Pass Labs XA30.5 Fuse Issue/Question


Hi all!

I recently acquired a Pass Labs XA30.5 from our friends at The Music Room and paired it with my Harbeth P3ESR speakers. It worked perfectly for about a week, delivering great sound with the needle hovering around 12 noon, even at high (to me) SPL. However, after a week, the fuse blew.

To get back to listening, I checked the back panel, purchased a set of 4A slow blow fuses (as labeled), and installed a fresh one. That’s when things started getting strange.

The unit powered on as usual, but as soon as I increased the volume to a moderate level, the needle swung wildly and pinned itself to the far right before the fuse blew again. I assumed it was just a bad fuse, so I replaced it with another. Same result. I tested the amp with a different set of speakers and a different source/preamp, but the same issue occurred every time.

I’m completely puzzled. It seems unlikely that all the replacement fuses are bad—could they be mislabeled? Does this pattern suggest any other potential issues?

I’ll reach out to Pass Labs if I can’t figure this out, but I wanted to check if anyone here has experienced something similar with their Pass equipment.

Thanks!

 

zm

@noromance 

Good thought about the short on one side of the speaker cables or another. If not, sounds like time to ship to Pass.

If you recently purchased the amp, I would call The Music Room and ask for help.

+1 on calling pass labs and the music room. I would start with pass labs to gather some data points for the conversation with TMR.

Question - do you have the amp connected to the wall or to some sort of power conditioner/strip?

You should play the amplifier through another set of speakers before calling the seller or Pass. Tripping a mains fuse at higher playing volumes makes the Harbeths the prime suspect.