Oh, I'm not changing out the pass amp for the Orchard. It's interesting to me how much of what the amp is doing (or not doing) has nothing to do with standard measures.
Unfair Competition: Orchard Audio Bosc Monoblocks vs. Pass Labs XA30.8
After hearing a friend's Orchard Audio Starkrimson Integrated Amplifier in my system (https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/9074) a few weeks ago (it sounded pretty good!), I arranged to audition a pair of used Bosc $1500 monoblocks (now called Starkrimson) for close listening. Was curious to see just how well this "distortion-free" class D amp (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/orchard-audio-bosc-pdf.47492/) could replicate my beloved Pass labs class A beast costing >$6000 new. Close listening was done after several days of casual listening/break-in.
Bosc - The Good:
- Wide and tall soundstage
- Convincing central image
- Extremely quiet -- less baseline hiss than the Pass
- Fast transients
- Excellent instrument decay/echo
- Obviously more energy and space efficient
Bosc - The Not as Good
- Lacked soundstage depth/separation
- Less vibrant and engaging, lacking difficult-to-articulate "magic" of the Pass
- Inconsistent bass performance, some tracks sounded firmer and tighter, others weaker than the Pass
- "Flat sounding" with less fleshed-out midrange
After having the Bosc in my system for a few days and listening to nothing but that with a variety of music, I would have been very happy to keep it for the long-term. It was only after A/B with my Pass that I realized what I was missing.
Not a fair comparison dollar-wise, but I was, perhaps naively, prepared to be convinced the Bosc could go head to head. A nice reminder of what I enjoy about the Pass in my system, though. How to measure these qualities, though?
Bosc - The Good:
- Wide and tall soundstage
- Convincing central image
- Extremely quiet -- less baseline hiss than the Pass
- Fast transients
- Excellent instrument decay/echo
- Obviously more energy and space efficient
Bosc - The Not as Good
- Lacked soundstage depth/separation
- Less vibrant and engaging, lacking difficult-to-articulate "magic" of the Pass
- Inconsistent bass performance, some tracks sounded firmer and tighter, others weaker than the Pass
- "Flat sounding" with less fleshed-out midrange
After having the Bosc in my system for a few days and listening to nothing but that with a variety of music, I would have been very happy to keep it for the long-term. It was only after A/B with my Pass that I realized what I was missing.
Not a fair comparison dollar-wise, but I was, perhaps naively, prepared to be convinced the Bosc could go head to head. A nice reminder of what I enjoy about the Pass in my system, though. How to measure these qualities, though?