2. amps-preamps
  3. 164376-156954

Disappointment with Pass Labs - I'm looking for something else

Hello, I am new to this forum and my mother tongue is not English, so please forgive me if I make mistakes as I use a translator.

I recently bought an XA30.8 and an XP12. I was very happy but as time went by I began to not feel comfortable with the sound.
After doing many tests, I find that the XA30.8 sounds very very sweet but actually too much. I find it to be a loosely defined amp, somewhat muddy and lacks a lot of air and grip. The soundstage is very closed.

The XP-12 is the worst of the two. It is a previous that removes a lot of resolution and information, without transient attacks and sunken mid frequencies. Instead it brings warmth.

Has anyone of you found the same?

If you ask me, I have a Klipsch Cornwall and a dCS BArtok.

Now I want a capable amp, forceful, something warm, decisive, airy and with a great soundstage.

At first I thought of changing my XA30.8 for X250.8, and changing the XP-12 for a second-hand Audio Research Ref5. I am afraid of this change and continue with Pass, since I can go back to the same thing a bit.

On the other hand I have thought of going for a Luxman 900 combo, since it has very good reviews and from what I have read it could be the winning ticket.
opm
cal3713's avatar
cal3713
1,421 posts
 
@opm  Nelson Pass has some amplifiers that are 2nd harmonic dominant (many of the First Watt offerings) and some that are 3rd harmonic dominant (the XA25).  He's found that roughly 1/3rd of listeners prefer each, and 1/3 don't differentiate. 

Any amplifier that has a fully balanced design will eliminate all even-ordered harmonics, and thus will be 3rd harmonic dominant.  
opm OP
40 posts
 
This happens with First Watt. I built myself a couple of ACAs and it is.
But on the XA30.8 it seems to me that it donima the second harmonic and when it leaves class A, it dominates the third.

In fact, from how the Xa30.8 sounds, it looks like a second harmoic because of its warmth and depth
matias1979
40 posts
 
I had pass amps and I think they are designed for speakers with very high detail like wilson, magico, b&w D3, etc
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,785 posts
 
Any amplifier that has a fully balanced design will eliminate all even-ordered harmonics, and thus will be 3rd harmonic dominant.  
This is what is known as a 'cubic non-linearity' as opposed to the quadratic non-linearity that expresses a dominant 2nd harmonic. Of the two, the cubic has the property of harmonics decreasing at a faster rate as their order is increased. So such circuits tend to sound more neutral since the ear assigns a tonality to all forms of distortion.
tuberist
951 posts
 
The best suggestion I have read in this thread is for you to select your speakers and then the amplification.
More to discover