I've never heard a Pass Labs but I might comment on McIntosh. McIntosh's 'house-sound' might best be described as exceptionally smooth with a wide soundstage yet not too forward. McIntosh has excellent build quality, resale value and often understated fact that all of their component visually match in terms of color scheme. Nothing like having a full rack of matching gear. Personally I don't care about those features and I've found other gear that sounds better to my personal tastes. McIntosh is like the Apple of audiophile gear, well built and respected but not doing anything extraordinary. An excellent well-rounded setup could include a Pass Labs X25, Schiit Yaggi DAC, and your choice of tube preamp (my preference would be Prima Luna premium or Conrad Johnson classic depending on budget).
Pass Labs “House Sound” vs. McIntosh “House Sound”
I’m contemplating swapping out my McIntosh C2500 for a Pass Labs XP-20. I’ve searched the forums for posts on the Pass Labs XP-20, being that it was released quite some time ago, I didn’t find too much referencing the sound characteristics. Read plenty of reviews, but those, as we all know, are often full of audio journalistic color. Any one able to comment on the Pass Labs “house sound”, per se? Possibly what trade offs happen when migrating from McIntosh preamps.