The Affordable High-End Preamp
The successor to the X-P500, the X-P700 offers technical refinements rarely seen in this range: dual-mono design and the most direct signal processing possible (Direct Path). In a supreme refinement, you can choose between two output schematics: Class A mode, using bipolars in a double cascade circuit, close to a tube gradient, and Discrete Mode, based on a JFet differential and current mirror in the bipolars, polarized in the more traditional Class AB.
Inputs/Outputs
The X-P700 is truly comprehensive: nine analog inputs, one of which is balanced, and an MM/MC phono. On the digital side: two optical inputs, one coaxial input, one USB-B (Xmos) and one USB-A. The DAC is the powerful Burr Brown PCM 1796 -24 bit/192 kHz converter. On the output side, the X-P700 offers an RCA doubled with balanced XLR, plus one high-pass output and two for subwoofers. Headphone enthusiasts are well catered for: two front-mounted inputs (6.35 and 3.5 jacks) plus a double independent input below, with gain settings of +6, 0, -4 dB and output impedance of 0 or 100 ohms.
High-Capacity Toroidal Transformers
The X-P700 is seriously built, starting with the 10 mm black methacrylate front panel common to the Classic Line. But the interior is more revealing: two high-capacity toroidal transformers feed the double mono filtered and regulated power supply on the motherboard, which also contains the preamplification stages. The quality of the adjustable MC high- and low-level phono stage, as well as the MM capacity, is remarkable for this budget.
Design
The design is sober and uncluttered, with a single rotary knob and a push-button to validate choices: access to inputs, volume control, bass/treble tones, balance or intensity. The remote control activates these functions remotely.
Compatibility
The X-P700 is the ideal preamplifier, to be combined with Advance Paris’s range of power amplifiers such as the famous X-A160 (or EVO), X-A220 (or EVO), BX2 or the new X-A600 or any other audiophile-quality power amplifier.
