Pass Labs xa - .5 amps


Has anyone compared the new Pass XA-30.5 stereo amp to the XA-60.5 mono amps? Interested to hear your impressions. I am considering one (or two) these for use with my ML Vantage speakers. Thanks.

Bob R.
rmrobinson1957
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Mozvz, I responded earlier when you asked about the CJ ACT 2s synergy with the Pass. In a word, wonderful.

With the 100.5's on the Maggies now, I moved the 30.5 into my home office as an experiment. I've had the Cain and Cain Super Abbys in there for several years now and always got the best out of them with tube amps, especially SET's. The Abbys are a single driver/no crossover/fostex kind of speaker. Solid state made them sound hard and actually lose bass. Pass Labs and Mark at Renohifi both thought the 30.5 would pair nicely. I didn't think so. I was wrong. I'm listening to them now as I type. In three words: beautiful, relaxed and detailed. The XA30.5 is really a sweet amp.

Based on what you've said so far, I think you would be very happy with it.

Couple of technical points:

When switched on, it draws a little less than 200 watts from the wall. It does not heat up my office.

In standby, it draws just a few.
Standby generates no heat but keeps the caps charged so warm up is much faster.

Your CJ has a 12v trigger that can be wired to the Pass's trigger. Turning the CJ on turns the Pass on with no thumps or pops, always a concern with tube preamps.

Let us know what you decide. Good luck.
FWIW, Pass recommends balanced connections with their gear, c-j has never offered balanced connections.
Post removed 
Mozvz, I responded earlier when you asked about the CJ ACT 2s synergy with the Pass. In a word, wonderful.

With the 100.5's on the Maggies now, I moved the 30.5 into my home office as an experiment. I've had the Cain and Cain Super Abbys in there for several years now and always got the best out of them with tube amps, especially SET's. The Abbys are a single driver/no crossover/fostex kind of speaker. Solid state made them sound hard and actually lose bass. Pass Labs and Mark at Renohifi both thought the 30.5 would pair nicely. I didn't think so. I was wrong. I'm listening to them now as I type. In three words: beautiful, relaxed and detailed. The XA30.5 is really a sweet amp.

Based on what you've said so far, I think you would be very happy with it.

Onemug,

Thank you for the updated information. I am still sifting through the choices with different scenarios in an equipment change/s.

It's also good to know the single ended connections are not any different then the balanced if I keep my CJ Act 2. Thanks Tvad..