed by each further individual test, starting with the amplifier. So, remain on hold.
To be continued…
Christos Tsiatis
email: ct@abouthifi.com
Retail prices:
Amplifier Class-A100D3: 750€
Speaker 99.26: 870€ + 95€ per set of bases
CD player CD 100: 450€
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