pass aleph vs x series


Aside from power, do they share the same sound characteristic and general design/specs?
samuellaudio
I listened to quite a lot of the new Pass amps and honestly, they are boring compared to the Aleph 0 (when used with a proper speaker).
No life, no breathing, no body, no holographic picture, just normal clean hifi. I can not listen to them longer than 30 min, then I need a break.
But they look cool :)
I would have to agree with Rayhall with comparison between the Aleph Os and X350.5. Since my last post, I had upgraded my speakers to a pair of Verity Parsifal Encores. After consulting with Verity Audio to make sure that the Aleph Os has enough juice to drive these in my room, I hooked them up thinking that the X350.5 was probably an overkill (in terms of power) for these speakers.

The Aleph Os sounded exactly like what Rayhall had described. But my suspecion, confirmed by other Parsifal owners as well, is that these speakers required more power to make them sing then what's stated on the spec sheet. So our observation may be attributed more to the Aleph Os running out of steam than anything else. Once I hooked the X350.5 back, the speakers were singing again.

Since I have the Aleph Os out, I've meant to hook it to some smaller, more efficient speakers just to double check to make sure the amp is OK since it's more than 10 years old.

FrankC
FWIW. I prefer the sound of the X series to the Alephs, but, I prefer the looks of the Alephs to the X series.
i was thinking about to trade my alephs O Monos for a x350.5 without ever have heard one. It would have been a 0$ exchange, more or less.
Just because of the fact that i have immense faith in what Mr. Pass is developping.

Here's what went through my head

1. my speakers don't need more than 70 watts, they are 89db, 4 ohms floorstanders with no critical impendance moves... I've ran them on 70w on 4 ohm tube gear before.
2. my room is just big enough to cool down the alephs. :)
3. i have a 1to1 comparison of my speakers with other gear in the quality range of the 350.5, according to high end magazines, and would NEVER trade the amps.
4. my amps came fresh out of overhauling at a certified dealer when i bought them a year ago

for all that, i refused to trade them... all the time i was investigating on the internet i was playing my gear plenty loud, without 1 minute of getting tired of what they did. This was in fact the most important reason why i stopped my trading activities.
Nevertheless, i would love to compare the Alephs to the new Pass amps. especially the xa 160(.5). Unfortunately it's kind of hard finding them for a reasonable price and with support getting them into your house. Maybe, one lucky day...

Regards
Marco