The Phonitor linked to an unavailable product. The one below works. 
This is the next amp I want (unless Fidelice releases a balanced standalone beforehand).
Those VU meters… 
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Yes the VU-meters, the hf outs in the back for a clear front or easy A/B switching… the crossover and the very nuanced balance function… a dream in 2.5k€
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And the Red! A must have. The red version’s color scheme is that of the Deutscher flag. A nod to its origins. 
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I almost got the Red one! But, it being red on the face only, deterred(my dad was a funny guy and always pronounced this word as “D-Turd” 
) my purchase of that version.
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(My dad would’ve NEVER said that!)
I like that only the face is red. It make it easier to pair with most dacs (black).
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Audio porn…
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Could it be, you quite often switched between front/back? The “R” for “Rear” is missing, isn’t it? 
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“F” only version? 
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What can I say I’m an a** man Oh man, that is a bad comment 
lol… PC is tough sometimes…
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That’s why I go Mac. Once you go Mac… wait a second. 
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Had to think twice… sorry. It was about the letter- nothing else 
Now don’t get the smile out of my face… LOL
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While having had both the THX 789 and SPL Phonitor X at home I also ended up selling the THX. To add to what @TylersEclectic wrote, in addition to being at least as technically capable as the THX, the Phonitor X/XE/E is not fatiguing to listen to for long sessions whereas the THX was for me. If you really want an amp that “gets out the way”, the Phonitor is it.
While it’s 5 times more expensive, can I say that it sounds 5 times better? No but I do find many of the extra features quite useful. The mono functions is indispensable for those old Blue Note stereo recordings where instruments were hard panned. Without the mono function they are almost impossible to listen to with headphones. Because I have some hearing loss in one ear compared to the other, the balance function also makes a huge difference for headphone listening. The Crossfeed function is effective for certain types of music/mixes and the fact that I can program any remote to work with the Phonitor is the icing on the cake that allows me to eat my cake without having to get up off the sofa to adjust the volume.
If you don’t need all those features, the Phonitor E is less expensive and worth keeping in mind as an upgrade to the THX amps.
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I can see why you could prefer the Phonitor, but I don’t think all that power is necessary, nor I think it really makes a massive difference in terms of how it sounds. The accessory features are really nice, but they are the only thing I would personally buy the Phonitor for - as far as audio performance goes, the measurements of the THX AAA amps are among the best in the industry and go well beyond what human ears can hear, so I (personally, again) do not see the point in going beyond that.
What I meant with my original post is that we should not expect radical improvements in sound quality or measurements. Audio is, after all, a very mature technology, so minor improvements are ahead of us. My opinion is that the only thing that will effectively change audio is software, because hardware (at least as far as amplification is concerned) is getting close to the technical limits of what can be achieved - or, better, to what has any practical sense achieving.
Anyway, of course this is just my opinion, so please feel free to disagree - if anyone has any counterarguments, I would really like to read them!
That’s something I agree wholeheartedly. The tech is there, it’s only a matter of spreading it.
That’s odd, because theoretically the THX AAA amps are as close to “wire with gain” as it gets. So I guess that either the Phonitor alters the sound, or there was something wrong with your THX amp. Either way, what’s important is that you like what you hear.
As I wrote previously, the additional features seem to be what really sets the Phonitor amps apart, but I personally doubt they offer any audible differences (and again, my personal guess is that if they do that’s probably because there’s some alteration of the sound going on).
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“the Phonitor X/XE/E is not fatiguing to listen to for long sessions whereas the THX was for me. If you really want an amp that “gets out the way”, the Phonitor is it.”
I listen with the Monoprice THX AAA 887 for hours and hours, never got a fatiguing feeling at all, but will admit some recordings are “crap” and I quickly fast forward on these, over time I have a playlist with my “demo” quality recordings and spend many hours with these comparing stuff…
Using this amp with trebly headphones can be a not so nice experience with music that accentuates the high end, the brass stuff, cymbols etc…
The amp just exposes other less than stellar stuff in the chain…IMO.
I also experienced the fatiguing nature of the THX amps. It was more prevalent on the drop version I recall 
I’ll just go off my experience here, even though I know multiple people have had fatigue issues with the THX amps and mentioned it on this forum.
The THX is great and by all terms is all a lot of people would want or need. All I was saying, is there are clear paths upward for “better” gear YMMV but I will say the Phonitor and now the Fidelice amp are available they showcase a new level of listening brought on by decades of experience in creating these things, I’m no scientist or engineer and only go by research and experience… but like I said, I’ve had two THX amps and the Phonitor at the same time, I still have the Phonitor… just saying.
If I ever need a office setup again I’ll be looking at the current THX amps and maybe the ZDT Jr.
The THX amps are great and I would recommend them to people all day unless they had the budget for better gear.
Another thing, people shouldn’t dismiss things if they haven’t personally experienced them… it can create confusion regarding products and their capabilities for others. I’ve witnessed this on other forums and it causes toxicity in those groups. *this statement isn’t directed at any particular member here just me making “my” opinion known on the topic, we all have great opinions even if they differ, it’s recognition of making statements of opinion as fact that can be problematic in majority of communication breakdowns I.E. “my way is right, and you can disagree but you are dumb for disagreeing” type thinking.
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Agree to most of what your saying…and I would never say this is the audio truth, go get it!!
My personal experience as all others is what it is…
This amp to me is a stellar performer…overall…and compared to many other amps its as good as or better in most cases to me…
I have never listened to a phonitor but have discovered a friend across town and will take a listen with it for sure.
I dont dismiss people find the THX amps fatiguing and I accept this as their experience and I hope folks accept my experience with this gear as being non-fatiguing… 
Its not meant on my part to demean or put down any other piece of gear! I listened to a $20,000 player/amp/dac the other day and found the THX amp to be really close to its “sound” or " non-sound".
Even some folks comparing this $400 wonder to a $3K Benchmark state its close to it as far as performance…
Theres lots of good stuff out there and this IMO is one of those little low cost gems.
Enjoy the music!!
Alex
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Concur, I still call the THX 789 a baby Phonitor lol. As stated above, I think that for solid state amps, it is diminishing returns and usually just better tech put into it or features…or in the case of the Fidelice, I look at it as a piece of “art” that people pay a premium for the name and look of it.
Nuance is another thing, I think that I described this on another thread…but I’ll post again here that I relate it to after learning more about photography…sRGB and AdobeRGB are two color standards in the industry, sRGB has been around since the 90’s I believe, and is the standard across majority of media screens (tv/monitors/phones/etc) but it is limited in the number of colors it can represent.
AdobeRGB is a newer and higher color count standard that allows for “better” color representation. So you would think everyone would use AdobeRGB for color editing their photos…well true…but it kind of doesn’t matter that much as majority of the audience for those pictures is viewing them on an sRGB screen so they can’t even see the missing nuance in the AdobeRGB color photos, also a lot of people can’t even tell the difference between the two standards as they don’t know what to look for… I’m still learning so even I have a hard time.
So, back on topic now that you know my reference/comparison point. I think of these amps (in general, not just the THX/Phonitor) sometimes as the sRGB compared to the AdobeRGB, if you know what to listen for you can spot the difference…this may seem ridiculous but I’ve known people to identify specific tube brands blind (which is crazy to me) or I guess even lookup milk testers…they can tell you all about a cows diet and where it’s from by tasting the milk…I know a couple of people that can identify DAC chips by listening to them blind, which is also crazy because I’ve only really begun to be able to somewhat kind of tell the difference between my DACs… (I prefer AKM and BurrBrowns lol).
So with that being said, when I compare Solid State amps such as the THX and the Phonitor or even the Schiit amps, I find that some are neutral and clean, while others are the same but seem to have more “fullness” to the sound or more nuance while still being neutral and clean…it has befuddled me trying to describe it without sounding crazy lol. So far, the above is the closest I have gotten to showcase the difference. I.E. it’s like seeing an sRGB photo, then looking at an AdobeRGB photo…I’ll be drawn more to the AdobeRGB photo but will have a hard time explaining why…but now that I know the difference I can begin to see that it is in the nuance of colors that I’m drawn to. So similarly, in amps, it is the “fullness” and nuance in tone, or darker background, better separation, and imaging, etc, while still being neutral that I’m drawn to.
I hope I thoroughly confused everyone to the point that their brains hurt and they need to sit down and listen to their favorite amps and headphones
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It seems to me that your logic here is based on the ASR presumption (unproven opinion) that all audio equipment under all circumstances measuring -120dB SINAD is guaranteed transparent and as such sounds the same. If that is the case then why bother buying any of the THX amps, except for their feature set, and instead save a wad of cash by buying a $100 JDS Labs Atom?
I’m not an engineer but I would assume that there are a variety of factors that operate in conjunction with each other in a complex manner (impedance, voltage swings, current limits, etc.) that affect how an amplifier sounds other than SINAD.
I also had the Violectric V280 when I had the THX 789, which according to ASR also measures extremely well, and I did my own, perhaps not scientific, blind AB testing and could easily differentiate between the two amps, with in my opinion the Violectric also sounding less fatiguing and over all more full bodied amoung a variety of other differences.
As @TylersEclectic mentioned, I don’t think it’s good advice to suggest that people buy equipment based only on how it measures, especially since our understanding of psychoacoustics and sound reproduction is not as you say, “very mature” but is rather in its infancy, although I agree with you that the next big advances in audio technology will be in DSP and software development.
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Its great that we all have opinions…and reasons for them…
Fyi…I’ve been in photography since the dark room days, the real dark room days and now in the digital world have been shooting in RAW and with Adobe RGB since the beggining of digital photog…its a neat analogy but might not be exactly accurate in this analogy, but I do get the gist of it.
I am not a ASR advocate with just numbers alone…this whole hobby is full of surprises but we do find stuff that sounds great with great numbers like this THX AAA amp and even others higher up the price food chain.
This is a good discussion but maybe it belongs in its own area rather than here? Maybe in the technical discussion area. Rather than bog this one down which is the Monlith THX AAA thread specifically?
I dont think this should be a Monolith THX AAA 887 vs Phonitor arguement?
Alex
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