Amp/Preamp Asylum: REVIEW: Qinpu A-1.0X Amplifier (SS) by Joel

Model:	A-1.0X
Category:	Amplifier (SS)
Suggested Retail Price:	$695
Description:	2x100W Solid State Integrated Amplifier
Manufacturer URL:	Not Available
Model Picture:	View

Review by Joel_Waterman ( A ) on January 12, 2006 at 12:06:21
IP Address: 129.42.184.35

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for the A-1.0X

"chinpooh!" Gesundheit . "No, no, no...that's the name of my amplifier".
Qinpu. Who'd ever heard of that? I certainly had not and yet, I bought one and I am writing a review about it. I am very enthusiastic about it, but I keep pinching myself as this is a 695 dollar amp. Surely this cannot be that good..... Why would I recommend a 695 dollar integrated amp? Is this another good piece of midfi or is this really high-end? How would you know? Well, you don't I guess. For that reason alone I feel the need to elaborate somewhat about my audiophile credentials. Harry Pearson I am not :-), but hopefully the following allows you to put this recommendation into perspective.

Yes, I have heard much better than the Qinpu. Various Audio Note systems, some built around modified Ongaku's. I have heard Accuphase, Martin Logan/Wadia/Viola, Peak Consult Empress speakers with Chord monoblocks. I'm pretty familiar with a complete APL Hifi designed system with arguably the best digital front-end around. I have heard other expensive front-ends, both analog (TNT HRX) and digital (CEC, VSE, Esoteric and APL units). I also know very well that money alone does not buy sound quality.
Musical
Over the years I have formed my opinion on what I think 'musical' means. And I am still learning. Musical to me has come to mean things that are not necessarily described with words such as transparent, analytical, neutral, etched, detailed, incisive, accurate. Musical systems need some of these elements, but they are using them to render an instrument with a natural warmth, body, timbre, impact, vibration, scale and presentation. For me soundstaging is also important because I think that the visual aspect enhances the listening experience. I also know that what I really want I cannot afford :-)
It's what the man said...
I was shopping for a new amplifier in the under 2000 dollar range. In that endeavor I listened to quite a few systems and pieces of gear in my system. Tube amps, solid state and hybrids such as Lavardin, Exposure 2010S, Creek 5350SE, Unico Unison SE, modified Dynaco 70, and the one that impressed me most in my system, the Audiomat Prelude Reference. Alas, at 4500 dollars it was out of my range. I liked what the tube amps did, but I did not want to live with the heat they generate. But I was beginning to doubt that a solid state amp in my budget could satisfy my requirements. Eventually I somehow ended up at Audible Arts and I met with Jeff Wells. One of his rooms caught my attention. The Qinpu 8000 was playing and Jeff proclaimed it the best solid state he had ever heard. The very much milled-from-alu styling of that amp was not my cup of tea and I discovered that the Qinpu A-1.0X had 90+% of the 8000's sound quality but in a less sculpted enclosure. Home it went. Let me again put in a plug for Jeff - he's a guy that let's you feel he's in the same hobby you are. He treats you with respect and readily shares his knowledge. Great vibe in his shop. Visit him and find out for yourself (Winchester Blvd, San Jose, CA).
Rendering piano
The A-1.0X can render instruments in a natural soundstage that was very reminiscent to me of what the Audiomat did in my system. Mind you, the Audiomat is the better amp, but the Qinpu does so many things right that I can happily live with it. This amp brings a smile to my face. When I play Starker playing Bruch's Kol Nidrei (on Mercury Living Presence SACD) I can hear the body of the cello vibrate. Dejan Lazic's Steinway D (Channel Classics SA-CD) is rendered in a way that sounds pretty convincing. Piano is one of the most difficult instruments to reproduce faithfully on an audio system. The hammers in a piano are made from special felt around a hard maple core. There is never any 'tinkly' sound. When you listen to a real piano you can hear the felt tipped hammer hit the string just before the note sounds. The Qinpu can do that. Plus it can render the impact and complex harmonics that follow as generated by the soundboard. This is detail in aid of musical presentation. The fact that it does this is amazing at this pricepoint.
Ray Brown
For auditions I always use Ray Brown's Live at the Loa SA-CD. The music is infectious and live so you can hear a trio playing in a club. The first two tracks are very dynamic, lots going on. Gene Harris' piano is recorded fairly bright and I have heard many solid state systems make a real mess of the opening track. The Qinpu does a great job of rendering the venue, the interplay and space between instruments and does not mess up the treble much beyond than what's on the recording. It also has the heft to create a full bodied double bass. Audience clapping is human clapping, not some hash.
Coltrane and Rimksy-Korsakov
Coltrane's sax on the Carnegie Hall concert (Mosaic vinyl) has the right amount of bite and brassiness without sounding strained and shrill. Same with Eddie Lockjaw Davis on his Cookbook's. On more complex orchestral passages (Sheherazade, Living Stereo) the Qinpu can do what good tube amps can do and present sufficient scale and air plus top end extension to make it a very pleasant listening experience. Not the top end extension I hear in that APL system for sure, but enough to make me listen to Classical again, something I stopped doing because I was getting annoyed with the solid state character and strained sounding treble in my system. Massed violins are rendered as a lot of individual violins, not a meshed together group of strings.
Cat Stevens
For a quick check on voice I turned to my Cat Stevens vinyl. You do not get that tube-like immediacy, nor does the amp seem to bring the voice slightly forward like the Exposure did very nicely. But frankly, the man is almost in the room. I can go on but I hope you get the picture. This is a very accomplished and balanced amplifier. At it's price it's a screaming bargain.
Conclusion
What you don't get with the Qinpu is that effortless extension, scale, live/life-like presentation and dynamic impact that these far more expensive systems give you. Nor do you get Jeff Rowland good looks and build quality. There is always more/better. At a price. Let me put this in another way. If this amplifier would have cost 1500 dollars I would have been very happy with it, thinking it was one of the best 1500 dollar amps out there, punching way above its pricetag.
Qinpu set a new bar in my view. The A.1.0X is where the high-end starts.

Product Weakness: Volume and Source selector knob need better position indicators (I added a red dot and solved it like that).
Product Strengths: Solid state that sounds like music

Associated Equipment for this Review:
Amplifier:	See Inmate Systems
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	See Inmate Systems
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	See Inmate Systems
Speakers:	See Inmate Systems
Cables/Interconnects:	See Inmate Systems
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	See review
Room Size (LxWxH):	x x
Room Comments/Treatments:	See Inmate Systems
Time Period/Length of Audition:	Month
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	See Inmate Systems
Type of Audition/Review:	Product Owner
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Product Weakness:	Volume and Source selector knob need better position indicators (I added a red dot and solved it like that).
Product Strengths:	Solid state that sounds like music