Pass Labs xa - .5 amps

Hm, I guess it's not my cup of tea. I concur with the no-glare, that part was beautiful, especially for voices. The rest, well, just didn't cut it.

Hi, could someone please describe the sound of the XA30.5?
I heard it recently, and was wondering if my impressions were close to what you are hearing.
Thanks.

I could definitely see where a Pass amp could take care of any perceived brightness....they certainly are market savvy.

Various speakers, Tvad, with all pass gear. and it was their wiring.
as i said, beautiful voices, especially say like a frank sintra record, then, you play something that needs to boogie, and it couldn't do it. You nailed it when you said no glare, smooth as anything, yet that's all it could do. I've heard the phono stage in other systems, wonderful. I'd buy it. the other stuff, no way. A real eye-opener, to be sure.

nothing fancy, some regas, some others, all can time normally in the same room, with various other gear.
I kept thinking the gear wasn't getting it's due, yet everytime something else replaced it the system boogied again. I could see where the amps would be a great mate with ultra revealing speakers, at least for the mid/uppers. The low end I couldn't understand at all. It was big, to be sure, but sluggish.

Was it the newest phono stage you've heard? I can't remember the model, I think retail is $3800-4k?

Anyway, not to slag the gear at all, for certain ears or certain gear it might be just the thing. But I've got my suspicions.

You read the articles, the reviews, you know the company history, without hearing it you love everything about it, and then you hear it. I'm finding this to be true about a lot of gear lately. Too bad.

Tvad, what speakers are you using with your pass amp? I remember 93db somewhere, that's all i can recall. Still just trying to sort all this out in my head.

Tvad, I was doing a search on the silverlines, (I've always wanted to hear them) and I saw several mentions where Alan Yun preferred tube amps. It might have been for a different model. Regardless, it sounds like you've sorted it out to your liking, and after all said and done that's the important part.
Just because the Pass gear didn't work for us doesn't mean it won't for somebody else. My new mantra: Listen for yourselves, people!

Oops, sorry, Tvad, I quickly perused a few reviews and saw a few comments on the newer esotec tweeter and assumed in certain situations it might be too much or would have to be matched correctly.

Peterayer, I definitely think they're market savvy as a company, just like any other that has been making money and stayed around for as long as they have. I think that's great. I wish a few others from the past were still with us. With my limited listening time with them, I can't really comment on their sound any more than I already have. I could tell that it wasn't for me, my list is growing longer. But isn't that the nature of the hobby?