I had the same experience as laaudionut with my Pass XA60.8 amps and XP22 preamp. The XP22 was nice, it was plenty detailed and has some nice features, but I was missing an emotional connection with the music. After much research, I contacted Aric who built me a special balanced version of his Motherlode preamp. It is now listed as the Motherlode XL. It mates beautifully with my Pass amps and has brought a much higher level of musical enjoyment. Plus, it is less expensive than the XP22.
I'm so thrilled with my preamp, that Aric is now building me a pair of higher power monoblocks with all the best parts available. I can't wait to hear them!