I’ve owned both Odyssey and Pass Labs.
3 wks ago, I purchased a Pass XP-22 and X250.8 with the hope of adding another system to another house, adding balanced connections, and perhaps bettering my Odyssey Tempest Extreme Preamp and Dual Mono Stratos circa 2006. Sonically, the Pass has more dynamics, punch, dimensionality, wider image, holographic, refinement, extended frequency, and bass. It’s also 3x the price.
PASS LABS:
However, the XP-22 hummed, and I could hear it from the speakers at 6ft. It defeated the purpose of having a separate chassis for the PS. The X250.8 had wobbly XLR connectors. The cables would also lock into the connectors. I used 8 pairs of speakers with known impedance curves, ranging 86 to 104 dB/W/m. I had to do exhaustive testing with the setup, and even lugged it to another house to rule out the electrical system. I ended up returning the Pass after 5 days for a substantial restocking fee, because dealer said that wobbly connectors are within the normal range for Pass. They’re designed to wobble to release stress in the cable - It didn’t inspire confidence. At 100 lbs., it sounded bogus! I didn’t want to be shuffling these amps anymore. Not after paying $14k! These were 2 month demos from the most reputable Pass dealer in the U.S. I wonder if demos are subject to QC. In this case, no, which resulted in the loss of a sale and new customer. Who knows if they’re recirculating the same equipment to an unsuspecting customers?
The X250.8 was stellar with my Don Sachs Model 2 tube preamp. The gain of the XP-22 is too low. On low-level recordings I had to turn the volume to 80/99 for engaged listening. The first 60-70 settings seem to low to be of any consequence.
ODYSSEY AUDIO:
Initially, I had problems with Odyssey too. The Tempest Preamp hummed very badly. I sent the Odyssey back, and Klaus upgraded the preamp to the Extreme with a Plitron transformer. That cost me $650 in 2006. It seems the Stratos Amps require biasing about every 10 years. I rebiased them 3 years ago after they started to get very hot to the touch, and sounded lean. I find they sound magical at 21mV - great balance of highs/bass. Since the Dual Monos, are stacked boards, it’s very difficult to get the voltmeter leads on the bottom channel. The Single Monos have much easier access points. Odyssey amps require biasing to your outlet voltage. However, I find them to be sensitive to IC too, which is good because you can voice them to your liking.
Klaus asks you to supply the voltage of your house when biasing the amps for custom build. He recommends you keep the system on 24/7. I don’t trust any equipment to be on continuously as it cuts into the lifespan, and risks damage during surges. I leave them on periodically, during anticipated listening time, and find that it takes a few hours to charge the capacitors - then they’ll sound ideal. This is true for many amps with large capacitance PS. The Odysseys sound great, but require experimentation to dial in the sound and voicing.
Please, don’t waste time telling me how impeccable Pass or any other company is to protect your own resale interests. I had such high hopes, and had no intention of returning the Pass since they sounded sonically amazing, sans the hum in the XP-22. There are quirks with products, some we can live with, some are unacceptable, some we don’t know about. Ignorance is bliss in audio, believe me! I’ve owned Odyssey and Pass, and had QC issues with both over the years. But, Pass was substantially more expensive, so I was unwilling to deal with questionable QC in 2021, especially at a much higher price point.
