Kosst thinks that his Pass Labs F5 amp is the greatest thing in the world. And for him, that may be true. He has also touted that his system with his Focal speakers can beat almost anything out there. That perception may have some truth in it, but there is also the element of system synergy. The Pass full "Class A" circuit will have a very neutral sound, but also warm and a very thick midrange/midbass. The Focal speakers tend to have a somewhat thin and hollow sounding midrange/midbass. The combination of these two things is an example of how the thin sounding Focal is compensating for the extra thick sounding midrange of the Pass (or vice-versa depending on how you look at it).
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In looking at other amps, I just heard a set of mid level Focals with the new Classe Audio amplifiers. They are Class AB monoblocks and it definitely showed how the Focals were somewhat thin/hollow in the midrange and, therefore, seemed too bright because there was too much up top (in the high frequencies). That’s a Class AB amp. The Bryston amps (which are about the closest thing to Class B) would be a severely bad match with the Focal speakers (and a lot of other speakers as well).
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The Pass Labs full "Class A" amps may not be a great match for every speaker or every listener. In this case, you’ll need to think about what speakers you have and what sources and then decide what kind of sound your ultimately after.
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In looking at other amps, I just heard a set of mid level Focals with the new Classe Audio amplifiers. They are Class AB monoblocks and it definitely showed how the Focals were somewhat thin/hollow in the midrange and, therefore, seemed too bright because there was too much up top (in the high frequencies). That’s a Class AB amp. The Bryston amps (which are about the closest thing to Class B) would be a severely bad match with the Focal speakers (and a lot of other speakers as well).
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The Pass Labs full "Class A" amps may not be a great match for every speaker or every listener. In this case, you’ll need to think about what speakers you have and what sources and then decide what kind of sound your ultimately after.