Hello there,


I was watching some auctions on ebay.co.uk and was amazed to see for how little some of the "new classic" gear went, the 23 pre, the 28 power and the 35 integrated for 410, 420, and 590 pounds respectively.

Did someone just pick up a real bargain? Or is this normal and only naim and linn and perhaps accuphase on the german market are some of the few brands that keep their worth so well?
Of course, just because people are willing to pay high second hand prices does not automatically mean it is that really good, it can also just be down to hype and hysteria, but still...
I heard that quite a few people prefer the older exposure gear to the 2010 and 3010 ranges, but is the "new classic" range also considered to be not as good as the exposure of the good old days?

Any opinions?



Samuel.

IMHO old Expos from John Farlow period are better. For me it is similar to difference beetwen Naim olive series and new Naim gear ...

New are more hifi, less noise, modern (better ???) design , but less musicality and character.

I moved from 2010 to a XV.
2010 is a good punchy amp.
I felt XV was better in term of dynamics, better at driving my speakers and had fuller sound as well.

Hello Samuel.

The prices you list are remarkably low. In fact Id be very suspicious of the seller and source of the goods. If they have been genuine deals then the buyer must be a very happy camper indeed.

Tomeks comparison on naim olive vs new series is , I suspect, very relevant.

I own both the older 21 pre and the new 23 pre. The 21 itself was an improvement ( plus remote) on the 17/19 units.
The 21 is , in general a real hard hitter. It has a pretty spot lit mid that a few may find rather much. It can on occasion , sound a bit rough at the top depending on material . With the wrong partnering gear ,and certain disc's ,this unit has the capability to sound unpleasant.A bit hard and shouty. It is , perhaps just a bit monochromatic in tone . However , it has its ups. It hammers music along. It can be exhilarating. Never , ever boring , intensely musical. Not all slam and bam though. Capable of some delicacy and subtleness.

The 23 in comparison , has ( IMO) a more spacious , larger sound. A bit more heft. More detail can certainly be heard from the source. More subtlety , and tonal colour. A bit more neutrality. Better high frequency performance and , subjectively less noise. A bit cleaner. The mid isn’t as projected but you can still recognise its an exposure in that the mid and bass is lively and detailed with more kick than many. They have reduced the gain on this to get more play out the volume control.
It was designed to appeal to a wider audience than the earlier model apparently.

So , both fantastic pre amps that have their differences . I do like the newer 23 model and believe it to be an improvement on the old. It also bests some equivalently priced pre’s from other makers.
Although I'm now mainly using a Naim 52 pre amp in my main system , I am loath to sell either of the exposures.
Also , a year or two ago, I heard a 3010 integrated with a matching 30 power amp. They were bi amping a pair of Spender S8e speakers. Sources were Exposure and Cyrus players and it was all connected using Nordost something or other. I was very, very impressed. A splendid sound. Nothing wrong with these at all.

I don’t think Exposure have ever made anything that did not sound good ( old or new). Its all about personal preference. Go to your local Exposure dealer and listen. Its what you think that matters.


Cheers ,

Mark ( Exp23 , 21 , 18 Super (X2) , 18 super monos, 4DR2 )

Good summary Mark.
I have been using my 14/9 preamp which I upgraded from the 17 but since I had been listening to music less as a result of building a home theatre in my house, I decided to sell the 14/9. I was fortunate to find a mint 21 on ebay before listing the 14/9. I had sold the 14/9 on ebay to a buyer from Italy who turned out to be a time waster and backed out of deal.
With all that said during that time i had the 21 in my system and couldn't get on with the hardness and too much presence/mids! It got tiring very fast.
In retrospect, I am glad I never sold my 14/9. While it doesn't have remote capabilities, it blows away the 21 in every aspect! Way more musical, better bass, very organic!
If you ever get a chance to hear one, i am certain you will be getting rid of your 52!
Cheers

Hello Conster.

Some of the minus points of the 21 can be reduced a good bit by use of sympathetic interconnects and front end cd player. A pair of Rothwell attenuators to reduce gain on the cd input can calm things down.It is still a
great amp though.At the end of the Farlow era ( and even just 3 years ago) the 21 was the pre amp they would use in dems , to great effect with the big 16 dual phase mono's ( plus big Neat speakers).
The new 23 is actually based on the 21 rather than a from the ground up re design.
Never have heard the older ,top of the range 2 box pre.Must be a good un without a doubt. Remote is a must for me.

Cheers ,

Mark.

Thx for your input.

The auctions seemed genuine to me, it was a hifi store that sold them on behalf of a customer.

As for the gain, what is it like with the newer exposure components?
I really hate it when you have a volume attenuator which at the 9 o clock position already pumps out "hurricane loudness" - of course I realise that this is dependant on how sensitive the speakers are, in my case harbeth compact 7s. But can you go up to 10 o clock with say, 87dB sensitivity speakers?

Has anybody combined exposure with harbeth yet? I understand that the Harbeths do benefit from an amp that has some 'get up and go', lively qualities (with my old accuphase it sounded a bit laid back and boring).

I am interested in exposure, as it is one of the few british PRaT (I know, I know... :rolleyes:) companies that mainly focuses on amplification and CD players (and staying out of multichannel/lifestyle stuff), just like eg harbeth is in the business of just doing speakers.



Cheers, Samuel.

I really hate it when you have a volume attenuator which at the 9 o clock position already pumps out "hurricane loudness" - of course I realise that this is dependant on how sensitive the speakers are, in my case harbeth compact 7s. But can you go up to 10 o clock with say, 87dB sensitivity speakers?

I never found this to be a problem with my Exposure 21/18 combination (into Castle Chester speakers, 90-ish dB sensitivity). I don't listen at high volumes anyway, but 10 o'clock was nowhere near 'hurricane loudness'. One of my daughters once moved the volume to 3 o'clock without my knowledge, and the resulting sound level nearly took the speakers out next time I switched the amps on!

I never found this to be a problem with my Exposure 21/18 combination (into Castle Chester speakers, 90-ish dB sensitivity). I don't listen at high volumes anyway,

Glad to hear it, neither do I!
So are the exposures good for low volume listening? With my current amp, a nait3, I always have the impression I have to crank it up a bit in order for everything to come alive.



Samuel.

Glad to hear it, neither do I!
So are the exposures good for low volume listening? With my current amp, a nait3 I always have the impression I have to crank it up a bit in order for everything to come alive.

I think so, yes, but this is as much down to the source components as to the amplification used, and of course the size and furnishing of the listening room will be a huge factor. The Exposures are now upstairs in a sparsely-furinshed large room, and are much livelier at lower volumes than they were downstairs in a heavily furnished room with books lining one wall.

My 25 sounds better to me than the 35 i demoed at my local dealer a month or 2 back, though the source may have had something to do with that. Concensus seems to be the newer stuff is a bit more refined than the Farlow stuff but at the expense of a bit of the excitement that Exposure's are rightly known for. But they are also easier to system match so your mileage may vary...

Some of the minus points of the 21 can be reduced a good bit by use of sympathetic interconnects

What kind of interconnects can you recommend between Exposure XXI and IV DR MkII?
What are the differences between Exposure interconnects with different colors?
Any other brands working fine?

Between the source and the 21, you would have to experiment of course. Chord Anthem and chorus have been consistently good, for me ,with the sources I have.

Exposure brown XLR was the normal supplied i/c for this pair of amps. This would have been supplied with a new 21 pre amp.
I think the new black xlr , supplied with the current 23 pre amp is , perhaps, a bit better. This would be available now from an exposure dealer.
My personal favourite has been / is the chord chorus xlr.

Single ended interconnects are also fine to try although they do not make such a direct connection as the xlrs.

Cheers,

Mark.

Correction to the last statement.

With the 23 pre and 4DR2 I found I liked using the chorus xlr.

With the 21 pre and 4DR2 the exposure 'black' xlr that is supplied with the 23 was preferred. More than the chorus in fact. Dont know why. Just was.
Far cheaper than the chord by the way.

All imo of course.

This was using epos es 22 speakers and an opus 21 cd player.

Hope this helps



Mark.