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PASS LABS XA-30.5 vs XA-60.5

Hello all,
Has anyone heard the differences between these two amps, and have done A/B comparrisons on them? I have a XA-30.5 that I'm using with Totem Hawk Speakers. The XA-30.5 drives them very well, but I have been told the 60.5’s give you much better smoothness and cohesiveness, better imaging, better bass control, greater ease and greater resolution.

Here's the million dollar question:

I am ready for my next upgrade and have roughly $6000. Should I upgrade to the XA-60.5's or upgrade my Esoteric X03-SE cd player to the Esoteric seperates P-05 transport and D-05 DAC??

I have very appealing offers for both options.

Any Thoughts?

My system:

Pass Labs XA-30.5 amp
Pass Labs X0.2 preamp
Esoteric XO3-SE cd player
BPT 3.5 Ultra Sig. power conditioner
Totem Hawk speakers
AudioPath custom IC's and speaker cable
Shunyay Python CX power cords
roor
54 responses Add your response
unsound
7,329 posts
 
I have been led to believe that the Pass amps were designed to work best with balanced input. No c-j gear has balanced circuitry.
roor OP
35 posts
 
Thanks for the response and recommendation. The needle on my XA-30.5 has always stayed right at 12 o'clock. The amp idles with the needle at 12 oclock and even at very high volume levels, the needle stays right at 12 o'clock (It's in class A all the time).
onemug
784 posts
 
I have the 100.5's and 30.5.

First, does the needle on your 30.5 stay still or is it bouncing around?

If it's bouncing, maybe moving up to the 60.5's would be beneficial but I don't think day and night.

If it's not bouncing, I would urge you to think about getting the best preamp you could afford. I found great synergy with Conrad Johnsons newer preamps (CT-5 and ACT 2.2). They are: tube,class A,zero feedback,no cathode follower,only "one" gain stage,teflon capped preamps. Designs are great on paper but I can say they sound great with my Pass's. The CT-5,used,should easily be in your price range.

I haven't heard the Esoterics so I can't comment on how much improvement going to separates would be. Good luck.
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