2. cables
  3. 173347-111061

Pass Labs X260.8

I'm a slave to this hobby

I have been running my Sonus Faber Electa Amator III with a Pass Labs XA25, and it sounds great. I listen to mostly phono, Linn LP12 and Pass Labs XP15 phono pre.    

Although the XA25 is a sick amp and runs way above 50 wpc at 4 ohms, I could not help but think I needed more headroom. Anyway, I pulled the trigger on a pair of demo 260.8s. Yes, way more than what I need, but screw it, I worked my ass off this year.

   So, currently, I have my stereo rack on the right side of my bedroom, but the speakers are on a 90 degree wall, 10' away. I have very nice Morrow SP5 bi wire speaker cables that run 26' down into the basement, and then up to the speakers. I have 3' of slack to move the speakers out from the wall when serious listening. For casual listening I move them back closer to the wall, so my wife doesn't kick them over out of frustration when walking by.  My question is, do I leave the SP5 speaker cables at 26' and place the 260.8s in the rack, OR purchase 26' balanced cables, and have the 260.8s on the floor between the speakers with shorter speaker cables. Yes, my wife will hate this arrangement, but because I have been relegated to the corner of our bedroom for my ridiculous hobby , I may be willing to die on that hill. But it really comes down to the best sound. I sit 8' away from the speakers and they are 8' apart when 30" off the wall. 26' balanced cables or 26' speaker cables. The general consensus will be longer speaker cables, but I always see mono blocks right next to the speakers....

 

 

 

 

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Showing 3 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
6,471 posts
 

I will be very interested in hearing your thoughts on the differences in sound quality between the two amps in your system. I owned Pass designed amps for decades. You will certainly get more slam from the 250. 

ghdprentice
6,471 posts
 

My experience and from knowledgeable folks has always pointed to short as possible speaker cables and longer preamp - amp interconnects. 

ghdprentice
6,471 posts
 

All XLR cables are not the same, all single ended are not the same. Performance of single ended versus XLR are highly dependent on each component. I have owned a lot of the equipment you own or slightly different models. The most important parameter is the sound of the interconnect or cable first… will you hear a sound quality difference between using the XLR and single ended (other than volume… which is not good or bad as it doesn’t change any characteristic in your system), maybe, maybe not. If your going to do a long run… I would use XLR, but it might not sound better… the brand is what is important… how it sounds with your gear.

 

For forty years I chose single ended. First because it was all there was, later because my other stuff was single ended… but times are moving on. Now I have all XLR… I will buy all XLR in the future. It is figuring out the best brand / model for your system.

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