Description
Exposure XV, Stereo Integrated Amplifier - Made In Portslade England - 1991. In full working order. Outer casing has some minor wear. I have shown the internal workings so you can see the year of manufacture and the high quality of the components used to manufacture this Amplifier (Parts have been security marked).This is a top quality Amplifier and as such its been very well constructed and is quite heavy with a great contemporary look. Great sound quality with inputs for Phono, CD, Tuner, Tape, Aux. Manufacturers Spec; The rear panel houses a pair of gold-plated Tiffany RCA jacks on the phono input and standard,. In addition to the phono inputs, three line inputs are provided (Tuner, Aux, and CD), and one Tape loop. Loudspeaker cable connection is via two pairs of 4mm banana jacks. Inside, the XV looks remarkably similar to Naim equipment . The layout, wiring, and execution are similar, but the XV has less internal wiring. A large (250VA) toroidal transformer appears more than adequate in size for the XVs 40Wpc power rating. The power supply features a single bridge rectifier and four large electrolytic filter caps. These caps, whose value was not printed on the outside, are custom-made for Exposure. The power supply is unusual in that every stage in the XV is fully regulated—even the output driver supplies, which is unusual in expensive amplifiers, let alone one at this price point.The input and driver stages are all discrete, as is the phono section. The phono stage is a removable board piggybacked on the main printed circuit board to allow easy interchange between MC and MM. A pair of 317/337 regulators provides local regulation to the preamp section. Resistors are metal-film, and capacitors are primarily polystyrene.I was curious about the electrolytic coupling capacitors in the driver stage. Electrolytics are usually considered anathema to good sound. They were, however, reportedly chosen for their superior sonic qualities, and exceeded the performance of film caps in listening tests. The electrolytics, said to be an exotic, tight-tolerance type made for a specific military application, are used in only some parts of the circuit: other coupling caps are polypropylene types.The complementary output stage uses a single pair of TO-3 devices per channel. Two additional TO-3 devices mounted on the heatsink next to each complementary pair provide output-stage power-supply regulation. All three types of devices (regulator, NPN transistor, PNP transistor) are custom-made to Exposures specifications and bear the Exposure name and part number. A large aluminum heatsink is bolted to the rear panel. No output inductor is used, requiring that the loudspeaker cable be of sufficient inductance to keep the amplifier stable, even with an unusually capacitive load. Overall build and parts qualities are excellent. The unit is nicely finished and easy to use.Music It was apparent from the first listening that the Exposure XV was a very different product. The amplifiers presentation was smooth, polite, and thrown well behind the loudspeakers. There was also a remarkable transparency, soundstage delineation, and overall involvement in the music. The XV is great, particularly with LP playback.
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