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In use the remote has one more button disguised by the 'house' logo. With it you specify whether the next power up should occur at the last volume setting; or preset another one. Whilst on power, here we hit a potential complaint. WAL wanted a minimalist fascia, hence the power mains on the rear. The volume control is a micro-processor controlled pure rotary stepped encoder. There's no secondary 'push' function, thus no standby. Tight installations will require that you reach around or behind to turn this deck on and off. Some could wish that the power mains had been moved to the belly as some firms do it now. If you misplace the remote or drain its coin battery, you can no longer switch inputs.


But there's an input naming function to select from a list of up to 7-letter designations. Balance works like true dual-mono volume. Each channel may be attenuated indefinitely, not over a limited range only. The display is on/off without intermediate brightness options. Upon power up there's a brief diagnostic check confirmed on the display. Then the last selected input ramps up its volume setting according to your 'last' programming. That's it.


Not sound for pound but by age. And fish food. Before I describe the core flavor, a brief generality. Pointers on flavors don't imply that 'the rest' is missing. It's about identifying the dominant feel. Inquiring into it one should discover numerous layers and aspects. The overriding note is simply that which requires no volition of attention. Without trying it shows itself 'on top'. With ultra-wide bandwidth headfi/preamps and speaker amplifiers like the Job 225, Questyle CMA800R, Bakoon HPA-21, Bakoon AMP-12R and Crayon Audio CHA-1, that thing is speed. Right below it comes detail density as a nearly surreal multitudiousness of coincident perfectly sharp data. As one moves up within that presentational style—I already listed my examples in the proper sequence—the element I called humanity in some of their reviews gets stronger. It mellows out sharpness and the needly bits. It's what makes the hyper in hyper realism less charged and more relaxed.


The L1's top flavor layer is great calm. Right beneath it sits well-rounded tone. From in-house brands and machines it was the next step up from April Music's Stello HP100MkII and Eximus DP1. From Alan Cheng's prior retail brands it's far more vintage Jeff Rowland and original Mark Levinson than Gryphon and Wadia. To juxtapose this sound with the above guys, I propose sound by age. Those are younger fellas into fast noisy cars, fast women and dangerous sports. The key for this season of life is vitality, excitement, charge and adrenaline. WAL are older more seasoned men. Their cars might still be fast but now are elegant sedans with zero engine noise and ultra-smooth shocks. They've settled on one woman. The key for this season of life is deeper, mellower, calmer and slower.

To accommodate my Gallo TR-3D sub required these 1-to-2 RCA adaptors on the outputs.

Against this backdrop it makes perfect sense that introducing the L1 into my desktop system of high-resolution Vega DAC, Clones Audio energetic high-feedback op-amp monos and Anthony Gallo's super-timed quasi electrostatic Strada 2 would have quite an effect. Rather than Questsound's stoking of the fire to move things deeper into the existing gestalt, the L1 changed direction. Things settled down. As a sort of material heaviness, gravitas increased. Something relaxed. Tone colors didn't get glossier like polished crystal. They turned more matte. From it all I felt more inside the music. I was farther away from looking on it all as an observer who stares at massive detail like a glittering school of tiny blitzing fishes in a 50'000 gallon public tank. I was nearer to swimming with 'em. Hence fish food.


In headfi terms I get that drawn-in effect more from Audeze than HifiMan. Now even Fang Bian's HE-6—off the Vega's 4V output I sat around -20dB on the L1's display—expressed this calmer deeper gestalt. On Hector Zazou's In the house of Mirrors whose introspective flotation and minimalism live and die on harmonic modulation (there's nothing else going on), tone really was the thing. Whilst one can go to tubes for any number of reasons; and despite the L1 not suggesting tubes per se... on this quality of tonal splendor settled into tangible calmness even valve fancier would feel very much at home. Needless to say my Audeze LCD-2 and MrSpeakers™ Alpha Dog maximized this action to have me feel right at home. If the other guys were amp versions of my Gallos or older Triangle Lyr speakers, the L1 was a solid-wood Boenicke W5 or German Physiks HRS-120 omni.


If you know how omni speakers enhance timbre by involving room sound across the midband where normal speakers still radiate mostly direct, you've got a decent reference for the L1's type of tone. All of the above presented itself the moment I swapped hardware. So I wrote it up quick whilst contrast was high and before our amazing ability to adapt had blurred these lines.