April 5, 2012

  • XLO Reference Type 1, Part 7

    25 years ago, one of the first schoolmates to get a CD player was Scott, who happened to be in my Latin class.  He purchased a Quasar portable CD player.  And what was one of the first CDs he bought?  Expose's Exposure.  Never meant to be "critically acclaimed," Exposure nevertheless was professionally produced, and was fairly popular with the public at large.  Audiophiles generally don't know about Expose, so that is very cool, whenever you play Exposure for them.

    20 years ago, at the height of the grunge revolution, the Latin freestyle of Expose was dead man dead.  But my housemate Doug, who belonged to some record club, decided to tick off Exposure.  Good for him!  So, one fine day during that Spring '92 quarter, my housemate Dave asked if anyone wanted to go to a beach.  I did.  So I put down Exposure, while Dave rounded up some of his friends.

    I had no say.  I just tagged along.  We packed into two cars, then drove north to Bonny Doon Beach.  The parking lot (from whence the above photo was taken) is just west of the intersection of Highway 1 and Bonny Doon Road.  Though I enjoyed the scenery, I have to admit, Expose got me thinking about high-end audio   And when it came to interconnects, the original XLO Reference Type 1 intrigued me the most.

    At the north end of the parking lot, look for the "coastal access" sign.  That marks the trail leading to the beach.  But from the lot, you'll have to walk up a small slope.  From there, you will come across...

    ...train tracks.  I've heard that these tracks are live.  Maybe it's just timing, but in all the times I've been here, I've never seen a train go by. 

    Step over those train tracks, and you'll come to the top of the cliff.  You'll be greeted by a most spectacular view.

    With its ability to decode soundstage depth, the XLO Reference Type 1 can offer a spectacular view of the music.  So how does it compare to its cheaper sibling, the Ultra 1?  While the Ultra 1 is fast like a train, ultimately, it sounds harder, 2-dimensional, stiffer, unnaturally straight and sharp-edged, and less detailed.  The Ultra 1 very much reminds me of my kids' color-by-number workbooks.  There's no depth.  It's like sitting at your computer, and reading about Bonny Doon Beach.  The Reference Type 1 is more like venturing out to see it.

    Oh yeah, at the end of 1992, a revamped Expose were lucky to catch the adult contemporary wave/rebirth.  It took a while, but after a long climb, "I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me" topped the Adult Contemporary chart in summer 1993.