Alternatives to Pass Labs

Perhaps Coda?

Harry, I'm curious if the Parasound JC-1's you auditioned were broken in? They go through phases during break-in, including bright and dull. If anything they err slightly on the sweet side of neutral, although they are revealing of other equipment in the chain.

Disclaimer: I'm a Parasound Halo dealer. That said, I purchased my JC-1's as a consumer, so maybe my comments are sprinkled with a few less grains of salt.

Brian Walsh

Symphony line gear does not come cheap, even used.

I second the notion of getting something affordable meanwhile, while you pinch your pennies towards the real deal. There is nothing like the real thing, others will try, but will never do. This is a lesson I have learned while hunting for amps. Went through about 6 amps, just to return or to purchase a pair of amps I was eyeing since before the gold egg hunt. Finally, I have gotten my Final Music 6s...after wasting a lot of money in different amps and set ups.

Yes, Pass' are pricey amps, but what is more expensive? To try to attain the Pass sound through a different brand. In the end, it will come out more expensive than you might think.

My take on this whole issue.

Now, if you do not forsee yourself getting money for a Pass in the near future, get the best amp you can get at the current budget regardless of brand and how close it sounds to a Pass.

FWIW, I never did get a chance to audition a Pass Labs amp, but last week I was able to audition a number of amps from McCormack, Theta and Edge with my Thiel CS3.6's, and my favorites were the Theta Enterprise monoblocks. The Edge NL-10 also sounded very nice, but was not as musical as Theta. Even the "little" Intrepid 5-channel sounded much better than it had a right to with my Thiels, so from what I can tell, Theta is really creating some amps worth considering at their various price points.

I think that I am going to go with Enterprises on the 3.6's, and an Intrepid for center and surrounds.

Tom.

Did you get the chance to listen to that Classe 301 or the Parasound? If not they're both worth a listen.