You've tried other amps and ended with Pass, please discuss

but @erik_squires if that were true, that this was all about broadly uncovering the journey we all take in discovering what we like and how we arrived where we did etc... wasn’t it quite arbitrary to select Pass as the gear to specifically reflect on? If you had posted the above framework in your original post, without "arbitrarily" selecting one brand this whole conversation wouldn’t be so off-putting to every Pass owner.

and here's the funny thing...I have an XA30.8 that I really enjoy in the way it fits in my system.  I really don't care much for any Pass amps outside the XA series and I definitely don't like the Pass pre's as I feel they are a bit too hifi-ish for my listening priorities.  I wouldn't like my XA30.8 if I weren't pairing it with a tube linestage and tube phono stage.  The XA30.8 gives my system better bottom grip when needed compared to a tube amp but still gives me a tube-like Class A sound I like.

In a 2nd system I have a Cary SLI-80HS.  The SLI-80 is the only piece of gear that I think Cary ever got truly right in its history.  I'm not married to the house sound of any manufacturer and am very deliberate and discriminating about which components find their way into my system.  To cast a net over Pass (or any other brand for that matter) and ask people to reflect on why they ended on that brand isn't really asking the right question if what you really want to know is how certain components incrementally provided the full sonic experience we were seeking or are on the path to achieving.  

It was quite arbitrary, so what?

In particular it was because I hear a lot of Pass fans who talk about it as a closed ecosystem as if no other amp exists and I was very curious to learn about how they got there or left.

That's the privilege of the poster. :)



Best,

E

like dpac996 above, I’m reading with amusement the answers to the questions along with the ax-grinding posts referring to who-knows-what drama from other threads. I’m interested in the answers to the questions as someone who is a potential future Pass owner, regardless of what labels someone may attach to me as a result. I’m relatively new to the pursuit of what I would term ‘complete’ sound out of my system, so I’m very interested in others’ journeys, and their hits and misses along the way. My current area of interest is primarily pre amps, and I’m likely to add a tube pre to my otherwise SS setup, since I’ve read so much about the success others have had with that. I read here with great interest about a ‘theme’ I’ve heard with the XA amps bringing ‘tube-like’ sound to SS components. Ignore the stupidity, and please keep posting answers to the original question, those who can.
thanks

I have owned a few Pass components and my reasons are the following:
- Great amercian company 
- Great customer service 
- Love the looks & physical qualities
- Owning something that Nelson Pass creatived. He's a cool guy and my age. He's like a mad scientist!
- I love the sound of Pass Labs equipment. Obviously if I didn't like their sound all of the above wouldn't matter.