Car Amplifier - Xtant

After the in-car audition, the Xtant duo was connected to a pair of Clements Audio prototypes in the Redrock theater room. This round was geared for slightly more serious listening. My initial instinct again was to audition the high frequencies. As in the car, I was met with exceptional performance. One item to note: there is a very slight turn-on pop due to a minute DC offset. However, this pop was detectable only in the Redrock theater room, not in the car.

The following is a cumulation of both in-car and in-theater listening experiences: from my trusty Car Audio Nationals competition CD (from the dawn of car stereo civilization), I listened to Jennifer Warnes' "Bird on a Wire." The vocals, which can sound thin and out of phase on some systems, sounded full and rich, and the triangle could be heard clearly. The fanfare's dynamic range and the snare hits sounded as real as I've ever heard.

Robben Ford's "Talk To Your Daughter" and "Eyes Of Love" by Michael Ruff have the ability to reveal low frequency equalization or imbalance in an amplifier's performance, but both tracks were pleasantly uncolored when played through the Xtant 1.1is.

Finally, I consider "Tomorrow's Girls" from Donald Fagen's Kamakiriad to contain some of the most well played and recorded cymbal work of all time. Each tap and slip was clearly evident, crisp and smooth in all the right places. When pushed too far, though, there was a distinct graininess affecting the upper ranges. With a typical class A/B amp you notice a muddiness in the lower mid-range section of this track, revealing that the clipping signature is very different on this amplifier.

ConclusionThe Xtant 1.1i met or exceeded all of the claims in the owner's manual. The pair of amplifiers reproduced all of the tracks as well or better than most 12V amplifiers that I have heard, regardless of whether they're Class A/B, D, H, or anything else. With a suggested retail price of $350, the dollar-to-watts ratio comes to $1.57 at 2 ohms, which is a bit pricey considering the absence of frivolous bells and whistles. But the Xtant 1.1i was built to run with the best, so don't buy these amplifiers to run cheap or mid-fi speakers in a noisy car, 'cause you won't do them justice.

In my mind, here's what you get for your money: a true Audiophile Full-Spectrum Class D amplifier that is a perfect match for top-shelf, full-range speakers. Add a big subwoofer and some sound deadening and you're good to go. The Xtant1.1i is small enough to mount anywhere, including under your seat, in the glove compartment, into a custom dash, or even behind your speakers in many cases, and is up to 80 percent power efficient.

Even with its diminutive frame, the Xtant1.1i is a mighty mite with the heart and soul of a giant. Maybe jumbo shrimp isn't an oxymoron after all.