Once the unboxing photographs were done, we took the amps back to the listening room, and we started looking for connections for the input. To our surprise, the inputs were XLRs, and at the same time we discovered that they also come with XLR loop out. I didn’t really expect a single ended amplifier as the Phonitor to come with balanced inputs, but when we consider the professional environment that these amplifiers were designed for, it’s only logical to use XLR connection, as they are the universal method of hooking up professional gears. Anyway, it wasn’t really a problem for us, since the CEC TL51XZ CD Player that we use come with a balanced out, and at the same time, we also received a Lavry DA11 which comes with an XLR analog out, so everything works fairly well. However, if your source happens to be single ended, the SPL representative explained to us that the Phonitor and the Auditor don’t really require balanced input signal, and so with the appropriate interconnect (RCA to XLR), you shouldn’t have a problem of hooking up your source to the amplifiers.
The loop outs are always a nice convenience to have. I know that a lot of people have more than one amplifiers, and it’s inconvenient to have to plug and unplug your interconnects whenever you want to change an amplifier. The loop out in the Phonitor and the Auditor passes the signal to the next gear in the chain with no alterations, and so it was very convenient for us to have the ability to daisy chain multiple amplifiers together: Lavry DA11 > SPL Phonitor > SPL Auditor > Grace m902 / Beta22.
If you look again at the back panel of the Phonitor, there is a knob that says GND LIFT. According to the manual, it separates the internal ground from the unit housing’s ground, a method for solving possible hum issues.
It’s also worth noting that both The Phonitor and the Auditor come with front legs that can be opened to give better access to the front panel controls. It may be a little unusual to see HiFi gears with front legs, but again, they may be handy in a studio environment.
Another nice feature that I’d like to see on more amplifiers are the duplicate inverted labels on the back panel, which comes very handy when you’re trying to access the backpanel from above/in front.
Of course, with the world of headphones eager to move to balanced amplification, we are all asking the same question: why doesn’t the Phonitor come with balanced headphone out? My only guess is that since a balanced headphone out would require double the circuitry, that would really be impractical with the Phonitor, seeing how the crossfeed circuitry would also need to be doubled, likewise the power supply. Oh well, let’s ask them to make a balanced version of the Auditor then.
YpoCaramel
I’ll be honest and say that the Phonitor’s VU dials almost had me sold right away 😉
Ivan Nadeau
Do you recommend OPPO CD player???
When the upgraded HiFiMAN 801 will be available??? …I mean the one with a upgraded amp.
How with it sound with HD800 & JH16???
From your personal choice which desk top amp would you recommend for an optimized HD800 listening ???
Thank you your site is great
Ivan
Mike
Hi Ivan. The Oppos are supposed to be good for the price, but I never really tried them myself.
I believe the HM801 with the GAME amp is already available, and the amp is optimized for IEMs. Please contact Hifiman about that. The HM801 combo with the HD800 and JH16 sounds very good and will challenge many desktop systems.
As for a desktop amp, wait for the Burson HA-160 review, perhaps you will like it. 🙂
Cortes
Mike,
how do you compare the Auditor/Phonitor with the CEC HD53n ?.
In particular for pop, jazz, and female voices what would be your take?. thx.
Mike
Hi Cortes,
Pop, Jazz, and Female voices, I would take the CEC HD53N over the Auditor/Phonitor. The CEC is tuned to be colored in a pleasing way, where the Auditor/Phonitor is a very neutral colorless amplifier.
Mike
Hi Victor,
Unfortunately I don't have the Phonitor anymore. It's a very neutral amplifier. What headphone are you using it with currently, and how do you like the combination?
The LCD-2 is a very easy to like headphone, and I feel you can enjoy it with the neutral sounding Phonitor. Just make sure that the Phonitor can do a good job of driving the orthodynamic driver.
yoav tzfati
Hey mike, great review. Since I don’t have enough money for the Phonitor, what crossfeed plug-ins would you reccomend for use on a Mac? Windows?
Thanks.
Anonymous
Hi Yoav,
I’m mostly a Mac user, and for Mac I use the Canz3D. The amount of
control you have with that plug in is quite in depth, perhaps even more
in depth than the Phonitor.
http://www.midnightwalrus.com/Canz3D/
Harj
Hi Mike,
Could you tell how the auditor paired up with hd800? I’m getting mixed views from a different forum.
FYI
I will be using the cambridge audio 840c (similar to dacmagic) as my source.
Thanks in advance.
Harj
Anonymous
Hi Harj,
The Phonitor and Auditor amp has what I would call an ultra-colorless, sterile in nature sound. It would be perfect for monitoring, but usually music listeners would like a little more color in the bass, in the mids, and would find them too flat. Pair it with the HD800 which is also semi-colorless, semi-sterile, and you’re looking at a very flat presentation.
The Cambridge 840C, if I am not mistaken uses an AD1855 (or AD-something chip), rather than the WM8740 in the Dacmagic. I may be wrong though.
Steve
I now own this unit and the Senn. HD-800. These are a great combination for me.
Mike
Awesome, Steve.
Sickdrummer182
Hey, can you let me know if the Auditor has enough power to drive the Hifiman HE-6 to high volume without clipping?
Zombie_X
Yo,
The Auditor does not have enough output current to drive them well at all. I’d recommend something like the Schiit Audio Lyr or Violectric V200.
Mike
Yes or a speaker amp.
Zombie_X
I own the Auditor and it’s an exceptional amp with the most neutral sound I’ve ever heard out of a headphone amp before.
Mike
Have to agree @Zombie250:disqus
Jaro
Hi Mike,
would you recommend SPL Auditor for AKG K702?
thank you in advance
Mike
Jaro,
If you are looking for a super-neutral set up, then yes. Otherwise it may lack a little musicality for music listening.
Jaro
Hi Mike,
sorry I forgot to be more specific. I meant in term of driving them properly. If I am not wrong Auditor output impedance is quite high, so I am worring about damping factor.
Mike
Sorry it’s been so long since I did the review. All I can remember is that the Phonitor / Auditor amp is extremely neutral. Good for monitoring but not really my favorite for music listening.