2. amps-preamps
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What effects soundstage more ....

I have recently auditioned two sets of separates Pass x2.5/x250 and a Plinius CDLAD mkII/SA102. The speakers I have are on the revealing side, Angstrom Obbligato's. The differences between these two set ups was big. The Plinius set had a wonderful overall tone. The low frequencies sounded awesome, but they lacked some weight at low volumes. The Pass in contrast had weight at the low frequencies at low volumes and the soundstage grew in every direction. The drawback with the Pass was as the volume increased so did the "harshness" or attack. I want the soundstage and low volume "thump" of the pass with the better tone of the Plinius. Is there something that can do that? Would swapping the pre-amps help at all? What has the biggest effect on soundstage and tone ( amp or pre )? Any thoughts would be appreciated
oside_e

Showing 1 response by sean

sean
6,231 posts
 
As far as "harshness" goes with the X2.5 / X-250, look to the source, preamp or cabling, not the amp. As far as cabling goes, Pass X series amps and Goertz MI-2 speaker cables were made for each other as far as i'm concerned. If you want lush sound that is truly clean, coherent and airy with a phenomenally deep and wide sound stage, this is a hard combo to beat. This is especially true if running lower impedance speakers, which the X series seems to work their best with. Can't comment on the Plinius as i have very limited experience with their gear. What gear i was exposed to of theirs wasn't very favourable at the time. It was a completely unfamiliar system though, so that experience doesn't count for much to me. Sean
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PS... If you're not running your X-250 off of a dedicated 20 amp line, don't expect it to perform like it should. It should also be left on 24/7. Listen to it after three days of continuous power and you'll think that you're hanging out with angels in heaven : )
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