THE meter is useless and you're paying for it anyway. The speaker "wing" connectors on Pass and many other top brands can make it difficult to connect heavy speaker wire with spade lugs. If you don't get the XS series with outboard power supplies you're not getting everything the company has been able to achieve. Any preamp or integrated amp without at least ONE tape loop (IOW a fixed-level output jack) is off my list of versatility. Also one must consider whether or not you can listen to headphones or not, even with an external headphone amp. As for X or XA, it's certainly a conundrum that makes you choose one or the other, and if you're not happy after 3 months or ? months with the sound, you're going to give yourself an "ulcer" thinking you made the wrong choice, making the hobby even MORE complicated than it is already.
My dad had a Blaupunkt TUBE radio many years ago that sounded so sweet and smooth
in spite of its limited power, etc. that a lot of people here may not have ever experienced. So it pays to understand just what solid-state is up against if you want to evaluate what's possible. Having said all that, Pass is a good fit for most audio "fanatics" and should satisfy most of us that can afford something they make. Not all speakers are a good fit for a Pass amp , but that would not be an excessively long list. My main beef with ANY product is limited connectivity, whether it's a reel-to-reel or wire, headphones, a subwoofer, whatever you need it to do.
Lastly, some components looked good 20 years ago and they still look great today (ex. a Lin turntable). Facel-lifts, meters, gadgets, are extraneous (ex.Krell) and the cost is passed on to the customer. The "old" yellow-and-black Rolls that Arther had looked better than the ones they're making now. Just making a point.
My dad had a Blaupunkt TUBE radio many years ago that sounded so sweet and smooth
in spite of its limited power, etc. that a lot of people here may not have ever experienced. So it pays to understand just what solid-state is up against if you want to evaluate what's possible. Having said all that, Pass is a good fit for most audio "fanatics" and should satisfy most of us that can afford something they make. Not all speakers are a good fit for a Pass amp , but that would not be an excessively long list. My main beef with ANY product is limited connectivity, whether it's a reel-to-reel or wire, headphones, a subwoofer, whatever you need it to do.
Lastly, some components looked good 20 years ago and they still look great today (ex. a Lin turntable). Facel-lifts, meters, gadgets, are extraneous (ex.Krell) and the cost is passed on to the customer. The "old" yellow-and-black Rolls that Arther had looked better than the ones they're making now. Just making a point.