Should I Sell My ARC REF 6 and Get A Pass Labs XP-32

@curiousjim, LOL!  Yeah I bought my REF 6 (not SE) with a full set of replacement tubes.

@sleeeepguy thanks for your input, especially since you and I have similar systems. The combo of the 250.8 and the Sabrina X's and the ARC REF 6 has been great for me.  I guess ultimately, I just have to put it in the system and see what my ears think!

@speedthrills, thanks for your input too!  Although the XP10 is way down the food chain from the XP32 and is probably not a fair comparison.  However, based on my own experience, I can tell you that the jump up to the REF 6 from the LS28SE was a big one for me. As usual, as you climb the latter, you typically get more of everything.  So if I ultimately go for the XP32, you should get my REF 6 with the spare tube set and sell your LS28SE! :)

@moto_man my speakers are Wilson Audio Sabrina. You can see my system with pictures in my profile.
One other finding worth mentioning…the preamp section of my Bricasti M3 DAC is very good. Yet the XP22 beat it in soundstage and musicality/engagement factor and it sounds more natural top to bottom. Running the DAC direct into amps was all about transparency and detail. But it was flat with less body and not as engaging compared to running the preamp. There’s synergy with running all Pass Labs amplification.

Also, I changed the Sovtek 6550 power tube to EH and that cleared things up a bit but I still preferred the XP22.

Hope this helps.

I love my 60.8 monoblocks and the XP-32

I’ve had the XP20 and I currently have ARC SS gear, the LS10 and D240.

The XP20 was honestly a straight gain tool no features to speak of, ultimately I sold it and moved to the musicality of the ARC set.

You may find you like both because they do different things to their music signal. Try to demo the XP32 without selling your ARC gear.

Good luck with your tests.

@OP. Given the way geopolitics are evolving, I would be concerned about the availability of 6H30 tubes. For what it's worth, I recently did an extensive A/B comparison of an AR Reference 2 Phonostage v a Pass XP 27. The Ref 2 was good - especially on simple material where it had that slightly larger than life presentation that I often hear in tube gear. But on anything more complex, the XP 27 was better - more detail, more refined tonally, and more dynamic.

That's a limited comparison in terms of the preamps, but it does give a bit of insight into as the AR Preamps and Pass Pres have a fairly consistent design philosophy, respectively. I have an XP32 and it's an excellent preamp and, obviously, works very well with the Pass power amps.