HELP ADVICE FEEDBACK PS Audio BHK 300 - Hegel H30 - Pass Labs X250.8 or Pass X350.5 amp

All that matters is that you can tell the difference.  Wish there were more blind tests done, but I don't doubt given there are moving parts that things can change.  Enjoy!

I think like most things the actual truth is probably somewhere in the middle give or take a bit each way. We staunch break-in believers more than likely attach more to break-in when many other factors im sure are contributing overall. Like our brains acclimating to the new and different sound im sure plays are larger roll than we can understand or appreciate I'm sure.

I'm excited to try this new Hegel H30 amp. 

I have made plenty of mistakes and part of the fun for me is my not worrying about making the mistakes. Well as long as the new buys are grounded in relative, data driven, intelligent purchase decisions. Obviously buying used allows this bring em in and if not what I was hoping move them out approach possible.

I know today it is not nearly as easy to do as it was a decade ago but still if one is patient it can work. Moreover, the opposite it true also (me doing an amp deal before even getting to hear my pre with old amp) as I must be willing to jump early. I think both patience and the willingness to jump when not ready is what can allow the coming and goings possible with regards to making audio mistakes and keeping them form becoming monetary mistakes. 

The goal is getting closer to the music but also making what I think is informed decisions without fear of being wrong. 

My thinking was this at this point. I am looking to push and get a bit closer to the music while not getting to close so to say. We are always looking for the equilibrium. Some warmth but not too warm as we don't want to loose that detail. Immediate but not in your face. We want that depth but not too far back. We want to lighten up with entire stage without being too bright. Liquid but not too smooth. A dap of coolness for the detail but not being clinical. We all know there is no free lunch and synergy is key to oh so many moving parts before we even consider break-in and the like.

I've been looking for a pre but in a certain price range. If money was no object things would be much easier but still not easy.

So the Pass X350.5 is known as a warm, powerful and beautiful sounding amp. An excellent amp in any event. 

The Levinson No.326s is a very good solid state preamp but the knock on it seems to be its known to be a little laid back and not the most vivid or exciting but it excels at most everything else.

It seems if your system is already a bit warm and could use a little infusion of vividness or immediacy then thing pre will not push it forward but it is otherwise thought of very fondly. Much of it is like the great No.32 preamp which most everyone loves.

My thought with the Hegel H30 is to get an amp that is a bit more immediate, dynamic, transparent and a bit more more resolving and this may match the Levinson No.326s a bit better and I maybe able to get a bit closer to that elusive equilibrium we all are looking for.

Sure it is tough to part with the outstanding and beautiful sounding Pass X350.5 but you know the saying - no pain no gain so I'm taking a shot. The safe would be to keep the gorgeous sounding X350.5. 

Trust me I don't claim to be some expert that has all the answers. I am the exact opposite. Not on purpose but I understand but I'm really just sort of just throwing darts but honestly unless you hear in your own system with your own gear that's really all any if us are really doing. I'm trying to do in a way that if it doesn't work well then bring on the next one but I hope it does as I keep learning and hope I score on a much higher percentage of these shots!  Thats may take anyways...

    

Got the Mark Levinson No.326s preamp today. Wow what an upgrade. It’s really my first reall good solid state Preamp. I’ve had tons tube preamps and loved most of them in my other systems but what a nice add this Preamp was.

What I like the most is that it took what I liked most about running my Bricasti direct and really improved upon that. Very nice. I had a quite a few people say this or that about this Preamp but it’s quite vivid and impressive. People stated it’s sort of laid back but not in my system. Hope it matches his well with the Hegel H30. If not serves me right for pulling trigger on an amp deal before hearing this match because it’s an excellent match! Made the Pass X350.5 less warm and more linear - go figure! 

You would get a ton of bang-for-the-buck improvement if you upgraded your microRendu to a SOtM SMS-200 Ultra with tX-USB Ultra and master reference clock like the Mutec Ref10.