Yamaha integrated amp as3000 vs Pass integrated

@erik_squires Only in price. Sonically speaking AS3000 sounds basically identical to AS2100 which is to say spectacular. A-S3000 looks better, still not as good as a Luxman.

Not sure where @fjn04 is getting his idea from that any of the Yammie MOSFET amps have a bright edge. They actually sound pretty close to Pass INT-60 in my opinion. Luxman is actually brighter than both Pass and Yammie, not that any of the 3 should be considered bright by any means. Luxman is just the leanest sounding by like 1/10th of a millimeter.

Sorry @fjn04,I meant @auxinput

If I had to downgrade and pick, I could happily live with any one of them.

Normally, the Luxman stays upstairs and powers Aerial 6Ts in the living room and 5Ts in my home office. The Yammie stays downstairs in the theater room and powers Aerial 7Ts connected to Yamaha CX-A5100 for movie watching/background music while exercising. When I really want to sit down and listen to music, the tube combo comes on via a Luxman speaker selector.

As my primary listening/home theater space is currently undergoing remodel, everything is upstairs in one room:

https://i.imgur.com/vnPQlH4.jpg

A-S1100, Luxman L507uX, Audio Research LS28/VT80/Schiit Freya combo.

Yes, the Luxman L507uX is more resolving than Yammie by a small factor, I notice it especially on string instruments but you really, really have to listen for it. If blinded, I could not tell either side by side. Bass seems equally tight with both, as the the treble extension. Somehow the Yammie does sound more tube like than the Luxman. Not in the Audio Research way, more like Primaluna way. 

As to holographic sound staging, both are good until I flip on the LS28/VT80 combo and then it's another story. 

So I would say Yammie sounds more like old school tube design like Primaluna. Luxman is more like Audio Research. Neither deliver the last ounce of 3D soundstage that either Primaluna or AR deliver.

Donut transformers come with their own set of issues. All of these amps are so seriously overspeced/overbuilt that I seriously doubt I could tell a difference between them. I had the 1100 and 2100 side by side for a couple of months before I sold the 2100 and to me they sounded identical when fed via RCA from Chord Hugo 2. I cannot imagine the 3000 sounds that much better, but that’s why I always buy new gear before selling older stuff, so I can do side by side on the fly comparison. My assumption is that the 507 and 3000 will sound a tiny bit different but I wouldn’t say one that one will be better than the other. Yammie to me gives up that last gram of detail resolution for more harmonically rich sound. What it gives up there, it seems to reclaim with a slight advantage in low bass. Neither give me the last ounce of presence/ambience I get from the AR tube gear which is weird cause the AR gear is actually the driest sounding of all 3. 

@atl4love You know what other piece of Yamaha gear has a donut transformer? Their top of the line CX-A5000/5100/5200 home theater processor which is actually not too shabby of a preamp/DAC in itself. I love mine. Just upgraded from CX-A5000 to CX-A5100 that I bought from a member here. Cannot wait for the home theater room to be finished. Doing a bit of crazy architectural work where a 25ft wall will entirely disappear and open the theater to the outside when the weather is nice. It's taking forever.

So I've spent the weekend playing few test pieces between Yamaha AS1100 and Luxman L507ux and switching on the fly. Luxman is better by a small factor. Yamaha is just a little bit vailed and a bit less natural to me. The low end is a bit too much on Aerial 7Ts. On the other hand, when using Aerial 5Ts, my preference goes to Yamaha.