Pass X5-350 versus Karan S 600

Roumen

New Member
Nov 14, 2017
2
0
1
France
Hello everyone,

I am new on this forum so please excuse my eventual clumsiness..
I acquired recently a pair of Wilson Alexia speakers. The pre-amp is an Ayon S5. For the moment I use my old Pass Labs X5-350 amplifier. My hifi dealer suggests me to replace it with a new and much better Karan s 600 amplifier. I can imagine that the Karan is better, but is it so much better than the Pass? Does somebody have experience in driving Alexia speakers with Pass X5-350? What would be a “sufficiently good” amplifier for driving these speakers?

Thanks for your advice!
 

danielk141

Well-Known Member
Mar 13, 2012
75
11
913
Sir,

You either have an X-350 or an X-350.5
The X-350.5 is the second generation of this amp, with noticeable improvements in sound.
I'm not familiar with the Karan amplifiers. If you have an X-350, the Karan may be noticeably better.
If you have an X-350.5, it would be much harder to beat, in sound quality.
Hope this helps..
 

Roumen

New Member
Nov 14, 2017
2
0
1
France
Dear Daniel,
You are right, it is an X 350.5. My mistake, sorry.
I agree that it is a good amplifier even if Pass is not very popular here in France, in any case much less than in the US. Generally it is blamed to be a little up in the high midrange. The Karan is certainly better, but I try to evaluate how much it is better..
Thanks!
 

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