Luxman vs Pass Labs

Haven't heard this piece, but have listened to many other Luxmans, and for whatever reason I've never heard one that I would buy. What I've heard is a lack of smoothness, or maybe a bit of graininess (don't know what else to call it), on some there was a lack of midrange presence. Never could get emotionally connected. I do own Pass and am not making a comparison, some of the Luxman issues I heard before I got the Pass stuff. But where Luxman makes so many different models, I can not say they all have the issues I mention.

 I think that you are comparing apples to oranges. I would look at these two Pass pieces individually. The Pass  XA 30.5 is an excellent sounding amplifier. I was not impressed with the XP10. The 2 people I know that have Pass amps don't have Pass preamps. That is where I would start. Borrow a few different preamps from your dealer to compare. You might even want to try a tube preamp to see how that sounds.

Good advice.  Either add a tube preamp or Int-60.