Congrats! While I haven't heard the X series at all (neither .5 or .8), the XA.8's have fantastic bass control and soundstage.
You have a very nice system, btw!
Pass Labs .8 Series!
- Thread starter Bruce B
- Start date
Congrats! While I haven't heard the X series at all (neither .5 or .8), the XA.8's have fantastic bass control and soundstage.
You have a very nice system, btw!
my Xa 100.8 has arrived.
I expected bass to be better than my Xa 30.5.Pass labs dealer burned them in for me. Maybe i should wait another 100 hours for the bass to improve.
I expected bass to be better than my Xa 30.5.Pass labs dealer burned them in for me. Maybe i should wait another 100 hours for the bass to improve.
Xa100.8
Bass sounded fatter in the lowest frequencies with Xa 30.5 compard to Xa 100.8.
Overall bass is tighter , more 3 dimensional and has more nuance and texture with the Xa 100.8.
I'm kind of missing the lowest frequency of the Xa 30.5 which filled the room.
Possibly the bass has become more controlled and I'm not hearing any muddiness and I will appreciate this with time and different tracks or the Xa100.8 needs more burn in .
Bass sounded fatter in the lowest frequencies with Xa 30.5 compard to Xa 100.8.
Overall bass is tighter , more 3 dimensional and has more nuance and texture with the Xa 100.8.
I'm kind of missing the lowest frequency of the Xa 30.5 which filled the room.
Possibly the bass has become more controlled and I'm not hearing any muddiness and I will appreciate this with time and different tracks or the Xa100.8 needs more burn in .
Thanks.
And how do you describe the texture and warmth with the .8 vs .5 especially in the mids?
Are you enjoy them in the new .8 ?
And how do you describe the texture and warmth with the .8 vs .5 especially in the mids?
Are you enjoy them in the new .8 ?
There is quite a difference in power between these two amps and the mono blocks should have lower noise than the stereo amp. At this point, I would be surprised if additional break in changes the sound much more. Please report back with any new impressions.
X250.8 versus x350.5
With all the heavy-hitters here posting about their XA and Xs amplifiers I feel a little like the country cousin piping up with a post about my new X250.8. Wait, I am a country cousin -- you can't get much more country than rural Montana.
Although I can't believe almost three years have gone by since getting my X350.5 it really has been that long. It's done a wonderful job driving my KEF 207/2s and I haven't ever been dissatisfied with it. However, reading all the chatter hear about the .8 got me wondering. . .
I saw Mark's generous trade-in/trade-up policy at Reno Hi-Fi and took him up on a generous in-home trial to compare an X250.8 to my X350.5. Why the smaller amp? In the the three years of owning the big X350.5 I've never once seen the bias needle so much as twitch -- even when playing music at crazy stupid loud levels. The 1812 Overture didn't make that needle move, AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' didn't phase it, Noisia's 'Spit The Atom' didn't do advance it either. The big KEFs are pretty efficient at 91dB/w/m and even in a decent-sized 25' X 17.5 'X 8' room I don't think I ever came close to class A/B operation. So why not save a few thousand if I could? The worst that could happen is that I'd have been calling Mark to send out an X350.8 if the smaller amp didn't do the trick.
Well, no worries there. The X250.8 stayed here and the X350.5 is in Reno waiting for a new home, where I'm sure it will make its next owner as happy as I've been.
My impressions initially and now after a couple hundred hours?
Pretty much the same as Alfa100's with his XA100.8s vs the .5 -- at first I thought the X250.8 was every bit the equal and then some of the X350.5 except in the bass. More articulate for sure, but maybe leaner. There just didn't seem to be the quantity of low bass that I'd been used to with the .5. I was pretty sure it wasn't a power thing, and wondered if the voicing was different between the two. Thus, the danger of first opinions when a new piece of equipment is warming up and breaking in.
After not that much more listening I came to realize what I'd been perceiving as more or stronger bass with the X350.5 was actually a bit of muddiness or bloat relative to the new .8. Careful listening has shown me that if anything, there is what sounds like another half-octave at least of lower bass present in that rumbly-visceral-feel it in the gut as much as hear it sort of way that real low bass in real life has. And yet very articulate and tuneful.
Throughout the rest of the range the .8 is impeccable -- much more dimensional and deep than the .5, more texture and timbre, a sense of space and quietness between notes that seems to go on forever.
I guess if I were to use the first word that comes to mind to sum up my impressions of the .5 and the .8, at least in the X-series, I'd say impressive, or maybe Impressive! for the .5, musical for the .8.
Musical ain't a bad thing.
I'm very happy with my X250.8. And I *still* can't get that needle to move! Maybe Nelson Pass puts the meter on these amps just to give us something to look at.
Now, here is something you don't see every day -- well, at least not in *my* family room -- a Pass X350.5 as an amp-stand for an X250.8:
Steve
With all the heavy-hitters here posting about their XA and Xs amplifiers I feel a little like the country cousin piping up with a post about my new X250.8. Wait, I am a country cousin -- you can't get much more country than rural Montana.
Although I can't believe almost three years have gone by since getting my X350.5 it really has been that long. It's done a wonderful job driving my KEF 207/2s and I haven't ever been dissatisfied with it. However, reading all the chatter hear about the .8 got me wondering. . .
I saw Mark's generous trade-in/trade-up policy at Reno Hi-Fi and took him up on a generous in-home trial to compare an X250.8 to my X350.5. Why the smaller amp? In the the three years of owning the big X350.5 I've never once seen the bias needle so much as twitch -- even when playing music at crazy stupid loud levels. The 1812 Overture didn't make that needle move, AC/DC's 'Thunderstruck' didn't phase it, Noisia's 'Spit The Atom' didn't do advance it either. The big KEFs are pretty efficient at 91dB/w/m and even in a decent-sized 25' X 17.5 'X 8' room I don't think I ever came close to class A/B operation. So why not save a few thousand if I could? The worst that could happen is that I'd have been calling Mark to send out an X350.8 if the smaller amp didn't do the trick.
Well, no worries there. The X250.8 stayed here and the X350.5 is in Reno waiting for a new home, where I'm sure it will make its next owner as happy as I've been.
My impressions initially and now after a couple hundred hours?
Pretty much the same as Alfa100's with his XA100.8s vs the .5 -- at first I thought the X250.8 was every bit the equal and then some of the X350.5 except in the bass. More articulate for sure, but maybe leaner. There just didn't seem to be the quantity of low bass that I'd been used to with the .5. I was pretty sure it wasn't a power thing, and wondered if the voicing was different between the two. Thus, the danger of first opinions when a new piece of equipment is warming up and breaking in.
After not that much more listening I came to realize what I'd been perceiving as more or stronger bass with the X350.5 was actually a bit of muddiness or bloat relative to the new .8. Careful listening has shown me that if anything, there is what sounds like another half-octave at least of lower bass present in that rumbly-visceral-feel it in the gut as much as hear it sort of way that real low bass in real life has. And yet very articulate and tuneful.
Throughout the rest of the range the .8 is impeccable -- much more dimensional and deep than the .5, more texture and timbre, a sense of space and quietness between notes that seems to go on forever.
I guess if I were to use the first word that comes to mind to sum up my impressions of the .5 and the .8, at least in the X-series, I'd say impressive, or maybe Impressive! for the .5, musical for the .8.
Musical ain't a bad thing.
I'm very happy with my X250.8. And I *still* can't get that needle to move! Maybe Nelson Pass puts the meter on these amps just to give us something to look at.
Now, here is something you don't see every day -- well, at least not in *my* family room -- a Pass X350.5 as an amp-stand for an X250.8:
Steve
Sometimes when an amp can't drive a speaker properly we hear more bass than we should (because we're hearing overhang due to the lack of control) so I think your analysis is correct.
Thank you. The Pass gear represents some of the best money ever spent in terms of musical enjoyment. I am loving it!
Steve
Warmth is as good as the little Xa30.5. With The 100.8 mids are more revealing and multi layered. in my room i do not need any more warmth as this could introduce mid bass hump. i am enjoying the mids more compared to the Xa 30.5
Thank you all. I have found the problem.
The Sasha had to be repositioned and the tweeter/midrange module needed a change of angle. The bass is strong and low and midrange /tops in correct proportion.
The Xa 100.8 was the correct upgrade.
warmth, impact,texture,holographic,organic,etc etc etc.
Good as it was the Xa 30.5 was not strong enough for the Sasha. The Xa 100.8 corrects this and brings more.
i can now enjoy the music.
The Sasha had to be repositioned and the tweeter/midrange module needed a change of angle. The bass is strong and low and midrange /tops in correct proportion.
The Xa 100.8 was the correct upgrade.
warmth, impact,texture,holographic,organic,etc etc etc.
Good as it was the Xa 30.5 was not strong enough for the Sasha. The Xa 100.8 corrects this and brings more.
i can now enjoy the music.
Pass Labs X-260.8 mono's have now replaced the Ayre MXR's driving my Sound Lab Ultimate U-1PX's. Deeper, better base, more control.
I have heard my friend MadFloyd's Sophias, Sashas and Alexias all driven by various tube and SS amps. It was not until he got the Pass XA 160.5s that these Wilson speakers were properly driven by amps that could handle their difficult loads. He has since moved to Magico speakers but stayed with Pass and upgraded to the XA 160.8s and now the XS150s.
Pass amps are truly remarkable for their ability to handle difficult loads and to sound natural in the process.
Yesterday I changed the cables between the Pre XP 20 and my XA 60.8 and cud not believe that the sound became softer to my ears. Cables: DIY pure Silver
This move on my pervious system Aleph-P and Aleph X was kind different experience. Sounds became harder and flatter.
I'm now curious what if I had XA 100.8. Would be this my audio-nirvana.
I don't think so .....yet. I like more intimate and warm sound. Kind of sound that doesn't allow me to go to the next room or fall in sleep during play.
This move on my pervious system Aleph-P and Aleph X was kind different experience. Sounds became harder and flatter.
I'm now curious what if I had XA 100.8. Would be this my audio-nirvana.
I don't think so .....yet. I like more intimate and warm sound. Kind of sound that doesn't allow me to go to the next room or fall in sleep during play.
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