Joachim Horsley, the Latin Loussier, now pulled out the stops with "Moonlight Mozambique" from his genre-crossing Carribean Nocturnes disc. On the more sensitive Vox 3awf, there was just a bit of power-supply hum on the 4" widebanders but no more than other powerful amps betray. Until my Gradient Box 2.5 intelligent crossover arrives, I rely on my Kinki EX-M1 integrated to attenuate the sound|kaos sub below the mains' Enleum AMP-23R. That works well since it's 250 watts vs. 25 watts. The sub signal always needs to be cut. With now 350 watts behind the monitors, the EX-M1 needed extra gain I didn't have. I couldn't get the sub loud enough to balance properly. So my filter box extricated from the 300iX's out/in loop and the Swiss woodies ran full-range. This thundered most properly on this wackamole track.

It also showed that compared to the Enleum, the Perreaux played it fresher and a bit frostier in the upper registers so again more like Kinki's mono competitors. To tone that down would just want the upstairs Denafrips Terminator+ DAC. Unlike the Dutch aluminators, these nearly 10dB more sensitive 3-way speakers also responded less enthusiastically to the amp's high damping across the vital midband. That I felt erred slightly on the overdamped side. The Enleum's higher 0.25Ω output impedance works better for these particular loads.

To put this powerful integrated back on more native soil, in moved the 85dB Albedo Audio Aptica. Those Italian two-way transmission-line beauties a certain pasha hadn't visited in far too long.

Now there was no question of overdamping yet bass quality/reach were the best of my bunch yet. Tonally these 1st-order Accutons aren't as fruity as the cellulose widebanders with AlNiCo motor and bronze basket. As was correct, the 300iX thus rendered them a bit drier. True for all readings was very deep and specific staging. That routinely seems to benefit from good bandwidth for low phase errors plus the focused exactitude which the absence of signal-path capacitors can tease out. On balance, my favorite domestic scenario had been upstairs. There I'd make zero follow-up adjustments to the sound whatsoever.

A great surprise to wrap up this gig on another high C was its built-in class A headfi amp. That effortlessly and beautifully drove my very inefficient HifiMan Susvara. The volume readout below represents stout levels on a quality recording. Dynamically compressed fare demanded more signal cut so spare headroom was unexpectedly plentiful. Perhaps because this is a wholly class A affair, sonics were a bit sunnier than the occasionally brisker class A/B speaker outputs. The long and short of it? The 300iX ¼" port isn't a convenience item to pad out a shopping list. It's a truly serious item that won't justify keeping a separate headphone amp around.

The itemized bill, please. Colossal power not in class D bundles with commendably broad functionality. Anything-goes color finishes make ordering black a funeral fetish. True muscle-amp virtues meet great reflexes. Wherewithal to pound and slam joins vocal intimacy and the ability to polish embedded sheen on upper harmonics. A modicum of warmth comes not at the expense of speed. Forget fuzz or furriness, blur or bloat. This potent Perreaux is fit and of low body fat but well educated and mannered so no brute. Realistically, it's probably too powerful for most. The smaller 200iX is likely the sweet spot. To be sure, one would need to compare both. That's left for somebody else's agenda.

With this my first-ever Perreaux, I can now appreciate how well earned the company's solid reputation is. The 300iX is a clearly mature and thoroughly dialed effort. I thought that it looked as good as it felt well built, worked flawlessly and sounded refreshingly vital. Regular readers of this site can think of it as a more powerful, still quicker and more feature-loaded version of Kinki's EX-M1. Its brother from another mother. That will set expectations on the correct course; and explain why I was to taken!