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What's a good alternative to Pass Labs?

Owner of the x250.5 (pass labs). It's a remarkable amplifier, it just doesn't seem to synergize all that well with my speaker. Something a little less bright (a little more forgiving) and something slightly less warm. It seems to get warmest in the mid-bass (bloat), and brightest of course in the higher treble. The mid-bass warmth/bloat exists at lower as well as higher volumes, the brightness starts to get bad at louder volumes. I think they that Pass is a warm neutral, so perhaps i'm just looking for something that's just neutral. Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

budget less than $10k. used or new ok.
coloneltushfinger
coloneltushfinger OP
31 posts
 
Hey Tom6897, can you link me to the review that called them shouty? I don't think I across that one.
zavato's avatar
zavato
1,410 posts
 
I'm familiar with your amp and preamp. Your issue is your preamp/dac. I think this is the 1st time I've ever heard anyone describe the x250.5 as bright.

I'm not familiar with your speakers.

If you want a forgiving amp, look for so,etching with tubes,,but not AR
jesusa0
155 posts
 
Why don´t you try an external power supply unit with the Mac Mini. Thus you will avoid distortion coming from the Mac.

Daniel
tls49's avatar
tls49
1,351 posts
 

I'm in agreement with the others, as I find it hard to believe the Pass amp is the problem. This review on the Pass Labs X250.5 describes the high frequencies as natural, which has been my experience with other Pass products.

This may be the review for your T+A Criterion TCD 110 S that Tom is referring to. The part about being "shouty" is toward the end, but prior to the "Conclusion" section.

IMHO, the issues you describe are not related to each other, so making a single change will not solve both problems. As Peterayer suggests, speaker/room interaction may be a problem.

If you don't use the subs, do you still have the mid-bass bloat? Also, curious as to the cables you are using, digital, IC's, and SC's.
tom6897's avatar
tom6897
1,484 posts
 
Tls49 is correctnwith the link: here isk the paragraph in question~ "When I moved on to Lara Ruggles’s “Snowflake,” also from Sony’s AR1 SACD Sampler, I found that voices through the Criterions sounded less colored than through my reference B&W 802 Diamonds. The T+As’ midrange actually reminded me a lot of what I heard while listening to this track through Wilson Audio’s Sophia 3s -- Ruggles’s voice was vibrant, with excellent timing and depth, but also a bit harder and cooler at higher volume levels than through the PMCs or B&Ws. This brings me to my one and only criticism of the Criterions: Like the Wilsons, when the T+As are pushed hard, the upper midrange can sound a bit tilted up and teeter on sounding sharp, most notably with female voices. That’s not to say that their tweeters become noticeable, as do the Sophias’ -- they don’t -- but with some recordings, the Criterions’ CD arrays could sound a hint shouty".
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