Exposure 1010 amp and cd

[Ernie]

Hi folks, there is very little on the web about the 1010 amp and cd and very littlle info if I put them into the search on this forum. Does anyone have any experience of these as a pairing? They are currently available for £859 and if bought with Dali zensor 3 as a package it only costs and extra £140.

There are very few places to buy these so was hoping that some forum members may have opinions.

Thanks in advance

 

[matthewpiano]

I've heard the 1010s very recently and I would highly recommend getting to listen to them.

I'm not going to describe the sound or go on about what I thought of them because I would urge you to audition them. Buying 'packages' or individual items because they are on a good offer is not the way to go. I speak from experience when I say it leads to misery and continual box swapping.

Do yourself a favour. Find a good independent dealer who can demo the Exposure kit to you with a couple of different alternative speakers and with a combination of your music and his/hers. If what you hear pulls you into the music, then is the time to go for it. I'm afraid, as I have learnt the hard way several times, hi-fi isn't something you can very successfully buy quickly and without taking the time to really explore what a piece of equipment or system is going to do for you.

Hope this helps in some way.

 

[BigH]

Theres a good review in HiFi world which can see on Exposure website.

I agree with Matthew you need to spend some time listening to gear and not just the odd 20 mins, find a dealer that stocks Exposure and book a demo for around 90 minutes to start with, try different speakers, consider your room at home and speaker positioning etc.

Whereabouts do you live?

 

[Al ears]

There was a favourable review of these (5 stars) in the January 2014 edition of Hi-Fi Choice magazine.

Nothing like finding a dealer and auditioning them for yourself though.

 

[audioaffair]

The exposure kit is very good, its well made, British, and does a good job for the money, however, if you are looking for a comparative demonstration, it would be worth looking at the Yamaha AS-500 with matching CD sounds pretty good into something like Dali speakers.

 

[BigH]

How does the Exposure 1010 compare with the 2010S?

 

[Al ears]

It's cheaper.

 

[BigH]

It's cheaper.

Well its not actually. And its the S not the S2 version.

 

[Al ears]

Sorry BigH, misread that.

Not having heard the S I'd would assume tey would have a typical Exposure sound although the older S would / should better the newer amp if only for the fact that it has more 'umpf' (75 watts as opposed to 50) and the fact it is better equiped in some ways (ie it has a headphone socket / circuit).

And possibly the fact that it wasn't made in Malaysia.

 

[BigH]

Sorry I should have said 2010S CDP and it was about £800 I think but you can get them for around £300 now. Thinking about replacing my Marantz 63SE.

 

[matthewpiano]

I wouldn't worry about the Malaysian build of the 1010s. Exposure are QC'ing them in the UK and have very high standards.

 

[Ernie]

Why is there so few places to purchase and therefore audition the Exposure kit? I can find any in the north east.

 

[BigH]

Why is there so few places to purchase and therefore audition the Exposure kit? I can find any in the north east.

Small company not many dealers, not as bad as Harbeth though.

York or Edinburgh look the nearest.

 

[Ernie]

Why is there so few places to purchase and therefore audition the Exposure kit? I can find any in the north east.

Small company not many dealers, not as bad as Harbeth though.

York or Edinburgh look the nearest.

is it possible to get home trials from either a retailer or manufacturer? Never done this before but read it in other posts on the forum. All in a perfect world I guess.

 

[matthewpiano]

Exposure is slightly off the radar in general, certainly in comparison with more widely mentioned and reviewed brands and therefore I think it is more attractive to those dealers who really focus on good demonstrations and selling by experience rather than simply shifting boxes. I'd guess it isn't a brand that would turn over enough units for the bigger chains.

 

[Al ears]

Pretty small turnover I would imagine means few dealers.It might well be worth contacting Exposure themselves regards home demo's and actual dealers in your area if you are that interested.

 

[Blackdawn]

Just wondering how do you connect headphones to this sort of integrated amplifier? I can't see any headphone out on the front. Mystery... Would it be using a seperate headphone amp and using the Tape out connections? Who uses tapes anymore?! I think Exposure should update the model (s2) and remove the Tape connections - add an extra couple of Aux in connections, pre-out and add a headphone connection to the front.

 

[plastic penguin]

Sorry I should have said 2010S CDP and it was about £800 I think but you can get them for around £300 now. Thinking about replacing my Marantz 63SE.

A little cheaper: The CD 2010S version retailed at £600

 

[matthewpiano]

Just wondering how do you connect headphones to this sort of integrated amplifier? I can't see any headphone out on the front. Mystery... Would it be using a seperate headphone amp and using the Tape out connections? Who uses tapes anymore?! I think Exposure should update the model (s2) and remove the Tape connections - add an extra couple of Aux in connections, pre-out and add a headphone connection to the front.

Add a seperate headphone amp which is what I will be doing at some point in the future.

Personally I think Exposure should leave the 1010 amp exactly as it is. It is designed to offer some different to most other affordable amps, with the emphasis very firmly on sound quality. A properly executed amp stage for headphones (as in not just linked to the main output stage of the amp) is required for true high quality private listening and this would either raise the price or take money away from somewhere else on the amp that has an impact on its performance with speakers. Neither is really desirable, and the TAPE OUT connections provide the means to connect a proper headphone amp (I will be going for a Creek OBH11 when I get one).

I don't think a pre-out is needed either. The power amp stage of the 1010 is more than good enough for most speakers at normal domestic levels, and doubles its output into a 4 ohm load (thanks to the properly specc'd power supply). It drives and controls my Dynaudios with consummate ease. I think anyone looking for more power would be better served by going for one of Exposure's other integrateds than adding a power amp to a 1010.