Stereophile, Pass Integrated and personal taste


Stereophile has reviewed another Pass product, the Int-25, and again I found the distortion signatures super interesting:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/pass-labs-int-25-integrated-amplifier-measurements

I wonder if it is possible that such a signature could be something some fall in love with and some are pushed away from?


Best,

E
erik_squires
This is an interesting thread from both sides. 

There is no denying that Nelson Pass is a legend in audio design along with the other famous circuit jockeys, Bob Carver, John Curl. 

There are a couple of disturbing points if Nelson sent out a series of products that he knew were under performing that is pretty poor that he rushed the product to market when he knew the product could and should be better. 

As per Dpac prefering Pass, that is his opinion with his matching gear, the Pass signature tends to be a bit laid back the Luxman is a more neutral sound, so it would all depend on cables, dac, speakers, room acoustics.

Pass is but one excellent choice if you like their sound, styling, size, Class of operation, and in the case of his Class A designs the heat output. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ


jsautter, what is your system; what speakers are you running and which Berning? I can certainly see how/why you might select another amp as preferred over the past Pass designs. No secret that people have strong preferences as to make and sound signature. 

How do you think the Berning would do with my Kingsound King III electrostatic speakers? My initial reaction to looking at the specs is that I think it would choke. Perhaps that is mistaken, but I am open to being corrected if Ihave missed something about the Berning amp's in relation to driving something let's say a bit different than a Sadurni. So, what if it could not drive the King III anywhere near as well as the Pass? Does that make the Pass light years better? 

In other words, generalizations about which amp/manufacturer is better would be more helpful if speakers were included to give some perspective. I use a variety of speakers along the spectrum, so an amp that can drive all with authority is very important to me. In many cases amps with robust power can drive all the speakers well enough, but lack the erudite nature of the finer amps. On the other hand, several along the lines of the Berning, at about 100 or so Watts have been utterly incapable of driving the King III well. 
Holy smokes; why are people jumping to conclusions that Pass knowingly rushed an inferior design to market? Fsonicsmith please list your sources otherwise we might conclude your summary may be based on phrases taken out of context.
 I read the article listed here on OP’s link and there is no discussion of input circuit topology; There is a brief conversation about degeneration in output stages and their known trade offs, but nothing that suggests Pass Labs pushed bad designs into production. Again, please list a link to this material!
Thanks

I’d love to hear an INT 25; I really like the approach they took with the output stage topology; reminds me of Gamut or Dartzeel;


Me too, honestly.  I have no idea how this sounds, but very curious as to how those measurements will translate into sound for me.

Best,
E