pass labs xa30.5 vs aleph 3


Stereophile reveiwer Erick Lichte has done a head to head review of these pass amps in August 2009 issue. Erick uses the aleph 3 as his main amp feeding a pair or Revel f30 speakers, he also uses Benchmark Dac1 to feed the alpeh as I do as well. He was asked to do a comparison between the pass amps as a follow up to the great reveiw of the xa30.5 which was reviewed by Brian Damkroger in which,I quote "absolutely, positively,and enthusiasticallly recommended" the xa30.5 and, Brian sounds like he perfers high powered amps in the review. In the review Erick thought the Xa30.5 sounded more resolving and a little bit better bass control and can sound louder than the 30 watts. It was leaner in the midbass than the aleph 3 but, had a slightly more presents in the top three octave. he still is in love with is aleph 3 and sound like he is not planning on replacing the aleph 3 with the xa30.5. Anyways I have been waiting for a head to head review of these pass amps since the xa30.5 was released. If anyone would like to see the head to head review send me an email and I will take a high res pictures of the artical and send it to anyone. Also Erick Lichte did a head to head review of the Musical Fidelity's 550k supercharger amp and the Aleph 3 in a December 2008 issue. He concluded the aleph sounded better than the 550's by itself. He then supercharged his aleph 3 but did not like the sound. Very interesting articals about my beloved aleph 3, and a great read for aleph 3 owners. In my opinion the aleph 3 is still a giant killer and is a legend when it comes to amps.
tiverson2000
Yes, like Earflappin, I too did the XA30.5 versus Atma-sphere M60 "test", in my case with the Merlin VSM-MXe. There is no doubt that the Pass are the best SS amps (Aleph, Aleph J, and XA30.5) I have heard, yet it was not a difficult decision to choose the Atma-spheres. My feeling is that when an OTL can match up with a speaker, it is a pretty difficult combination to beat. There are maintenance issues involved with using tube amps, but there is something to the sound of tubes that I feel makes it all worthwhile. As to OP, I think that is very possible that the Aleph J (better than the original)with tube friendly speakers (highish, smooth impedance)might be every bit as good as the XA30.5; proabably becasue it is a simpler circuit with fewer parts since it is not trying to deliver more current with dipping speaker impedances.
George, my thanks to you for sharing your experience with the A-S amps, as well as to Pubul57. I had to buy the M-60 without having heard it and the conversations with you guys gave me the confidence to take that risk.

I would agree with Pubul57's conjecture about the Aleph J vs the XA30.5. Also, First Watt has come out with a new J2 amp that should sound really good as well, but the output power is fairly low.
As soon as someone has heard the J2, let us know you impressions. Sound intriguing, but it is only 25 watts, proabably 90db or higher sensitivity.
Wonder if any anybody has had the chance to compare the XA30.5 with the latest FW J2? Thanks