Pass XP-32 vs. Luxman C-900u?

I run the Luxman C-9000u preamp and it is wonderful, probably not 20K wonderful. Found one used and very clean.  I was running the Weiss 501 DAC as a DAC obviously and a preamp.  Tom at Big Ear suggested that as very talented as the Weiss preamp is, a high quality preamp would probably be more dynamic.  He was correct.

The Luxman has great drive and improved sound stage.  And it is just plain gorgeous.  I know, you cannot hear gorgeous.  But then my speakers are in rosewood.  And I cannot hear rosewood.

I always prefer a preamp in my system. I have some gear to move before any major changes but the LA-4 should be an easy reach. I did demo the ABH2 and loved a lot about it but preferred some "less neutral" amps at the time. Could be fun to revisit the stack.

@joeinid if you are using a DAC direct to amp the LA4 is something to try out. That volume control can justify the cost and may make your DAC sound even better. For example, I think the Benchmark DAC3B + HPA4 is better sounding to me over the Benchmark DAC3 HGC, even though Benchmark says they sound the same. This is with the HGC driving a amp. I owned both DACs.

@yyzsantabarbara 

Thank you so much. I keep looking at the Benchmark preamp, probably the one sans headphone amp. It’s worth a demo for sure. I technically only have one, maybe 2 sources so any high end preamp is overkill but I truly appreciate how important a good preamp is to the overall system sound.

I’ve been seeing a lot of great feedback on Coda. I’ll look deeper at your recommendation.

Luxman is awesome and I love their integrateds. I do tend towards Pass amps for the heavy lifting.

So much great gear, so little time/money.

@joeinid I have heard the c900u and was seriously considering it. I decided to go another way and got the Benchmark HPA4 preamp to "eliminate" the preamp from my system. It is so quiet that it really is like having no preamp. You may want to consider that one on a home trial.

Yesterday, I bought a second preamp that I think is similar sounding and maybe better than the c900u. It is the CODA 07x preamp. I will be using both preamps. The CODA is cheaper than the c900u.

The Luxman m900u though is one that I would still like to get to use with the 2 preamps I will have.

Thank you. I had an XP-30 years ago and wasn’t too crazy about it. The XP32 should be a lot better. 
I know the C-900u is pretty wonderful.

My vote is for the Luxman. Just pop the hood and see inside how it’s made.

Pass is very great gear also, very well made, but never has been a preamp master builder . It is known for it’s class A amplifier history.

Luxman has a lot more years behind it’s back , since 1935 I believe...