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Product: XM126-3 Crossover with PS127 power supply
Manufacturer: Marchand Electronics - USA
Price: As tested $US4200
$2700 (2-way) $+500 (balanced option)
$3500 (3-way) $+700 (balanced option)
$4500 (4-way) $+900 (balanced option)
there are also options for 24 position attenuators instead of 12 position.
These are big heavy things that are substantially packed and therefore expect high insured shipping charges (these were $400 two years ago). YMMV depending on current shipping and exchange rates
Author: Mark Wheeler - TNT-Audio UK
Reviewed: Spring 2023 to Spring 2024

Getting Active and Getting Warm

Comparisons

In Part 1 we learned what the Marchand XM126-3 Crossover actually is. Today we'll learn a little more about how it sounds.

I have long used a Behringer analogue active crossover as my preferred development tool for loudspeaker prototypes. It too is a Linkwitz-Riley filter design, which means that is is two Q=0.7 Butterworth second order (12dB per octave) cascaded in series. This results in a fourth order (24dB per octave) filter of Q=0.5. Psychoacoustic research indicates that filter knees of Q=0.5 are perceived as more phase accurate and better at reproducing transients. This is also how loudspeakers can affect PRaT, counter-intuitively. The Behringer has a a tiny power supply but a massive range of adjustments for crossover frequencies, level and delay for each driver channel. It is a wonderful toy and much more useful than their latest digital crossover with built in dsp room correction which can hide a multitude of design sins.

In the past your Old Scribe has tried a Naim NAXO and used Falcon active crossover boards. The latter with various power supplies including Naim and the far superior Avondale. The performance of the NAXO was indistinguishable from the Falcon. The Falcon has been compared with the Behringer and was substantially more transparent and had better dynamic range. Because the Falcon boards were developed for a different (2 way) system and were single-ended designs they cannot be compared directly with the Marchand.

Running In

British owners of new cars in the last century would proudly display a rear window sticker “Running In - Please Pass” presumably to alert the world to their purchase of a brand new car.

“Since when is audio equipment like an old car?” ask plebs, stage left, descending into Old Scribe pun territory, “Apart from when both have valves in their motors LOL”

There are hot debates online about whether audio equipment gradually improves over the first few, or even few hundred hours. For big capacitors and valves changes are measurable for the first few off-on-off cycles. However, leaving equipment switched on when not in use is wasteful. The Marchand did seem to open up and integrate better during the first few hours. Bass also became more extended which may be a function of similar settling effects in the power supply.

Most of what is attributed to burn-in might well be our ear-brain system adjusting to a new set of distortions, quirks and anomalies though. The question does not have to be either/or. The electronic crossover is a key component in an active system, probably having as much effect as the phono stage in a vinyl system.

Sound Quality

“Are we nearly there yet?” ask Plebs Chorus, like children in the back seat of the family car, “When do we get to hear what this sounds like? Is this the concluding chapter in the Euterpe Project?”

This active system manages to be extraordinarily revealing without sounding spotlighted, harsh or exaggerated. Richard D James invites us to play the EP Computer Controlled Instruments Part 2 at either 33.3rpm or 45 rpm. Your Old Scribe has indeed tried it at various speeds either side of these too, an obvious experiment invited by the world of Techno in the first place. These are real acoustic instruments in a defined space recorded with a Calrec 2 Soundfield mic. It was this recording that allowed me to identify, after a year of listening to this Marchand XM126-3 crossover exactly what I like about it. Even though the comparison Behringer is an analogue crossover, the comparison that springs to mind is the difference between early CD players and LPs.

The Marchand's downward dynamic range seems to extend below the limit of audibility. Using the Marchand, the decay of notes collapses gently into the reverberation of the acoustic space. With the fully adjustable Behringer back in circuit the soundstage narrowed and flattened, which is usually a casualty of phase issues. The Behringer is adjustable for crossover point, delay and level for each driver and everything comes at a price. With the Marchand the frequency extremes seem unlimited compared with the Behringer or the limits of our lugholes.

Most obvious is the improved dynamic range. This was immediately obvious in Visions of Joanna on the MFSL 45rpm transcription of Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde. Balanced circuits typically have lower noise floor and higher headroom than single ended circuits, but the Behringer is also balanced. The single ended emitter-follower Falcon, with Naim SNAPS or HiCap, Sonic Link and Avondale power supplies, also bettered the Behringer. From this we might guess that it is the large outboard Marchand PS127 power supply endowing the Marchand XM126-3 with this graceful headroom. Phil Marchand clearly knows his stuff.

Your Old Scribe could drone on at great length.

“The Old Scribe does indeed often drone on at great length” quoth exhausted Plebs, stage left

Every musical sample drew similar conclusions. So we'll cut straight to the conclusion.

“Which many readers will have done already,” announce relieved Plebs, stage left

Conclusion

Marchand XM126-3 Crossover and PS127 power supply is a superb product. It is as transparent as anything upstream or downstream of it in a system that includes an Audio Research Reference 3 pre-amplifier and custom built driver matched power amplifiers stuffed with couture components. Its neutrality and capacity are really similar to the ARC pre-amp. The Marchand PS127 power supply is massively over specified and will never run out of steam.

The outboard power supply minimises interference with the audio circuits. The power supply is over specified, also known as downrated, which as a general rule is often good for bass quality and accurate rhythm and drive. There are those who doubt that amplification can affect PRaT but power supply sag (when the power supply can no longer deliver constant voltage or current) can have a noticeable and detrimental effect on rhythm and bass quality. The Marchand XM126-3 Crossover with PS127 power supply seems absolutely transparent to PRaT which was obvious with Bootsy's Rubber Band.

The fully balanced circuits with balanced inputs and outputs enables lower noise and greater headroom. All the reasons for building an active loudspeaker system are matched by the strengths of the Marchand XM126-3. If the components upstream (and Marchand can supply a passive filter valve phono pre-amp and passive attenuator) are worthy of a crossover of this quality, it is a worthwhile investment.

Despite the expensive trinkets and baubles of vinylophilia nervosa listed below, at least as much increased pleasure can be had from the free CD glued to the cover of each month's Uncut magazine as our systems improve. A good active crossover is at the core of a cost effective transparent system and every file, track, silver or black disc will benefit. If your Old Scribe ever changes the loudspeaker system, new filter modules will be ordered for the Marchand XM126-3 because it is as good as an active filter unit can get.

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Copyright © 2024 Mark Wheeler - mark@tnt-audio.com - www.tnt-audio.com

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