A lot has happened in the headphone and headphone amplifier markets ever since we reviewed the Phonitor four years ago. However, the analog loudspeaker emulation – called Phonitor Matrix in this case – remains a unique SPL feature in version 2.

Headphones have won worldwide attention and prestige among people of all ages, thanks to the iPod and the like ─ much more than, say, ten years ago. The result is that there have never been as many high-end headphones and amps available. The headphone amp market has actually seen the arrival of a new breed of devices that are a combination of an amplifier and a D to A converter. But SPL has deep roots in the professional audio sector – it's not for nothing that their consoles can be found in studios like those of Bob Ludwig and Sterling Sound in New York. So trends don't seem to affect them, even if the original Phonitor enjoyed a lot of success both among music and hi-fi enthusiasts, as well as studio professionals. Anyway, like its predecessor, the Phonitor 2 doesn't feature digital inputs with a corresponding converter

There is, however, a change when it comes to the inputs: This new rendition features two XLR and one RCA input. And, thus, it fulfills all requirements of a puristic preamp. It's only logical that a DIP switch on the bottom of the unit allows you to choose whether the XLR outputs carry the input signal or that controlled by a motorized Alps-RK27 potentiometer (aka "Big Blue" among insiders). If the sole mention of a motorized volume knob made you think of the possibility to remote control the Phonitor 2, you are on the right path. Nevertheless, neither does the Phonitor 2 include a remote in the packaging nor does SPL force you to get a particular model. On the rear of the unit is the "Learn Button," which, once engaged, starts a routine whereby you can assign any button of an infrared remote to the volume control, in order to increase or reduce the volume. With this clever solution, the Phonitor 2 is not aiming primarily at high-end studio monitor controller users. It rather seeks to establish itself as a minimalistic preamp for hi-fi systems, together with a pair of active speakers.

It's obvious that SPL has been following the latest developments in the ever-growing headphone market. Proof of that is the new output stage of the Phonitor 2, which now boasts an impedance of merely 0.18 Ohm, rated at 3.7 watts into 120 Ohms. And it can also easily drive headphones with impedances from 10 Ohms, something that didn't quite catch my attention four years ago, but now interests me much more. Considering how popular headphones have become, I recently decided to adopt the Audeze LCD-X as my main reference for my work at Hifistatement, especially since the open model sounds a bit better than the LCD-XC. However, I definitely needed a closed model for recordings. And the more similar it sounds to my chosen reference model, the better. Since the LCD-XC were out my budget, I went for the EL-8 closed back. Although both have relatively low impedances and can certainly be driven with an iPod if there's no alternative, they definitely sound much better with a more powerful driving stage.