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Pass INT-30A with Acoustic Zen Adagio

I'm currently using a Pass INT-30A with a pair of Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers.  Based on all review I've read, the reviews of both the speakers and the amp led me to believe that this would be a very smooth, musical combination.  However, I'm finding it to be rather analytical.  Good recordings sound fantastic, but any recordings that are just a hair short of spectacular come across as sounding very bad.  This is not what I was looking to get into, having only a portion of my music that I can listen to due to this problem.  

I have been racking my brain for days now trying to decide if I should switch out the amp or the speakers.  The amp does so many things so well, but so do the speakers.  I was considering a pair of LSA2 towers, since I used to own the LSA1 bookshelves and found them to be the smoothest, most musical speakers I've ever owned.  On the other hand, I could swap out the amp and go back to tubes and get that smoothness back that way.

Has anyone had experience with this amp, the speakers, or even both in combination?
jwglista
marco1's avatar
marco1
519 posts
 
Used tubes off and on for 50 years.  Switched a few times to SS and then back to tubes. Most recently switched to the 30a and couldn't be happier.  Using mine with Merlin's and find the sound devine.  
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
I used a Pass INT30A with a pair of Focal 1007Be and it was very smooth and detailed. Prior to the INT30A I had a Cary SLI-80F1 and the Pass was much better throughout the audio spectrum; I sold the Cary. Sources are a modded Sony scd-1 and VPI Classic TT with a Herron VTPH-2 phono-stage all HGA cabling SIlver DNA interconnects and x32 Speaker Cables. I listen mostly to classical and female jazz vocals.

Chuck
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,637 posts
 
Anyone want to comment on the Pass INT30 & INT 60 models?

Keep  me posted & Happy Listening!
nekoaudio's avatar
nekoaudio
489 posts
 
May I suggest Musical Fidelity as another option? Lower price point that McIntosh and similar sound. I think you may find them less analytical than the Pass. I might also suggest Simaudio or Ayre but those are in the same price range as McIntosh.

Can you find a local dealer that would let you try out at home for a while?

I'm currently using a Musical Fidelity integrated amp with a pair of Adagios and think it works very well. I also lean more towards the warm, analog side of things.
jwglista OP
206 posts
 
I am currently demoing a Rogue Audio Cronus Magnum II integrated.  I am noticing the same thing I did when I used my PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium with the Adagios.  There is a bit of grain somewhere in the treble that these speakers seem to emphasize.  Overall, the Pass is clearly the better amplifier, but the rogue is more forgiving of poor recordings.  But not all is good; for example, the higher octaves of stringed instruments sounds rather strident and aggressive through the Rogue, whereas on the Pass they are presented very well. 

At this point since I am using two different amplifiers and neither of them seem to fit the bill totally for these speakers, I think I should take that as a sign that the speakers need to go.  I think my ears may just have an issue with ribbon tweeters.  I had this same problem with my previous speakers, the Golden Ear Triton Three.  I am probably better off with something that implements a smooth treble using a silk dome tweeter.  It seems harder to find speakers that are voiced more towards a musical sound rather than analytical, since "more detail" is probably what sells.
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