Review soon, we hope!,!
The Hungarian lands tomorrow.
Can not wait…… exciting.
https://www.atelier13-usa.com/audio-hungary-qualiton
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@rixthetrick love the story. Great people and a wonderful region of the world. @arafiq you are right you will be much happier than with your current set up. The 200 is just awesome and being an analog guy this thing is built for vinyl. And is awesome in the digital realm also (I enjoy streaming and CDs also, sacrilege lol) Review to come later this evening. |
THE HUNGARIAN IS HOME!!! History of Audio Hungary. Source AH website. The history of AH is important to illustrate that they are not a newcomer to the industry.
When engineers at Audio-Hungary were trying to get the measurements for their amplifiers as perfect as possible, Laszlo Fabian decided to train the ears of the engineers by exposing them to natural sound via live symphony concerts. That’s the kind of bold and different thinking that has led the company’s Qualiton brand of tube amplifiers and preamplifiers to quickly gain recognition in the European high-end audiophile market
Review Qualiton X200 by Audio Hungary. Build Quality: Right off the X200 exudes quality. It is a heavy integrated and it weighs in at 23 kg (50.6lbs) and the remote control a massive piece weighs in a ¾ of pound according to my fish scale. So, I have established that the X200 is built like a tank and yet has a standard footprint for integrated amps of this type. The X200 is in the same size range as my Raven Blackhawk 3.1 and only slightly larger than my Quicksilver Integrated and for that matter my SS amps like the Moon by Simaudio 340ix and my 600 v2 are about the same dimensions 43 x 47.5 x 20 cm.
Setup: Unboxing the X200 was a task. I think a few other manufacturers should take a Q from the packaging engineers at Audio Hungary. This integrated was packed in a double wall corrugated cardboard box that is stapled together not taped, though all seam were taped. Specifically engineered foam insert to cradle the tubes and integrated amp line the box and ensure to isolate any vibrations or impacts when shipping. The box was shrink wrapped and there was at least a ¼ of an inch of shrink wrap cocooning the box. So, once I got the package opened, I removed the manual, power cord and tubes. Below is the list of the supplied tubes. Tung-Sol: 4 x KT120 (KT150 or KT170 optionally) I have ordered KT170 and will review later. Electro-Harmonix :2 x 6922 Electro-Harmonix Gold: 2 x 12AX7 I installed the tubes per the extremely well written and exact owner’s manual. I am not going to bore you with the detail, but the tubes are all matched and the power tubes will need to be installed as indicated on the tube box and manual. I have linked the manual to this review. https://audiohungary.com/files/productpdfs/x200users-manual.pdf Bias was perfect and setting bias on this unit is a piece of cake and all adjustments are done from the front of the unit and no meters are needed Green is go, Blue or Red mean adjust your bias.
Burn In/Break In/Dyno Test/Heat Treat/Case Carburizing/Through Hardening: Whatever you want to call it. I talked to Constantin @ https://www.atelier13-usa.com/audio-hungary-qualiton and he said just run a few heat cycles though the tubes and transformers and you should be good to go. Unlike Solid State or Hybrid Integrated Amps the time frame should be more compressed. I know with my Pathos Integrated and Simaudio it was like 500 plus hours. I hooked up the power using Raven Audio Soniquil power cord, hooked up the digital and analog front end using Raven Audio Soniquil interconnects RCA, XLR. Attached my Sonus faber Olympica Nova II’s using Raven Audio Soniquil speaker cables (love the Soniquils as they are neutral and no coloration). Fired up the Moon 280D Mind 2 and played several rock playlists on Roon/Tidal for 48 hours cycling the gear on and off in 8-hour shifts. Yes my wife thought I lost my mind.
HOW’S IT SOUND MAN!!! Okay let’s talk about the 100 watts of A/AB PP Tube Sound from this wonderfully engineered machine. "The Qualiton X200 was built with the ANALOG GUY IN MIND". This machine is just as talented in the digital arena so the DIGITAL GUY’s will love it too. The X200 is equipped with a MM Phono Section that will work with your HV MC cartridges. I have a lovely Lejonklou Gia 2 MM phono section that that is connected to a Clearaudio Concept Black with Concept tonearm and Nagoka MP200 cartridge, yep I am one of those guys that loves MM cartridges. At some point I will try the X200 installed phono section but that is for another day. The X200 also several features that are highlighted here: The Qualiton X200 is designed to serve analog enthusiasts who need a combination of a high-performance vacuum tube power amplifier and a versatile preamplifier, along with sophisticated technical details, built into a single chassis. In this way, perfect matching is achieved - both sonically and technically - between the main signal processing sections.
So I queued up a few albums to see how the analog feature worked. Well work it does and how. No matter what I played I was in musical haven even listening to an old worn out copy of The J Giles Band “LIVE FULL HOUSE” using the equalization curves did not make this record sound new but made it enjoyable playing with the curves and making this piss poor engineered record sound fuller and well like I engineered it (joke). Overall the thing that really stood out no matter the source was how quite, black, dead silent the background was. The music stood out and it was if you are there at the studio or concert hall. Detailed, transparent, all the cliches that every reviewer uses. I am just going to say this the Qualiton X200 Integrated KICKS ASS!! Musical, Delicate, Rocks when you want it to and is one of the best tube amps I have ever owned and I have owned a pile of them Mac, AR, Raven, Pathos, PL, and none of them IMMERSED ME IN THE MUSIC like the X200. The X200 has me rethinking my recent acquisition of the Moon by Simaudio 600i V2. Yes the X200 is that good and I have 30 days to decide if I am sending the 600i back, I am sending it back. Discography. Nils Frahm, Spaces King Crimson, In The Court Of The Crimson King an Observation by King Crimson Atlantic org 1969 pressing Radiohead, The Bends Queens Of The Stone Age, Songs For The Deaf Yes, The Yes Album Atlantic org 1971 pressing XTC, Black Sea. Marvin Gaye, Let’s Get It On Pat Metheny, From This Place Norah Jones, Pick Me Up Off The Floor J Giles Band, Full House Live Beethoven The Nine Symphonies, London Festival Edition, Josef Krips and the LSO. Qualiton X200 Specs. Pre Amp Section Input impedance - Phono 47 kOhm || 120 pF Input impedance - Line 25 kOhm || 10 pF Max. input signal - Phono 40 mV (f = 1 kHz) Max. input signal - Line 8 V Gain - Phono +46 dB (f = 1 kHz) Gain - Line 0 dB Max. deviation from RIAA curve - Phono +/- 0.5 dB Frequency response - Line 4 Hz to 1 MHz (-3 dB) Total Harmonic Distortion - Phono < 0.03% (f = 10 kHz) Total Harmonic Distortion - Line < 0.001% (f = 20 Hz to 20 kHz) Total Harmonic Distortion - EQ < 0.002% (f = 20 Hz to 20 kHz) Signal-to-noise ratio - Phono > 60 dB (1 V, without A-filter) Signal-to-noise ratio - Line > 90 dB (1 V, without A-filter) Signal-to-noise ratio - EQ > 90 dB (1 V, without A-filter) Bass boost in setting I - EQ + 5.6 dB Bass boost in setting II - EQ + 7.6 dB Treble boost in setting I - EQ + 6 dB Treble boost in setting II - EQ + 8 dB
Head Phone
Rated output power 2 x 0.3 W (RL = 32 Ohm) Gain -6 dB (RL = 32 Ohm) Frequency response 4 Hz to 1 MHz (-3 dB) Total Harmonic Distortion < 0.008% (RL = 32 Ohm, 0.125 W) Signal-to-noise ratio > 95 dB (RL = 32 Ohm, rated output))
Power Amp Rated output power 2 x 100 W Input impedance, Direct balanced IN 20 kOhm Input impedance, Direct unbalanced IN 10 kOhm Input sensitivity, Direct balanced IN 460 mV, to rated output Input sensitivity, Preamp IN 460 mV, to rated output Input sensitivity, Phono IN 2.25 mV, to rated output Gain +35.5 dB (RL = 8 Ohm) Frequency response 27 Hz to 70 kHz (-3 dB, rated output) Total Harmonic Distortion < 0.5% (f = 1 kHz, rated output) Signal-to-noise ratio > 100 dB (RL = 8 Ohm, rated output) Load impedance 4 to 8 Ohm |
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