AUDIO HUNGARY QUALITON X200 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER - REVIEW
QUALITON X200 INTEGRATED AMPLIFIER
Audio Hungary is a company I have been intrigued by for a few years now. I had heard so many good things about their products, quality control, and customer satisfaction. I was eager to hear one of their products in my own system. That opportunity appeared when US importer Mark Sossa of Well Please AV offered up the Qualition X200 tubed integrated amplifier for review. I jumped at the chance, and the X200 appeared on my door step a short time later.
The Qualiton X200, like the resto of the line up, is designed and manufactured by Audio Hungary in their factory in Nyíregyháza, in Northern Hungary. The amplifier uses tubes in all amplification stages. No hybrids or solid state output stages The tube compliment is as follows: two 6922s two 2AX7s,and four KT120 power tubes. KT150 tubes are also available. Our X200 arrived with Tung-Sol KT120. The X200 retails for $6499.
The K120 tubes will produce 100 watts per channel, which is typically the upper end for integrated tube amps. The X200 is solid, and heavy, weighing in at 23 kg. Audio Hungary winds their own transformers, insuring consistent quality, The build is outrageously good, with clean workmanship, and high quality, precision knobs and connectors that inspire confidence. The amp has a “feel” a of product made with care.
Feature wise, The X200 is impressive. There are four RCA inputs, a built in MM phono input, along with and line and subwoofer outputs. Also included, are old school tone control knobs for bass and treble. There are a number of other inputs and outputs, like balanced inputs for use with an external preamp, and tape line out, Most welcomed is an onboard headphone amp! A well built chunky remote is included, which can be used to control the volume or to Mute. A sturdytube cage is supplied. We used the tube cage only when not listening to protect the tubes from dust.
Set Up & Listening:
Aside from installing the tubes, and plugging in all the cables, the only additional step was checking the bias of the tubes. This is done automatically via the front bias knob which checks the tubes and provides status via LED. We let the amp warm up for about an hour before each listening session.
We used the X200 in a system comprised of a Bryston BDA-3 DAC, a Sonore microRendu, a Rega Planar 6 turntable, and QLN One monitors (review in process). Cabling was a mix of Audio Art Cable, and Black Cat Cable. Everything was plugged into Bryston and Audience power conditioners.
We listened to a lot of vinyl with the X200 in house. One of the records we spun numerous times is an original green label Warner pressing of Van Morrison’s Tupelo Honey. The reason this platter was on repeat is that the X200 captured the pastoral, earthy beauty of this recording. It is perhaps the pinnacle of Morrison’s “soul folk” period. The acoustic guitars, keyboards, and of course Morisson’s voice are rendered with such organic beauty, it was addicting. The X200’s tubey goodness created an abundance of harmonic richness, and more importantly, pristine tonality. The title track flowed out of the speakers so effortlessly!
We then listened to a brand new, true, all analog recording/mix/master vinyl pressing by a Los Angeles group called Calling Cadence. Their debut is pressed on 180g vinyl, and sounds wonderful and authentic. The music draws on classic California roots rock. Bands like America, Doobie Brothers, and Fleetwood Mac come to mind. This album was clearly a labor of love, and a very enjoyable listen. Highly recommended!’
The above listening was done with my Rega phono stage, but i wanted to test the X200’s internal onboard Moving Magnet phono preamp. To do that I hooked up a Rega Planar 3 with Elys2 MM carriage. I was more than impressed. I spun the same records, and a few others, including Traffic’s Low Spark of High Heel Boys, and the X200 provided excellent fidelity via the phono input. In fact, it surpassed three sub $1000 stand alone phono preamps I had in house. Audio Hungary also makes a two box stand alone phono preamplifier with optional configurations.
Moving to digital, we streamed everything from Redbook CD rips to high rez. Pentangle’s Basket of Light, remastered from the original tapes along with all their studio albums in a box set, was as fully fleshed out and as analog sounding as it ever will be in digital. The level of recorded detail, anomalies and all, including tape saturation, are presented stunningly by the X200. Tracks like “House Carpenter” and “Train Song” have so much atmosphere and texture, it seemed like the X200 was tailor made British folk rock.
A 24 bit recording we just purchased, an absolutely beautifully produced album of classical Spanish guitar pieces by Alejo de los Reyes, Al compas de la Vihuela was jaw dropping via the X200 and Qln One combo. The woody texture of the guitar and sheer passion of the playing was front and center. Goosebump city in fact!
We decided to purchase the entire Bandcamp discography of Clara Engel, and exceptionally talented composer, songwriter, and recording artist from Toronto. Her music can be best described as ambient folk. There are plenty of dreamy soundscapes, minor key melodies, and electronics blended with acoustic instruments. Engel’s voice is a thing of beauty, and her recordings are intimate, and very well balanced. Her two most recent releases, available in 24 bit, Their Invisible Hands, and Dressed In Borrowed Light, are superb, putting the listener on the edge of their seat, and the X200 captures the light and shade of Engel’s music, and I was on the edge of my seat.
We also highly enjoyed the debut album from Spook, (24 bit, 96 kHz) a “psychedelic jazz” combo that sounds like early Pink Floyd hosting part with electric Miles Davis. There are pulsating rhythms, sculpted electronics, David Gilmour like guitar, and gobs of Kraftwerk like atmosphere. The X200 laid out the whole sound picture in a way that made it easy to be drawn in and seduced by the overall dark tone.
We decided to move the X200 to our second system, driving Spendor Classic S35/R monitors. The results were astonishing. We have had three iterations of this classic BBC design from Spendor and have never heard so much from the speaker. The X200 provided the best match of any amplifier to date. The overall sound was intimate, holographic, and transparent.
The X200’s board Headphone amp was super fun, and we put it through it’s paces with various Grado and Audio Technica cans. The overall balance was spot on with plenty of juice to spare. We loved the headphone amp sounded with our trusty Grado SR-80’s. In fact, it was a throwback to our high school days, when tubes and headphones were our daily routine. Note, when headphones are connected to the input jack, the speaker output is muted, which is always a good thing.
Ergonomically, the X200 worked like a dream. The tubes never needed a bias adjustment. The amp was one of the quietest, if not the quietest tube components we have used. Personally we loved the control knobs, the amount of usable volume range, and the number of inputs. Nit picks? It would be nice to able able to turn the unit on or off via the remote. Also an onboard Moving Coil phono option would be welcomed.
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Conclusion:
The Audio Hungary Qualition X200 is in our estimation a highly successful product, and even more so when taking into consideration it’s price point. You get a heck of a lot for $6500. Along with high grade workmanship, a slew of welcomed features like built in Phono, headphone amp, subwoofer outputs, remote control, and more, make this a well thought out package. There is plenty of wattage to drive even power hungry speakers Then there is the sonics.
The X200 provides transparency, a silky top end, holographic midrange, and pleasing, deep bass. There is plenty of good old tube magic. Also, not to be forgotten, is the X200 can be used with KT150 power tubes as well as the KT120. Audio Hungary has an exciting line up and Mark Sossa of Well Pleased AV has done a wonderful job of spreading the word. This is a classic case of if you want “more”, you have to spend a lot more. If shopping for a low maintenance, high performance, feature rich tube integrated amp, the Audio Hungary Quality X200 is literally a must audition.
Audio Hungary Qualtion X200 Integrated Amplifier: $6499
US Importer:
Markk Sosa, Well Pleased AV