Trafomatic Audio Reference 300B monos

Have you auditioned Pass Labs' XA30.8 yet Pani?

Not yet F1a, but I have my eyes on it. The dealer near me doesnt have it for demo yet.

Yeah, quite the rave at Dagogo by a fellow WAVAC owner! Intriguing...

Have you auditioned Pass Labs' XA30.8 yet Pani?

f1a, I finally did get to listen to the x30.8 in my system. It is a very clean and controlled sound with very good dynamics. It does not sound like a 30 watter at all, in fact it sounds more like a 120 watt amp. Soundstage is typically American, deep and wide. Noise floor is very low. Overall a very balanced sound but! 2 things that disappointed me enough not to buy them:

1. It is tonally a bit dark. It is not studio neutral in tone and timbre so voices and strings have a bit of that dark chocolate flavor.

2. It is not quick. The tempo or pace (whatever you call it) is a bit slow.

I heard similar things with xa.5 amps and it was even darker and slower. So in that respect the xa.8 has improved. 

We call it  PRAT =Pace,Rate or Rhythm and Timing. You still haven’t heard your alternative 300b amp with the Trafomatics? Anyway if you want a bigger power triode consider different tubes. The most common one you will encounter is the 845, but the 211 usually wins the timbre contest. If you could afford a Wavac look at some of their other amps. What speakers do you currently have?