Pass Lab owners - Check in!

[alfa100]

I WENT from EMOTIVA XPR-1 MONOBLOCKS TO PASS LABS XA160s......I'm hearing things with my acoustat model 4 electrostatic speakers I've never heard before.......I've never heard Miles Davis blow so clear and beautiful I'm hearing cymbal sounds that were not there before.

Thats a great upgrade. I bet you are rediscovering your music collection

 

[twitch]

I have returned to Nelson Pass after a thirty plus year hiatus........X260.8's driving my Revel Studio II's.

 

[joeinid]

Hi Dave,

Absolutely beautiful. What preamp are you using? Are the amps broken in yet? Can you tell me how you like the pairing? I am thinking the same, X260.8 or X350.8 or maybe even XA160.8.

Thank you for your thoughts. I love that the 260.8 offers twice the Class A output.

 

[tdimler]

The Revel/Pass combo should be great. I talked to Mark at Reno Hi-Fi at while back and guess what loudspeaker he uses? You guessed it.....Revel Salon2. I did specifically ask about the 260.8 monos vs. the 250.8 stereo and he was ambivalent. Also interesting to me was his clear recommendation of the 250.8 over the 350.8.....interesting since most people seem to be preferring the 350.8 right now.

 

[joeinid]

I'm hearing the same thing about the 250.8. If you specifically don't need the extra power, the 250.8 is a bit sweeter/warmer and a superb performer.

 

[Saxguy]

I'm in - X350.8 for the Il Cremonese!

 

[twitch]

Hi Dave,

Absolutely beautiful. What preamp are you using? Are the amps broken in yet? Can you tell me how you like the pairing? I am thinking the same, X260.8 or X350.8 or maybe even XA160.8.

Thank you for your thoughts. I love that the 260.8 offers twice the Class A output.

Hi Joe, thank you, sorry for the late response. My preamp is a ARC LS-27. In so far as being 'run in', yes with minimal difference noticed. A little more authority in the bottom end does come to mind.

My rationale in the purchase was that the 260.8's offered more initial bias into Class A that all other .8 series amps (except the 600) yet when called for beyond had efficiencies of of A/B. Nelson has engineered into these higher power MOSFET's and more of them (40 per mono block =80 vs. 72 in the 350.8 and the 600)

The Revel/Pass combo should be great. I talked to Mark at Reno Hi-Fi at while back and guess what loudspeaker he uses? You guessed it.....Revel Salon2. I did specifically ask about the 260.8 monos vs. the 250.8 stereo and he was ambivalent. Also interesting to me was his clear recommendation of the 250.8 over the 350.8.....interesting since most people seem to be preferring the 350.8 right now.

Interesting, Mark and I talked at length as well and basically came to the same conclusion.

it's been a month and I'm completely satisfied .........

 

[Crumhorn]

I purchased the XP-30 in March - not only my first Pass product, the first solid-state preamp I've owned in almost 40 years! Now considering the XP-15 or XP-17 so I can start playing my records again...

 

[parkcaka]

I just bought a INT-250 about a month ago.

I previously owned ARC 210 (with Ref 3), ARC Ref 75, ASR Emitter 2, Accuphase A-45 (Direct from dCS Debussy), Mastersound Ref 845, Gryphon Diablo, Gryphon Antileon Signature with Sonato Allegro (second best in the list), Gryphon Mephisto (with Pandora)...

INT-250 gave me the best, the most musical sound I've ever had from my Alexias. The best sound I've ever had from my system. This is a huge surprise for me. Huge.

I think it is synergy thing, I don't know. It doesn't make sense in price perspective.

I just can't stop listening.

 

[PeterA]

I just bought a INT-250 about a month ago.

I previously owned ARC 210 (with Ref 3), ARC Ref 75, ASR Emitter 2, Accuphase A-45 (Direct from dCS Debussy), Mastersound Ref 845, Gryphon Diablo, Gryphon Antileon Signature with Sonato Allegro (second best in the list), Gryphon Mephisto (with Pandora)...

INT-250 gave me the best, the most musical sound I've ever had from my Alexias. The best sound I've ever had from my system. This is a huge surprise for me. Huge.

I think it is synergy thing, I don't know. It doesn't make sense in price perspective.

I just can't stop listening.

Congratulations. I have a friend who owned Sashas and then Alexias. IMO, his Wilsons sounded best when he used his Pass amps.

 

[mikey8811]

I just bought a INT-250 about a month ago.

I previously owned ARC 210 (with Ref 3), ARC Ref 75, ASR Emitter 2, Accuphase A-45 (Direct from dCS Debussy), Mastersound Ref 845, Gryphon Diablo, Gryphon Antileon Signature with Sonato Allegro (second best in the list), Gryphon Mephisto (with Pandora)...

INT-250 gave me the best, the most musical sound I've ever had from my Alexias. The best sound I've ever had from my system. This is a huge surprise for me. Huge.

I think it is synergy thing, I don't know. It doesn't make sense in price perspective.

I just can't stop listening.

I would have thought Gryphon would work well too. What was the difference between the Pass INT 250 and the Diablo 250?

 

[mikey8811]

I just bought a INT-250 about a month ago.

I previously owned ARC 210 (with Ref 3), ARC Ref 75, ASR Emitter 2, Accuphase A-45 (Direct from dCS Debussy), Mastersound Ref 845, Gryphon Diablo, Gryphon Antileon Signature with Sonato Allegro (second best in the list), Gryphon Mephisto (with Pandora)...

INT-250 gave me the best, the most musical sound I've ever had from my Alexias. The best sound I've ever had from my system. This is a huge surprise for me. Huge.

I think it is synergy thing, I don't know. It doesn't make sense in price perspective.

I just can't stop listening.

I would have thought Gryphon would work well too. What was the difference between the Pass INT 250 and the Diablo 250?

 

[parkcaka]

I would have thought Gryphon would work well too. What was the difference between the Pass INT 250 and the Diablo 250?

Hello Mikey,

The Original Diablo is a fine amp with solid bass but it was nowhere as refined as the INT-250. Relatively Diablo was more 2D in presentation and showing signs of strain when volume is higher than usual with dark in character. But it was a very good amp on its price level. Also as a previous Pandora/Mephisto owner, the 2nd most musical amp I've ever had in my system was in fact Antilen Signature Stereo with Sonato Allegro Preamp again from Gryphon. Resolution was not as good and highs were closed but a grand piano was sounding like a grand piano with all its weight etc.

Musicality and emotional connection, and being in the club feeling is always my priority so I think that's why I liked some amps more than others. I don't always like the cheaper ones of course. I listened to Constellation Centaur Monoblocks at my dealer and loved them.

By the way I'm a tour manager and my life is on and around the stage for many years so I may have some quirky tastes in hifi. For example a lot my friends think I like the weight of bass in my system more than usual. Even to the point of too much bass (not to mean flabby). That's why when I sold my Alexias for a Magico Q3, I was never happy because I couldn't find the powerful, meaty, grand bass I was hearing on stage during rehearsals and concerts. It was too tamed. Bass is very very very profound in music when you are on or near the stage. A bass amp is as powerful as a drum kick. So my ears always search for that liveness.

Please evaluate my assessments with my personal taste and limited experience in hifi. I am sure that all amps I owned are very good equipments and will work great with certain speakers.

Love and respect,

Cagdas

 

[LL21]

...By the way I'm a tour manager and my life is on and around the stage for many years so I may have some quirky tastes in hifi. For example a lot my friends think I like the weight of bass in my system more than usual. Even to the point of too much bass (not to mean flabby). That's why when I sold my Alexias for a Magico Q3, I was never happy because I couldn't find the powerful, meaty, grand bass I was hearing on stage during rehearsals and concerts. It was too tamed. Bass is very very very profound in music when you are on or near the stage. A bass amp is as powerful as a drum kick. So my ears always search for that liveness...

I have done stage production many, many years ago...and we have the big Wilsons...plus a Velodyne DD18+ which is cut off above 40hz...but it makes SUCH a big improvement/difference to me. I think i totally appreciate where you are coming from on bass.

i also found that the Gryphon Constellation vs the Antileon was better in every respect...except that in the absolute 'tonal depth and intensity'...the Antileon had 5% more WEIGHT...which is actually a lot when one gets up into this level of performance. so i am curious as to your potential answer to my question below...

I just bought a INT-250 about a month ago.

I previously owned ARC 210 (with Ref 3), ARC Ref 75, ASR Emitter 2, Accuphase A-45 (Direct from dCS Debussy), Mastersound Ref 845, Gryphon Diablo, Gryphon Antileon Signature with Sonato Allegro (second best in the list), Gryphon Mephisto (with Pandora)...

INT-250 gave me the best, the most musical sound I've ever had from my Alexias. The best sound I've ever had from my system. This is a huge surprise for me. Huge.

I think it is synergy thing, I don't know. It doesn't make sense in price perspective.

I just can't stop listening.

Fascinating! I am curious...how did the Mephisto/Pandora compare with Antileon/Allegro. I used to own the Gryphon Antileon and went to the Colosseum. Thanks for any feedback!

 

[rockitman]

I decided to pull the tops off my XS-150's to see how much dust was inside and to blow it out. Not much to my surprise. I decided to add a slight tweak...poly/rubber washers in the plumbing/faucet section of home depot. Placed one damper washer between top plate and amp, then screwed them down. Damps the top plate better.

 

[AlexArgie]

Hi AlexArgie,

Nice gear, how would you compare the sound of XP10 vs XP20?
Many thanks
DAG

I send you a pm DAG

My setup

 

[Jg2020]

Removed.

 

[ostrey93]

New Pass Owner! Super stoked!

Super stoked! Just ordered a pass labs xa30.8 to power my tannoy's. My previous amp was an atoll am200se so this should be quite the step up. 10-12 weeks lead time but I got 30% off so I guess I can live with the wait. The amp it due to come in around my birthday... its going to be a great birthday this year! Currently I have a conrad johnson et3se pre amp but I am thinking of swapping that out to a pass labs xp-10 or xp-12 pre amp in the future to expand my pass labs line up.

 

[Annapurna]

About a week ago, bought a XP27 and XP22 to replace ARC Ref 3 Phono and Ref 6 Line. Now my system is full Pass Labs. Right now, still trying to runin both amps. Attached are the pixs.

 

[alfa100]

Congrats. How does the Xp 22 compare to ref6 in your system?