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Pass Then vs. Pass Now

Hi 'Goners. 

Long time lurker, first time poster hoping to receive some wisdom from the community. Thinking about an upgrade (aren't we all?) Currently powering Devore Gibbon 3xl with a Rogue Audio Sphinx v3 and am inclined to try out some class A solid state amplification. I was a long time happy owner of a little Adcom GFA535. (I bought it in college in '88 and just let go of it two years ago!) That got me interested in trying out another Pass design. I have been weighing a Threshold400A vs. an XA30.8

Anyone have experience with Devore Gibbons and either of those amps, or thoughts on whether the newer PASS is worth triple the going price of the vintage  piece?

Open to any other suggestions on where to go from here with the system as well. For discussion, I  live in an apartment and use it almost exclusively for vinyl. I am a musical omnivore. The front end is a Clearaudio Performance DC with Tracer tonearm and Hana SL running through a Pro-Ject Tube Box DS2. If I upgrade the amp I plan to continue to use the tube pre in the Rogue Audio integrated, for now. 

Thank you in advance for your input. Your time is much appreciated.

Shawn

theschwartz
audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,386 posts
 

Threshold Is without a doubt a good amp. Problem with vintage amps is if you need parts replaced. Those oil can capacitors, other parts. Are these amps even supported today? Shipping that amp for a repair will cost a few bucks as well.
This alone can bridge the price gap. This is all not factoring into the equation that the new XA design takes advantage of modern technology, years of lessons learned and readily available parts and awesome Pass customer service. 

theschwartz OP
3 posts
 

Thanks! I am leaning towards the XA30.8 for many of the reasons stated here. I think I needed to hear someone say that it is in another league above the Rogue sound that I have been listening to (and enjoying - that Sphinx punches way above its class). 

While I love the idea of vintage gear, I am also not that technically inclined myself so I would have to pay for maintenance and deal with the headache. I live in NYC so there are enough local resources to do the job but they are awfully pricey.  Reliability is why I am sticking to solid state in the first place.

That said, the Threshhold sounds like a bargain at the price and one for which there will always be a market if it doesn't work out... 

audphile1's avatar
audphile1
4,386 posts
 

Seek out a Pass XP-12 preamp in the future if you land the XA30.8. Keeping the synergy between components is very important. 

ghdprentice
6,535 posts
 

I have owned Pass since the Threshold s500, then x350 up until fairly recently. I can say unhesitatingly, contemporary Pass amps are tremendously better than the ancient Threshold. The character of the Threshold or his newer xSeries are similar… emphasizing power over finesse. XA is more about finesse over massive power.

So, given what you have, your interests and where you are, I would definitely recommend an XA30.x. This will be in line with a more musical fleshed out tone. Sounds like a good match for you.

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,261 posts
 

Another vote for getting the XA30.8. Using the Sphinx as a preamp is doable, but won’t you be running the output section as well? I’m pretty sure it will be okay being as it’s a class d output, but I’d check with Rouge Audio and make sure you won’t muck up something by running it without a load ( speakers ).

Anyway, if you like it, great, you have a system you like and if not, you should be able to sell the V3 and get a different preamp.

All the best.

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