XPS conundrum
Posted by: Jim Ashton on 22 June 2003
Hi folks,
Just spent most of the weekend experiencing the addition to my home system of a 2/h XPS (about 4 years old I believe) from my local dealer.
To put it bluntly I was underwhelmed.
Took it home last Thursday night and put it straight into the system to warm it up. I was otherwise busy for most of the evening but music was playing in the background some of the time (esp.on the Kans in the kitchen) and I did sit down to listen 'informally' to a few tracks every so often.
Initial impression: sounded great but not much different really from the 'bare' CDX.
On Saturday I spent hours listening carefully to rapid-fire A/B comparisons of XPS/no-XPS using favourite tracks. At times I heard (or thought I heard) various improvements, including a slightly more 'analogue' sound (reduced digital 'hardness'), a slightly tighter bass, complex multi-instrumental passages that made a little more sense musically etc. None of these differences was anything other than very subtle however, and at no stage could I point to anything really
significant or consistent. So basically my initial impression was never seriously challenged, and today the XPS has been duly returned to sender with a polite 'thanks but no thanks'.
I have to say that this outcome is quite a surprise. The asking price of NZ$4500 is not a small amount of money to me, but I was fully prepared at the outset to be unable to do without it once I'd heard it. I should also probably make it clear that I absolutely love the sound of my system as it stands - on both LP and CD - an opinion which dates in particular from the point when I went active.
I consider it to be significant that the XPS test has in no way diminished the truth of that statement. Finally, I honestly don't think that in a blindfold test I'd be able consistently to pick which was which between XPS & no-XPS.
So what's going on here? A number of alternatives have suggested themselves to me (and naturally they are by no means mutually exclusive), to wit:
1. I have cloth ears - actually I KNOW I have cloth ears and I've just been masquerading as a 'Hi-Fi buff' all these years whilst not having a clue what I was wittering on about - there I've said it. But my wife (whom I consider to have better ears than mine, but who admittedly wants to spend the dosh on something else) and 18-year-old music enthusiast of a son agreed with me...
2. XPS was stuffed in some way - dealer is investigating this one.
3. Some other part of my system is acting as a sufficiently limiting factor to prevent the XPS shining through - what could it be? The 15-year-old 72 (never serviced) ? The equally aged Ruarks that I recently dismembered to remove the passive crossovers? But then why does it sound so bloody good without the XPS? (add that last line to all points below)
4. My listening room is too small (it is actually, but not by much), I need better stands (I use a couple of late-80's Sound Organisation towers), I need to upgrade the speaker cable (A4), I need a better mains power source (it's a dedicated 6mm spur from the fuseboard that I installed myself, with a box on the end sporting 8 UK-style 15 amp round-pin gold-plated sockets and a couple of recently added NZ-type sockets, all wired up inside like a mini-ring main) etc.
5. It's the type of music I listen to - typically the sort of modern jazz that makes some people scream and shout. But I also like coutry, folk, rock ... just no classical, OK?
6. I have simply found my natural resting place on the ladder and never need to worry about upgrading ever again (which is WHY it sounds so bloody good...)
Would the esteemed and most erudite members of this distinguished forum perchance have any other suggestions?
Ta
Jim
Just spent most of the weekend experiencing the addition to my home system of a 2/h XPS (about 4 years old I believe) from my local dealer.
To put it bluntly I was underwhelmed.
Took it home last Thursday night and put it straight into the system to warm it up. I was otherwise busy for most of the evening but music was playing in the background some of the time (esp.on the Kans in the kitchen) and I did sit down to listen 'informally' to a few tracks every so often.
Initial impression: sounded great but not much different really from the 'bare' CDX.
On Saturday I spent hours listening carefully to rapid-fire A/B comparisons of XPS/no-XPS using favourite tracks. At times I heard (or thought I heard) various improvements, including a slightly more 'analogue' sound (reduced digital 'hardness'), a slightly tighter bass, complex multi-instrumental passages that made a little more sense musically etc. None of these differences was anything other than very subtle however, and at no stage could I point to anything really
significant or consistent. So basically my initial impression was never seriously challenged, and today the XPS has been duly returned to sender with a polite 'thanks but no thanks'.
I have to say that this outcome is quite a surprise. The asking price of NZ$4500 is not a small amount of money to me, but I was fully prepared at the outset to be unable to do without it once I'd heard it. I should also probably make it clear that I absolutely love the sound of my system as it stands - on both LP and CD - an opinion which dates in particular from the point when I went active.
I consider it to be significant that the XPS test has in no way diminished the truth of that statement. Finally, I honestly don't think that in a blindfold test I'd be able consistently to pick which was which between XPS & no-XPS.
So what's going on here? A number of alternatives have suggested themselves to me (and naturally they are by no means mutually exclusive), to wit:
1. I have cloth ears - actually I KNOW I have cloth ears and I've just been masquerading as a 'Hi-Fi buff' all these years whilst not having a clue what I was wittering on about - there I've said it. But my wife (whom I consider to have better ears than mine, but who admittedly wants to spend the dosh on something else) and 18-year-old music enthusiast of a son agreed with me...
2. XPS was stuffed in some way - dealer is investigating this one.
3. Some other part of my system is acting as a sufficiently limiting factor to prevent the XPS shining through - what could it be? The 15-year-old 72 (never serviced) ? The equally aged Ruarks that I recently dismembered to remove the passive crossovers? But then why does it sound so bloody good without the XPS? (add that last line to all points below)
4. My listening room is too small (it is actually, but not by much), I need better stands (I use a couple of late-80's Sound Organisation towers), I need to upgrade the speaker cable (A4), I need a better mains power source (it's a dedicated 6mm spur from the fuseboard that I installed myself, with a box on the end sporting 8 UK-style 15 amp round-pin gold-plated sockets and a couple of recently added NZ-type sockets, all wired up inside like a mini-ring main) etc.
5. It's the type of music I listen to - typically the sort of modern jazz that makes some people scream and shout. But I also like coutry, folk, rock ... just no classical, OK?
6. I have simply found my natural resting place on the ladder and never need to worry about upgrading ever again (which is WHY it sounds so bloody good...)
Would the esteemed and most erudite members of this distinguished forum perchance have any other suggestions?
Ta
Jim
Or failing that my 102,napsc for 50 bucks 
redeye
redeye