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

@4krowme you had me at the Pass kit to Krell comparison. 
 

 I am not saying that any one of these products sound good or bad, but I am just as interested in the build quality as the sound. I know, a rare combination.

You clearly have internet because you posted here…so Google is your friend…or whatever search engine you prefer. 

Wow. You are right... about the chassis. I will just keep googling until someone shows the guts inside. I've seen some pretty sorrowful crap inside a beautiful chassis, but I am betting that Nelson does way better than that. 

audphile1,

 Excellent response, thank you. Nothing is perfect, and in spite of the intent, the camera moves around too much to get a really focused look at certain things. I know, I am being picky. 

 Like I said earlier, the chassis is really impressive (especially the binding posts attached to the chassis!). I would want to build like this if I had the money. Making of such a chassis out of sight. Internally, it is interesting to see that it does remind me in some ways of my Forte' 3. Now this is a personal thing, but I never really did accept the use of ribbon cables, even though much of the idea is spot on. It is not the cable so much as the connectors. Unless they have a really good grip, intermittent problems can arise. Again, a thing with me but there are several Bourns pots in terms of quality that are available, and they are identical just looking at them. It was one of the problems in my Forte' before I rebuilt it. 

 So, since I have never owned an actual Pass Labs product (yet I have built a few of their kits), I cannot speak to the sound at all. My personal experience is that the Threshold power amp that I owned wasn't my thing, the next three Forte' products that I owned were absolutely great, and if I could, I would very much like to hear what these products actually sound like. They do have a great following. 

 Again, I do appreciate the video. 

@4krowme Hey not trying to prove anything here. Just found your comparison and comments odd and baseless. And they still are. Have a nice day.