Mcintosh 452 vs Pass Labs XA 30.5

@missioncoonery so you had a 452 and a XA30.5 and the Pass “blew the Mac out of the water”?
kinda hard to believe, but if you say so then ok. It’s all pretty subjective if you ask me, but whatever 

Why do my posts all have a little snowflake-like icon on them? Is it because I don’t have many posts? Am I on probation or something?

I have owned the Mac 402 ,452,Pass labs x150,x150,5,x250,5,x250.8..all driven into various speakers including the Dynaudio confidence line (which if not mistaken the Totems use their drivers,not positive).Both the mac amps imo are slow with less dynamics,very tubby which has been a long criticism of them..Plus Pass has a better, much better customer service which is a big deal to me.So much i would never buy McIntosh again as i had big issues with them and warranty.

At the end it depends which properties your loudspeakers and other stuff of your system you own. But...when you would compare Pass Labs and Mcintosh together in a shootout with a system what can reveal all the different properties of sound. The Pass will be superior.

This is very easy to explain. The Pass can create in a perfect set-up a wider and deeper stage. This is alsway a possitive benefit to create a stunning 3D holographic stage.

And it is also better in timing compared to the Mcintosh. It is more controlled in the lowest frequencies. And you will be able to hear more layers in the lowest frequencies as well.

The other benefit you will hear is that the Pass creates more layers in sound. So it reveals a higher level in diversity of sound. This property is the most important one compared to all the other properties of sound.

Based on the fact that this one has the biggest influence on the human emotion. When you understand music and sound I can garnatee you that you will choose for Pass Labs. But people who have less experience and knowledge could easliy choose for Mcintosh

My vote is for Mcintosh. The second poster said it, the 452 blows the xa30.5 out of the water. Pass reviews were raving about the .5 series years ago, now they say the .8 series is much better.... so the .5 series was not so good then, makes me laugh my a.. off.

About Pass having more soundstage, I say rubbish about carving instruments pinpoint in space...lol  You want soundstage, buy tickets and go to a concert. I prefer having that bold rich sound Mac gives, for less money and with better resale value than Pass...You will be buying much better value overall.