Pass Labs XA30.5 and ModWright KWA150

Why not just get a tube amp if you are looking for "tube like" sound?

In my system I was able to directly compare the Pass XA30.5 to Atma-Sphere M-60's and MA-1's and there wasn't a single area that the Pass came out ahead from a sonics perspective. The Pass will come out ahead in being more compatible with a wider range of systems when compared to the similarly priced M-60's.

The Pass amps are excellent and right up there as my favorite ss amps, but I'll take the Atma-Sphere amps every time.

George

As Semi said, the Spectron sounds nothing like a good tube amp. I am not saying the Spectron sounds bad or is a bad amp, just that I can't see anybody remotely saying it sounds like a tube amp.

My statements are based on having the Spectron amp in house for an extended audition. During this audition I was able to directly compare it to Pass and Atma-Sphere amps.

George

Mike,

Please go back and re-read my posts.

First, I compared the Spectron to Atma-Sphere amps, not BAT.

Secondly, I compared both the Atma-Sphere MA-1's (which are around $18k) and the Atma-Sphere M-60's (which are similarly priced to the Spectron amp). So there was indeed an apples to apples comparison in regards to price.

I also had Pass gear (XA30.5)in which to my ears had more "tube like" (as defined above) qualities than the Spectron.

One last note...yes, OTL amps do require more careful speaker matching, but you can use minimize that issue by using a Speltz Zero Autoformers.

Regards,

George

I agree with all of the statements about using an Autoformer (I don't use one and this is one of the reasons I went from M-60's to MA-1's) with Atma-Sphere amps.

When I ran tests with and without the Speltz Autoformer, I could always pick out when the Speltz Autoformer was being used. Anybody who tells you that it doesn't have a sonic signature is definitely fooling themselves - it is there.

However, Atma-Sphere amps + the Speltz Autoformer still sound better to my ear than most amps I have tried. The sonic penalty you pay for inserting the Speltz Autoformer isn't huge and is far less significant than the sonic improvement one gets by raising the impedance that the amp sees via the Speltz Autoformer.

George

All good points Tvad. I tried the Speltz Autoformers with the following speakers:

Vandersteen 5A's
Emerald Physics CS2's
Omega Revolutions (8" Alnico driver)

Ultimately, trying things at home is always the best course of action.

George