It is well worth a listen if you get a chance. I can tell you that whilst trade show conditions are never optimal, the sound was indeed supremely clean, quick, and detailed sounding without any harshness. However, in Nov 2017 I did get a chance to meet up with Michael at the Guangzhou Headphone show and he did have a Formula S and AB-1266 setup. Sadly, we do not have an AB-1266 at the office> We really should at some point. Michael has gone to great lengths to emphasize his priority with the Formula S was in producing a certain tone that he felt was truly “high-end” and not just all about power. A co-designed and tuned Class A amplifier to maximize detail with an emphasis on delicacy and sweetness over raw power and aggressiveness. Hence the Formula S came to pass in the middle of 2017. In fact, a quality amp for any high-performing planar headphones for that matter. Joe, Head of JPS Labs, and Michael decided to build an amp together that best represented their ideal vision of how the Abyss could and should sound. It is clean, fast, and very detailed but needs a great amp to get it to sound optimal. Tuningīeing a realist though he quickly realized that the matching of this particular headphone was a challenge. So much so he was pretty much the big voice in China pushing the Abyss and JPS Labs for a few years. You see from the moment it was launched in 2014, Michael Xiao fell in love with the Abyss AB-1266 planar magnetic headphone. Quite apart from being their statement pitch, a Class A full discreet desktop headphone amplifier, there actually another angle to the Formula S. However, we think this amp is a pretty special piece of gear and possibly one of the finest amps we have heard in the last few years at the office.
With the Formula S, priced at $3499, this is quite a way to announce yourself to the market.
It seems headphone amplification, rather than digital media players, is where Michael seems at his happiest. The company has operated now for around 2 years with the Formula S as their first product launch followed by a more affordable battery-powered Class A, fully discrete amp called the Broadway. Before starting up Xi Audio, Michael was also the primary driver behind Lotoo and their fantastic Paw Gold DAP so he is not new to this game.
Xi Audio’s main protagonist is a certain, Michael Xiao. I would suspect “audiophiles” might be aware of the names and brands involved. The birth of the Formula S solid-state amplifier, and I guess the birth of Xi Audio is a complex story.
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