Pass XA25 or Pass XA 30.8
You may want to check out my comments as well as others on this recent thread: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/you-ve-tried-other-amps-and-ended-with-pass-please-discuss I believe it will be a very long time before I get the itch again to buy another amp. The pairing of a XA30.8 with a VAC preamp is magical for me. |
@bobheinatz I arrived at Pass after owning a Decware Torii Mk IV (fun amp, and great conversation piece!) I figured I’d give the Pass line a quick try, and started with the XA30.5. I loved it! When I think back on the XA30.5, I remember it eclipsed the Torii in every way, but the mids and highs were sweet like the Torii never was. I didn’t own the XA30.5 for very long, because everything I read about the XA30.8 said it was better; especially in the bass region. It was, with one caveat; the mids and highs, while warm and detailed, didn’t have that same sweetness of the XA30.5. Overall I’d describe the XA30.8 being smooth, slightly warm, detailed, and as having decent bass. The mids and highs can have a very magical sound that seems to hang in the air, especially on acoustic music. If there is just one thing I could change with the XA30.8, it would be the bass. While the bass is good, it just doesn’t have the last bit of slam and drive that larger amps have (though it is arguably unmatched on almost every other part of the spectrum). That said, the XA30.8 doesn’t sound like tubes, it is it’s own animal. But, what tubes do well, the XA30.8 seems to do better; and the things that tubes don’t do very well (bass for instance), the XA30.8 does A LOT better. It would be difficult for me to imagine a scenario where someone going from a tube amp to the XA30.8 is disappointed. I haven’t heard the XA25, but according to some members on the forum, it surpasses the XA30.8 in a lot of ways. |
