Pass Labs AMP’s- What is the best Pass Amp Sound for You from past 10 years

With Wilson’s you want x250.8 

Kind of disappointed that more Pass owners didn't join in and discuss their amps.  I have Pass on my radar lately.  I guess we could just go ahead and give the stock answer "Pass owners are too busy enjoying their systems to write about them".

I believe my speakers are on the border of medium and low efficiency, so I was wondering if anyone who has the XA25 that found they could use a little more power.  So far it seems enough power for everyone who has written about the amp.

Nelson Pass is a true genius when it comes to solid state amplification.  I have been a life long owner of Threshold SA-1 mono-blocks, Aleph 1 mono-blocks, XA-100.5 mono-blocks, reviewed and bought the XA-60.8 mono-blocks, XA-25, and reviewed both the class A integrated amplifier and the 250.8 single chassis amp.

Recently I have gotten two pristine refurbished Threshold s/350e and a s/550e which still are wonderful amplifiers.

As I stated in my review on the XA-25, also made it a product of the year award winner, even though its the least expensive of the current .8 series amps its my personal favorite because of its rendering of timbres/tonality, and the image density that it creates.  It also drops over 60 watts into 8 ohms and 120 watts into 4 ohms, so unless you drive very difficult speaker loads you might be shocked on how much power it can drop if needed.

I love/enjoy all my Pass Labs amplifiers and feel lucky that they are part of my stable of amplifiers.

Hi teajay, did you mean above that the XA25 is your favorite .8 series amp or your favorite of all pass amps? If its not your favorite and I am not inadvertently putting you on the spot do you mind me asking which is? Thanks

I'm thinking this may not be a fair question.

Hey Jetter,

When Nelson Pass has been asked what is his all time favorite amplifier that he created/designed he says all of them!

As I stated it's my personal favorite of the .8 generation of amplifiers.  However, I have a soft spot in my audiophile heart for the Threshold SA-1 mono-blocks because they too were warm,full, and sweet sounding but with great dynamics.

I forget to mention I also own a First Watt SIT2 that's also a wonderful music maker.  Each of Nelson's creations offer slightly different "flavors" and the matching of the amps with the right speaker load also is very important.  I loved the XA-25 on Tekton Double Impacts-pure magic, but found that my much larger 21 driver ULf's, that are easy to drive but love high current, did not match up as well with the XA-25 that's were the X-250.8 sounded better.

So, it's not the amplifier in isolation, but the matching/synergy to different speaker loads that tells the tail of the sonic tape.  Still, the XA-25, with the right speakers is a "gem" of an amplifier at a reasonable price.