Advance Paris Dual Mono Preamplifier

Product Overview

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. 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.

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 or -4 dB and output impedance of 0 or 100 ohms

The X-P700 is seriously built, starting with the sober 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 - hard to imagine anything better.

In short, at the price at which the new X-P700 is offered, it's hard to beat it. That's what Advance Paris wanted from the very start of the development of this new preamplifier. They didn't skimp on the quality of components, decoding or power supply - the kind of attention that counts when listening.

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