Experience with the Pass Labs XP-15 phono stage?


I'm thinking of replacing my ARC PH7 with the Pass Labs XP-15, to give me more flexibility to use low gain MCs.

Anyone made the switch to this phono stage?

Thanks for your help!
lanetim

Showing 5 responses by muddywaters61

I've had the Pass Labs XP-15 for a couple days now, all I can say is Wow ! 
If had known the difference a Phono Preamp could make I would have 
bought one sooner.
Even with a modestly priced Grado the extra detail and sound stage is remarkable.
Also just to add to the above post,
MM Gains are fixed @ 40 Unbalanced .....46 Balanced.

I had read in a forum some where that you should stay within 3db of what's required for your cartridge ie. my Grado has 4.8 mv. output so 46.4 db is ideal. 
I was obsessed trying to find the preamp that would fall within those numbers. 
In reality being within 3db is not that nessary. My ideal is 46.4 and I'm set @ 40db
Sure I have to turn up the volume a bit, from 10 o'clock to 11:00 but not a big deal. I tried the other side of the 46.4 required and went to 50db but felt better being under. That said I feel if you are within maybe 8db's you should be fine. 
The key I think is figuring out exactly how many db's your cartridge requires. 
With so many tables and equations or formulas I found I was off by 4-5 db's in
some cases. So get that part right and stay within 8db's and you should be good. 
So in short don't obsess over the numbers and not buy the unit you really want. 
I almost pasted on my XP-15 because of it and sure glad I didn't.
This puppy is built like a tank and is never leaving my system. 😎


Does anyone know of changes that were made to the XP-15 mid production?
It appears the Gain options changed along the way from
40,46,71,76 to 46,56,66,76. I can’t seem to find anything
on this. Thanks
Thanks Big, but thier spec sheet on line says different.  
I'm looking at a used unit here in Canada and trying to figure what's real. 
Also trying to figure are the balance outputs offering the three gain settings of 
56,66,76. I see on the XP17 the Balanced and Single line outputs are different
gain values. 😎
This will be my first external Phono stage so I don't know what to expect. 
The stage in my Mcintosh can't be that bad but the flexibility with an external
will be nice. Want to switch to a low output Grado with .5-1.0 mv.  
This Pass XP15 should be the ticket. 👍


Hey Greg
You're right, I took a chance and called today and someone picked up. 
They were getting ready to start up tomorrow after the shut down. 
Super helpful, buying U.S. is clearly the only way to go. 
He confirmed the Gain settings as follows :
Fixed MM @ 46db
MC is 56,66,76. Balanced 
MC is 50,60,76. Unbalanced 
He said the marriage of Pass Labs and any Grado cartridge is fantastic. 
Looks like I can't go wrong. Some I heard prefer the 15 over the newer 17. 
Warmer sounding etc. Either way this 15 is a $1,000 cheaper then any used
XP17 I can find so it's a no brainer. Rather throw that extra cash into a 
better cartridge. Thanks Greg. 😎