February 8, 2012

  • XLO Reference Type 4, Part 2

    20 years ago, Michael Jackson's Dangerous gave him a comeback of sorts.  But what was one of his inspirations for recording Dangerous?  In 1991, his idol, Diana Ross, had come out with a comeback album of her own, The Force Behind The Power.

    20 years ago, I was a junior at UC Santa Cruz.  My housemates were listening to the radio, and had heard Ross' "One Shining Moment."  Doug remarked, "Wow, she's still going."

    And what was I doing?  Why, I was sitting on the couch, reading the February 1992 issue of Stereophile.  While the CD was already popular with the public at large, it was just gaining acceptability in the audiophile community.  And it was that Feb92 issue of Stereophile, which firmly entrenched the CD as audiophiles' #1 source format.  For starters, it included an article by Corey Greenberg, who took on the tall challenge of reviewing five (!) one-box CD players.  He concluded that the Sonographe SD-22 would appeal to stereotypical audiophiles.  He also found that the JVC XL-Z1050TN, via its coaxial digital output, made a decent transport.

    But it was really Robert Harley's review of the mighty Mark Levinson No.30, which helped digital, in some ways, supplant analog.  Okay, so the No. 30 was something to strive for.  But it cost as much as a small car.  So while the No. 30 served as a benchmark of sorts, it left the competition at lower price points to become fierce and cutthroat.  Less-than-the-price-of-a-car digital separates from Audio Alchemy, Krell Digital, Meridian, Proceed (Mark Levinson's little brother), PS Audio, and Theta Digital came to market fast and furious.

    Yep, 20 years ago, digital separates were hot.  But what about the digital data links, needed to tie them together?  A-ha, keep reading that Feb92 Stereophile edition, and you will find Jack English's "mini-survey" review of four digital cables: Kimber Kable AGDL (for some strange reason, this was listed as "KCAG," which was the designation for the line-level analog interconnect), Simply Physics Byteline III, Van Den Hul D-102 Mk.III, and XLO Reference Type 4.

    20 years ago, XLO's Reference Type 1 interconnect was getting all the buzz.  Dealers quickly picked up the XLO line, just to sell the Type 1.  The Type 1 sold like hotcakes.  But what was the first XLO product ever reviewed in Stereophile?  The Type 1 interconnect?  Nope.  The Type 3 phono cable?  Nope.  The Type 5 speaker cable?  Nope.  Rather, it was the Type 4 digital cable, included in JE's "mini-survey."  In some ways, that review would be the Type 4's "one shining moment."  You see, other than this review, direct descriptions of the Type 4 were hard to come by.  I would not be surprised, if JE's review were the only such review of the Type 4.  I've done internet searches, and come up with nothing of substance.

    20 years ago, I did not have digital separates.  I only had the one-box Sony CDP-520ESII and NAD 5000.  But damn, all these reviews of transports, DACs, and digital cables really made my one-box CD players seem inadequate.  To quench my thirst for high-end audio, I went home to San Francisco, where I'd stop by at Ultimate Sound, then located in the dungeon basement of the Sherman Clay building.  The Potrero District's Sounds Alive, S.F.'s original XLO dealer, had folded.  Ultimate Sound then swooped in, and became an authorized XLO dealer.  Ultimate Sound also carried Kimber.  Ever since I started going, Ultimate Sound always had on display a Kimber AGDL and an XLO Reference Type 4.  Man, did I lust after those two!

    I didn't get into digital separates until after I graduated from UCSC.  In September 1993, I finally received the Theta Cobalt 307 DAC.  But did I use the Kimber AGDL or XLO Reference Type 4?  Nope.  As my system was already lashed up with AudioQuest cables, I initially used the AQ Video Z, which was previously used on VCRs and video game consoles.  It showed some promise, so I took the next step, and bought the AQ Video/Digital Pro ($140).  It was slightly cheaper than the AGDL ($175) and Ref Type 4 ($150).  The Digital Pro was very, very good with the Cobalt 307.

    In early 1995, I bought the Theta DS Pro Prime II.  Only then was I able to bring home, among other digital cables, the AGDL and Ref Type 4.  My experiences with these two digital coaxial cables were similar to what JE had written, all those years ago.  Between my Theta Data Basic and Pro Prime II, I also used the Audiobahn Digitalstrasse, HAVE/Canare Digiflex Gold I, Illuminati D-60, MIT T3 Digital, Skylab 308, Wireworld Gold Starlight.  Each cable had its strengths and weaknesses.  But in an overall sense, the XLO Reference Type 4 was my favorite.