2. amps-preamps
  3. 1048670835

Classe "omega" vs Pass Labs X600

I'm in the process of buying an amp for my revel salons. i just sold an omicron and am looking to either get a classe omega which I am quite familiar with and love the sweetness and musicalness of it. I got to listemn to a Pass Labs X350 amp in California and was quite impressed. Unfortunatly there is no Pass Labs dealer in Illinois where I live so I cannot do an a-b comparison. As far as set-up goes i thinks the pass labs would be easier to deal with since they are monos and can be placed next to the speaker. The Omega is 280lbs and huge so their placement is limited. Hopefully someone out their has had dealings with both. I appreciate any and all feedback.
I will leave a list of associated equiptment since it may help give an overall idea of the sound that can be represented with either amp:
mark levinson 37 transport
meridian 861 pre-processor
revel salon speaker
valhalla interconects and speaker wire
sound applications xe 12
THANKS!!!!!
whutupyo2j
rhum_runner
36 posts
 
I think that Audio Consultants in the Chicago area is a Pass dealer. For this amount of $$, I think it would be worth a day trip/overnight to go up there and see the Pass if you think you like it.
rcrump
427 posts
 
Not familiar with the big Classe, but have several customers in Illinois who have sold Pass 600s in favor of the Parasound JC-1s.....Email me if you would like to speak with them as they don't participate here....Parasound made me a dealer for the JC-1s and have since ceased as only had the CTC preamp customers as my base....
muralman1
1,527 posts
 
Rcrump, the principal designer of the Parasound JC-1? Don't be so modest.
rcrump
427 posts
 
Muralman1, something we at CTC learned with the preamp project is that it takes excellence in electrical design, parts and layout to make anything really kick ass....The JC-1 started as an absolutely unlistenable Parasound HCA-3500 Curl sent me to play with....I spent five horrible days listening to it before I got my hands dirty......The major problem turned out to be an undersized Vishay resistor and a year later (and 200 parts changes) we had a very nice sounding amp....Parasound found out about the amp at the CES and approached the team to do a mono block HCA-3500....The modified HCA-3500 and the JC-1 use exactly the same parts and circuit and the JC-1s eat the modified HCA-3500 on account of the wonderful layouts that Carl Thompson did....Curl is the principal designer of the JC-1, but it would not be the same product without attention to parts and layouts......Sorry to go on, but we all did the best we could and there are three parts to the puzzle....
nealhood
199 posts
 
I am sure the JC-1 is an excellent amplifier. Hopefully this will be echoed for years to come and the amplifier will maintain its status. It does make me wonder however, what recourse one might have who purchased one of these "unlistenable" Parasound 3500 amplifiers? Seems to me that any company, or individual, possessing any integrity would offer to change or correct this "unlistenable" discrepancy especially since the main culprit was just a Vishay resistor. I doubt Parasound or the 3500 designer informed any prospective buyers that the amplifier was unlistenable. Was a recall or revision issued on this amplifier?
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