Cary Audio Design today annouced the launch of their new Xciter integrated amplifier. This new school integrated power amplifier was conceived to be a small desktop integrated unit, and designed to please the discerning headphone fanatic and the high-end audiophile alike. In the Cary tradition, it features a gorgeous cabinet, and has a subtle touch of translucent blue LED back lighting to complement the natural beauty of the vacuum tubes.

Although it may be small in physical size, it is imbued with the full spirit of Cary Audio. Its five watts per channel in class A triode mode plays much bigger than one might expect, and its sublime musicality is just what you would expect from Cary Audio. There is a standard quarter-inch diameter, three-circuit headphone output jack located conveniently on the front panel to pipe the music to your favorite set of cans. The circuitry is optimized to provide a good match for all high quality headphones from four to 400 ohms.

A front panel switch allows the user to select between external speakers or headphones. The beauty of the Xciter integrated amplifier is that the listener can take advantage of the entire amplifier through the headphone output. When the headphone selector is engaged, the user is listening to the entire amplifier, from the input section to the output transformers. Additional features are loudspeaker outputs and sub woofer outputs - one for each channel, and the motorized remote control function for adjusting listening level and mute.

The amplifier's platform contains two 12AX7A input gain stage/driver stage tubes and four 6L6GC output tubes. Power output is five watts per channel in an eight-ohm load and class A triode mode. It features three selectable line inputs per channel (RCA single ended and gold plated). Sub woofer outputs are RCA single-ended: one for each channel and gold plated. Capacitors are polystyrene, film, and foil. Power supply capacitors are 7 x 100 microfarad @ 450 VDC (low impedance electrolytic) and 2 x 0.22 microfarad @ 600 VDC (polystyrene Kimber Kaps). Speaker posts are gold-plated copper five-way binding posts. The Xciter Amplifier's power transformer is high-efficiency Toroidal for both high voltage and low voltage requirements. Power consumption is 85 watts at full-power output.