Krell Evolution or Pass XA.5 series

This is a very old thread of mine. Not as relevant as it was. I happen to find the Pass XA series to be excellent but the Krell EVO line very life like in speed and transparency. I never heard the Pass XA on medium efficiency speakers that go down to 3 ohms. But the XA30.5 I heard on some monitors was something of a special seductive sound. The best I heard Krell EVO was on their Modulari speakers. Something special but leaning away from organic towards the transparent/neutral side of things. Maybe a touch cold in comparison. But these are short listening opportunities that came up under unfamiliar conditions. Speakers at the time were Maxx 2s.

Pete, I do not own the XA.5 series. I owned the 150.5 (and prior to that a straight 150 for a short time) and an Aleph 5 (which I bought specifically for my Gemme speakers but also have listened to it with W/Ps). I have heard the XA.5 series and I do think they are excellent amps. I like Pass amps, but I like them best in class A and find that when they go from class A to A/B they do not perform in the same manner as when they are operating in class A. I can highly recommend Pass amps and my suggestion or caveat is that one buys them on the basis of how much power they need and will be better off knowing that that power can be delivered in class A as much as possible (with the Pass amps). Since I am currently in the market for another amp, the Pass XA series has been on my list, but in the end I doubt I will go that route.

Well in my previous post I had the Wilson Maxx as speakers. I now changed the speakers to Wilson Sasha. I changed the amps to Pass XA160.5. But recently I bought the Krell EVO600 mono blocks and they play much more life like on the Sasha. The bass is tight and has slam. Also the mids are very clear and open. Compared to the Pass it is much more dynamic and clear and open.

So in this case I preferred the Krell EVO set. I am now going to sell the Pass.

So what is better depends on your configuration. Pass and Krell are both excellent amps. The Krell is more expensive but can sound better in some systems. In other systems the Pass may sound better. With electrostatic speakers or very analytical speakers with ceramic drivers the Pass might just add some musicality.

So try before you buy. The matching with the speakers is the most important and of course what you want to hear.

Peter

Krellfan said: "with ceramic drivers the Pass might just add some musicality."

I think this is in general a good statement. Overall, I too prefer the Krell based on past and present ownership of the two brands. Those 160.5's are great amps and deliver a lot of power in Class A mode. Personally, I like the FPB-C Series best for the Krells. I did have good experience with the 300-C and Thiel, but in the end I prefered the Levinson with the Thiels as the Krell could become a bit strident with them (as referenced above by Krellfan).

The key to getting the best bass is going to come more from the room characteristics than the amp (between these two) in my opinion.

Either the Pass or Krell will beat the other when one is in a well treated room and the other is not. If you don't already have this addressed, you may want to look into this first as no amp can have great bass in a bad sounding room!