In higher gear. As though in fair trade for 10 x power, the downstairs Kinki monos aren't quite as elegant or refined as the Enleum. In practice it's proven academic given the speakers' predominant dipole radiation. That subtly activates the ambient field across the critical midrange even treble. Hence tone textures gain pliancy and acoustic reverb enhancement quite similar to the upstairs action of the Elrog ER50 direct-heated triodes. It's why an amp-direct path from Sonnet's Pasithea DAC is my preference. Variable reference voltage on its paralleled R2R ladders creates lossless precision volume control, no active preamp required or desired. With the IQ's higher than average sensitivity, room SPL equate ~30dB signal cut to demand no extra voltage gain. The XA25 saw the same direct connection with intermediary icOn Gradient Box xover. Its remote-triggered bypass allows instant comparisons of 2.1 and 2.0 mode without any rewiring. Unlike upstairs where deliberately tiny monitors lack sufficient solo bandwidth, the IQ is tuned to ~25Hz. For raw reach it's categorically not reliant on subwoofer assist. My reason for the Ripol sub is its superior time-domain performance. Converting omni bass dispersion to cardioid directionality eliminates the transverse room mode altogether. It even reduces the longitudinal mode's amplitude without any room treatments. As far as raw extension goes, there's very little difference. I listened to the XA25 in both high-passed and full-range mode.

Photos by Dawid Grzyb

Drivers made for dipole use typically compensate their lack of box-compressed air rebound with stiffened suspension components of spider and surround. To my knowledge, Qualio's SB Acoustic Satori midrange is a standard driver without any special dipole design considerations. It explains my assumption why on these loads, the Kinki monos clearly outdo the Enleum which on raw voltage gain is already excessive. Optimized restorative force for the 600Hz-8kHz driver whose shallow 1st-order filters have it run still wider becomes an amplifier's low output impedance and current control. Usually all of that applies to a beastlier woofer. With the IQ it's the wide midrange which seems to benefit most. Now you understand why despite its equivalent paper rating, I expected the XA25 to decisively out-edge the AMP-23R. After all, its 40A/ea. output transistors are chunkier customers than Enleum's. Given the upstairs results, I now even wondered whether its tonal fruitiness might give the Pass advance passage over the EX-B7, period.

On a spicy offramp, there's this system featured here where an XA25 embeds in rather elite company including top-notch vinyl and open-reel tape. In that context, the Pass amp and icOn autoformer preamp are likely the two most affordable bits. That shows how savvy not trophy clients buy with their ears to routinely discover that it's not how much but how selectively one spends which makes the decisive difference. As far as raw woofer grunt goes, these particular chaps certainly seem serious enough yet their owner saw no reason to shop beyond an XA25. That's suggestive enough to include here; as would be the amp's obviously satisfying noise performance into high-efficiency loads. Now back to things I personally heard.

Become a fruitarian. It's the argument the XA25 made quite insistently. Joachim Horsley's Cuban piano exploits would instantly reset any notion that it implies spaced-out or minimalist emo boy with banjo fare. Going fruity wasn't about rhythmic laxatives. It meant extra tonal umami. While sonic starts slightly softened over our 2.5MHz Kinki with warmer class A plus more billowy dipoles, timbre saturation and color temperatures increased. This was very apparent on Latin hammer piano. As demonstrated in this Shostakovich makeover, it promotes percussive staccato over legato sostenuto. With the XA25, attack mode didn't sacrifice the big soundboard's sonority. The wood/steel balance retained more wood than the cooler Chinese monos managed.

The XA25 outdid them also on self noise. Where the Kinki betray very minor ear-on-midrange hiss inaudible from the seat, the Pass wasn't audibly live at all other than its blue power light. Where the Kinki twins turned tables was on two scores. First was bass damping. Be it just the upper bass in high-pass mode or all three bass octaves in full range, the mono amps exerted even stricter control. On specs, beyond wattage ratings I only found 200V/µs slew rate for them versus 100 for the XA25, no output Ω figures. The second was dynamic range where into these loads I thought the Pass passed second. Though on the face of it the monaural amps separated harder, the XA25 rolled out farther stage depth and resolved just as focused, just with less grip on image edging and less walkabout air between them. Crisp outlines never factor in live music, just with close-mic'd recordings. They're a playback artifice we can either groom or avoid. The XA25 didn't chase them.

Its voltage gain was lower than the EX-B7's but still gave me ~15dB of untapped headroom when things got loud. A practical qualifier is warm-up. The Pass took about 30 minutes to give its best. The tech term is thermal stabilization. It means that the output devices take a bit of time before they reach optimum temperature or operational G spot. If you pay attention, you'll notice that final sonics show up about halfway into a standard CD or equivalent file. That's if you still listen as the artists intended, not skip helter-skelter from one to another, track by isolated track.

A premium example of elevated simplicity—here a plaintive 18th century Hebrew song—is set in a Gibraltar cave to intertwine Moorish elements with Jewish vocals. Thematically there's little going on. It could nearly be a lullaby. It's in the finesse of execution and rich tone colors enhanced by a reverberant acoustic where magic enters. It seems a good stand-in for the XA25's virtues. They aren't bombastic or hyped. It's the multi-hued tonality, depth of field and organic not silhouetted transitions that create attractiveness. It's a different form of virtuosity than that of the flashy Horsley number. It's a vital distinction when arrangements get structurally sparse. They can't hide behind the obviousness of showy technique and compositional complexity. They either convince with minimalist Zen; or bore to tears. Needless to say, the XA25 wasn't about those kinds of tears.