Anyone auditioned Pass Labs XP-30 preamp?


Has anyone heard the XP-30 that was released a couple of weeks ago?

I have the XP-10 and just wondering how much better the XP-30 is at $16.5K? How does it stack up against the Ayre KXR preamp?
sfstereo
Hthaller,
Even if its a bit off topic here: Could you please let us know your opinion on the Pass Labs speaker SR-2 which you heard at Reno Hi-Fi? How do they compare to your Martin Logans? Are they a perfect fit for pass amps what one might expect? Your opinion would be very much appreciated.
Many thanks in advance!
BoSo27
Audiozen, I believe that someone is selling you a line of bull on the feed forward versus feedback argument. You can always achieve lower levels of measured performance with feedback loops. In critical control applications such as reactor design no one uses feed forward without having a feedback loop. With respect to amplifier design it's my understanding that you can get excellent measured performance with feedback designs. However, designs which use too much feedback don't sound as well subjectively.
You are naive if you believe Nelson Pass is unaware of these trade-offs.
Sorry - I don't check the forums all that often, but regarding the SR-2's ...

They sounded very good, indeed, but making a direct comparison is tough. The room environment was very different from my own and I was actively focused on the differences I was hearing in the electronics.

What I can tell you is that were no obvious flaws that drew attention. Very open, detailed, 3-dimensional, as you would expect from a dynamic driver system. Maybe missing a half octave at the bottom, though hard to say with the source material being used. I felt they were more seamless and "refined" than my Odyssey's, which are an older generation of ML technology, to be fair.

They are a bit pricey, though. I think retail is ~$18,000.

As you say - a bit off topic - but the last step in evolving my system was to trade the Odyssey's in on a new pair of Summit X's. I made two trips to Overture last summer and auditioned them against the Magnepan 3.7's and 20.7's. However, I did not audition any dynamic speakers that they carry. There were plenty to choose from, but was advised that to decisively better the Summit X's, I'd be looking at spending $25k and up.
Hthaller,
Thank you so much for your post!
Have fun with the Summit X´s!
I will try to listen to the SR2 myself.
The p20 does not use the so called feed forward tech sound engine yet still managed the same noise floor as p30 at 130db.
Yet the p20 performance is claimed to be 90% of the p30.
So much for the feed forward soundengine crap