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Pass XA25 for my system

I have been a long-time lurker here, but never posted until now. I have learned a lot from reading other posts and I thought it would be nice to share details on my current system. Also wondering if anyone has thoughts on switching from Hegel to a Pass XA25 amp.

Current system:

  • Room: 14x19 living room with medium(ish) damping - couch, rug, bookshelves, plants etc.; however, no dedicated room treatments.
  • Sonicorbiter i9 optical Roon server upsampling to DSD128
  • Fiber to Sonore Opicalmodule Deluxe 2 (Sonore LPS with Mundorf Silver/Gold DC cable)
  • Sablon Ethernet 2020
  • Bricasti M3 DAC and Roon endpoint running exclusively via NDSD conversion (3x Isoacoustics Orea)
  • Audioquest Fire XLR cables
  • Linear Tube Audio Microzotl Level 2 preamp with Lundahl balanced transformer input, Ray Reserve and Gold Lion tubes.
  • Iconoclast Series 2 OCC RCA cables
  • Hegel H390 Integrated (using as amp with HT bypass)
  • Audioquest Robin Hood speaker cables
  • Dynaudio Heritage Special (Dynaudio Stand 6 with Isoacoustics Gaia feet) 
  • Power: AQ Niagara 1200, AQ tornado and Cardas power cables.

My system is relatively modest, but was carefully assembled and it sounds pretty great to me. After adding the Microzotl preamp and seeing the improvement, I am thinking of replacing the Hegel (I am not using the preamp or DAC functionality) and trying a new amp. Thinking of the Pass XA25 after reading great reviews and seeing other people matching it with both my speakers and preamp. To be clear, the Hegel has been great and is a good match for my speakers. Dynamics are great, clarity, detail and a very relaxed feel to the sound. It was maybe just a touch too “clean/thin” before the LTA preamp. That move added a little more body, better imaging and soundstaging so curious to see what the Class A XA25 might do to further improve on these areas. The LTA Microzotl also helped with lower level/volume listening allowing more detail and dynamics to come through. With the Hegel volume control, I had to turn things up quite a bit to get things sounding their best. I also tried the Bricasti as a preamp and that was slightly less preferable than using either the Hegel or LTA for volume control.

I am still slightly nervous moving away from the Class A/B sound I am familiar with. Maybe it will soften things a little too much and be a step backwards? I was also considering a slightly used Class A/B Audionet Amp. I have no doubt they make excellent amps but I also couldn’t find many people using that brand and even fewer using it with my preamp and speakers. Any thoughts on whether the Pass XA25 will soften dynamics and transients significantly relative to my Hegel? I found some info. at 6Moons comparing the XA25 to Kinki Class A/B monoblocks and the comments seemed positive albeit a little mixed and unclear.

sfpeloton
cbrez
66 posts
 

@sfpeloton Thanks for your kind words on my system - l certainly enjoy it!

Just wanted to clarify when I mentioned the warmth of the XA25 and perhaps I chose the incorrect word. I find that the XA25 has an exceptional naturalness of timbre for a solid state amp. IMO, some solid state amps excel at dynamics, bass control, “oomph”. While the XA25 is certainly not the final word in solid state muscle, it certainly does have some of it, but is not at all sterile, which in my listening some solid state amps are, even with those other qualities. The XA25 is very balanced sounding, smooth, and organic, which are characteristics that appeal to my ear.

Of course ears, rooms, and so many other things vary. I just wanted to provide a bit more clarity on my use of the word “warm”.

zlone
685 posts
 

@bluethinker I've wondered about that Audionet amp you've got now! Can you share more about your impressions of it? 

I had thought that I tried all combinations between my existing Pass/Coda and the new Audionet gear, but I realized that I may not have tried the Pass XP-12 in front of the Audionet AMP. The point is that I cannot completely separate my impressions of the AMP from those of the Pre G2, together they are fantastic. When I received the gear, I only introduced the Pre G2 into my system at first, in front of the Coda. I was so taken with that I never went back to the Pass. But then inserting the AMP in the system took things to a whole new level. 

My speakers are KEF Reference 1's and I had them fairly close together for a variety of reasons. After listening to the Audionet gear for awhile it became clear I was not hearing everything and I pushed them out to about eight feet apart, leaving just a foot of space from the side walls. The soundstage is out of this world, with clear placement and presentation of everything in the recording. You might say I am just listening to my gear, and not the music, and there is some truth there, however as noted previously, the overall presentation is natural, clear and detailed, but not overdone in any way. I am using a Merason Reuss DAC, which helps with the natural part.

I like my bass, but I am a low volume listener. My ears are overworked from many years of going to shows and listening louder than I should. The majority of my listening is now acoustic jazz, and my system is built to deliver  full sound at low volumes. The bass with the Pre G2 in front of the Coda is very good. The bass with the Pre G2 in front of the AMP1 is a whole other thing. So well defined, but not unrealistically tight, with excellent bloom and decay. If you look at the specs of the AMP1, the damping factor is listed as: > 10,000 @ 100 Hz. That is a pretty extreme number, but it sort of feels like it when you listen. It's nice.

The AMP is single ended only connections, so I am in search of the ultimate RCA cable now and my fancy XLR's sit on the shelf. And it does run a bit warmer than the Coda, but this time of year at the 45th parallel, that is okay.

I hope that helps.

 

jayctoy's avatar
jayctoy
4,139 posts
 

Plinius sa100 is almost as good as the XA 25 . The Plinius has more power it sounds like tubes too

soix
9,582 posts
 

@jayctoy brings up a good point about Plinius, and this SA103 is a really nice Class A amp at a very good price, and it’s got plenty of power for your Dynes.  Plus it has a low-bias switch so you can leave it on and warmed up without killing your electric bill.  Just another option. 

fastfreight
807 posts
 

@zlone 

The AMP is single ended only connections, so I am in search of the ultimate RCA cable now and my fancy XLR's sit on the shelf.

Kubala Sosna Realization interconnects seem like a fantastic match to me.  I spoke with GTT and Audionet and they recommend single ended for their equipment even where there are XLRs, as this avoids the Op Amps and sounds better.

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