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Pass XA-160 and Avalon Eidolon

I'm thinking about purchasing the xa-160's, because of the raving reviews.

I heard the spectral 360's on the Eidolon's and found myself getting tired after about 2 hours of listening. Was to 'fast' for me?

Therefor I'm thinking about the xa-160's; a warmer and more lush sound, but still great control and dynamics.

Any experience in this combination??

Any other (pass, or others) SS suggestions, that sound controlled, a little warm and dynamic but not tiring??

Thanks for your reaction.
johnpf4
czbbcl's avatar
czbbcl
1,752 posts
 
I would think a conrad johnson premier 350 would be a good fit. I believe Martin Colloms used a pair of Eidolon Diamonds when he reviewed the 350. You can find a copy of the review on cj's website. Here is the link

http://www.conradjohnson.com/It_just_sounds_right/reviews.html
kurt_tank
1,189 posts
 
The Lamm M2.2s (220 wpc) are (almost) exactly what you described. They have tight control over the sound, are a little warm, and very dynamic. The only thing is that it is not exactly a solid state amp. It is a hybrid amp that has one 6922 type tube in each monoblock. (However, having one tube is obviously not a big deal, and it gives you the opportunity to tailor the sound to your exact tastes.)

My friend uses these in his system, also with the Eidolons, and it sounds fantastic.
Plenty of power, tight control over the bass response, great treble response (tons of decay to the cymbals!), and a mid-range that has just the right touch of that old tube magic, so vocals sound great.
(I was so impressed with the change brought about by these amps in his system, that I found myself a pair of used M2.1s (the 200 wpc predecessor to the M2.2s) to use with my Revel Studios. A great match with them too!)

My two cents worth!
Good Luck in your search!
johnsonwu
469 posts
 
Depending on your room size you may or may not need 160Ws of class A power.

I have Eidolons driven by VAC PHI 70 monos, sometimes with Canary 309 (similar tube config) , and sometimes
counterpoint Natural Progression Mono w AltaVista upgrades.

I also have a good friend with Ascent IIs driven by Pass 350.5. My impression of the Pass .5 is that it's almost as good as it gets with Solid State. Plenty of well controlled bass to feed the hungry Ascent IIs. The Pass also has the added plus of not tiring to the ears.

Now back to Eidolons. I dont think Eidolons need a lot of bass control power / current (which the Spectrals are known for with Ascents and Radians). You need a pair of SMOOTH tube amps (Conrad Johnson too thick, Audio Research not smooth enough) such as VAC. I had the Vintage 100 Monos driving the Eidolons for a while before I bought the PHI 70s as my main reference.

A summary of my opinion: For Eidolons you do not need too much power, you need a good solid 50 Watts of smooth and stable music power, that's it.

-j. wu
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