I have owned Pass amps for 40 years and very highly recommend them. I only recently moved to a tube amp. They are built like tanks, have high current designs, with excellent neutral / natural sound.
Can you share your older Pass Labs experiences?
I had a Pass unit several years ago, and really liked the old Nakamichi SR-3a I had. What can you share as to a good used Pass integrated or pre/power to consider? Would be using them with a small set of Quad speakers or one of two Magnepan 1.7 or 3.7. Thanks
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I'm using a 250.8 and an XP 10 to power my Maggie 3.7i the sound is amazing, you're never going to run out of power. I'm sure you could get by with one of their less powerful amplifiers or integrated if you want. I made my purchase when I read the Maggie, Pass combo won the best at show a few years ago. This sounds like a forever system. |
to @erik_squires short list i would add hegel... sound quality is at the same level to the others mentioned my first experience with pass was an aleph 3 back in 1997... honey of an amp, great tone, but not alot of power so at that time did not drive my proac floorstanders with double woofers too well but at lower volumes it had such a sweet sound, almost tube like in tactility and nuance (but of course without the ’bloom’) |
Considering the feedback from others I’ll add some further thoughts. The XA lines are warm and natural with low power. The X lines are very powerful but less warm. Pairing is important, for the XA series with the right speaker and the X series the right preamp. It is a question of taste as to what you are looking for. An X amp can provide the power you need for electrostatics… but if you like a bit warmer presentation, then a warmer preamp than the Pass may be what you want… maybe an Audio Research, Collier Jackson, or VAC. |
Have run the X250.5 with modded Revel F208s and stock Audio Physics Virgos. Used tube preamps - Sachs, Supratek and Airtight. Great power, presence, tonal colors. My first impression of this amp has remain unchanged. That is, "PassLabs sure the hell knows how to do solid state amplification". I have the Parasound A21+ amp. Very nice sound after 50 hours of playing but not to the level of the PassLabs X250.5. |
jusam Earlier Threshold that Pass designed were the best for me, as they were Bi-Polar output stages (not mosfet) and had far better current delivery. Plus you didn’t get what some describe as the "Mosfet Mist" sound. Here’s one of his ground breaking Threshold monoblocks https://www.hifinews.com/images/121pass.side1.jpg And the classic affordable favorite Threshold 400A https://img.canuckaudiomart.com/uploads/large/1304549-453012b3-threshold-400a-classic-nelson-pass.jp... https://img.canuckaudiomart.com/uploads/large/1923065-a7270a30-treshold-40oa-stereo-power-amplifier-... And then even earlier was the best sounding but low power True Class-A 40w which I later expanded to a huge 150watter and used a self contained water cooling system in it. (it was still a two man lift) https://www.passdiy.com/project/amplifiers/the-pass-a-40-power-amplifier Here are some diyer’s pics that built the A40 as it is https://www.google.com/search?q=Pass+A-40&sxsrf=ALeKk03A2Y6jaZSbEKpdCMn2v_BDs8AY3g:1626554188096... Nelsons speakers https://audioxpress.com/assets/upload/images/DiddenPhoto1Web.jpg Cheers George |
Thank you all for your thoughts and input. I have been on AudiogoN since the beginning and have had great success with sales, purchases and conversations with users. I did have one very bad experience that became a stalker and I then had to drop my account and start over with a new I.D. c'est la vie. |
