Mcintosh 452 vs Pass Labs XA 30.5

I'm also interested in some first hand experience of the MC452/MC152 vs. XA series. Seems like so far it's just conflicting hyperbole of them both taking turns blowing each other out of the water. Can someone describe what the difference is that's making one better than the other? What is the key difference between the Mac and Pass house sound?

One of the things mentioned is that the Mac is slow, but from everything I've read, the MC452/MC152 generation is the fastest of the Macs...

I auditioned them both many times. I did own different XA monos in the past. When I audition the Mcintosh with my own music I always miss depth and width regarding the stage. The diversity in sound with the Pass is a lot better. It reveals also moere layers in the middle frequencies.

You never will see a show where people can hear them both wiht the same amps, sources and cables? This is how silly audio is. At the end it is all about shootout. Most are only interested in their own stuff and will not allow you to compare them.

It would be so much better if they become a lot more open and honest to audio lovers. I wrote it many times when they want to they can imply parameters. But they will not do this. They want audio to staf as fague as possible. So people have no idea about sound and music. It becomes a lot more easy to sell what they want.

They don’t care about the truth and best quality. They only focus on how much money they can make. When they want to give the audio busienss a boast they need to stop with all those lies. And create better products for customers.

Ive owned a Pass int-250, mc9000 and a luxman... The pass was the best when it came to overall sound. I liked the Ma9000 next and the Luxman 509x was crap. Sounded like cheap Yamaha gear to me. I hate the way Pass gear looks (great build but just stupid looking).  That being said I always find myself going back to Mcintosh. I LOVE the way they look, and I also love what they do with the human voice. I listen to allot of music but I also listen to a ton of talk radio and how an amp renders voices is SUPER important to me. Currently running a Schiit Frey + (spectacular preamp) with a Mcintosh mc452 into a set of JBL 4365's. And I love it. 

There are great sounding and well built MacIntosh products and great sounding well built Pass products. Most of the time their owners are great people too. A lot of people own both. But so much of the time these threads end up more about ego and feeling superior vs facts. Too bad. We have so much to learn from each other.

I have a modest pass syetem and have owned older mcintosh. Maybe not a comparison but I find the Pass Adelph 3 and Pass L pre very addictive. Sound just seems to hang in a very holographic way.