2. amps-preamps
  3. 180422-177891

Pass Then vs. Pass Now

Hi 'Goners. 

Long time lurker, first time poster hoping to receive some wisdom from the community. Thinking about an upgrade (aren't we all?) Currently powering Devore Gibbon 3xl with a Rogue Audio Sphinx v3 and am inclined to try out some class A solid state amplification. I was a long time happy owner of a little Adcom GFA535. (I bought it in college in '88 and just let go of it two years ago!) That got me interested in trying out another Pass design. I have been weighing a Threshold400A vs. an XA30.8

Anyone have experience with Devore Gibbons and either of those amps, or thoughts on whether the newer PASS is worth triple the going price of the vintage  piece?

Open to any other suggestions on where to go from here with the system as well. For discussion, I  live in an apartment and use it almost exclusively for vinyl. I am a musical omnivore. The front end is a Clearaudio Performance DC with Tracer tonearm and Hana SL running through a Pro-Ject Tube Box DS2. If I upgrade the amp I plan to continue to use the tube pre in the Rogue Audio integrated, for now. 

Thank you in advance for your input. Your time is much appreciated.

Shawn

theschwartz

Showing 1 response by helomech

helomech
1,769 posts
 

Thanks! I am leaning towards the XA30.8 for many of the reasons stated here. I think I needed to hear someone say that it is in another league above the Rogue sound that I have been listening to (and enjoying - that Sphinx punches way above its class). 
 

I hate to burst your bubble, but the Sphinx doesn’t come anywhere near punching well above its class IME. My $250 Yamaha A-S500 integrated outclassed a Sphinx V2 by every metric, as has every other integrated amp I’ve owned, of which there are many. 
 

To say my Pass XA25 and Bel Canto preamp are in another league would be the understatement of the decade. An apt analogy would be comparing a VW Beetle (the Rogue) to a 911 Turbo. 

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