And jafant, I had Thiel 1.6s and 2.4s for over a decade, but would periodically overheat the aluminum drivers (woofers on the 1.6s, midrange on the 2.4s) and need service. Given where the company was headed after Jim passed (losing Gary Dayton and giving up on the classic design), I decided it was time to change. Went with Coincident and have thoroughly enjoyed the low power design, although every once in a while I do miss my Thiel & Pass combination (e.g., Rhye: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sng_CdAAw8M). The solid state didn't pair nearly as well with the Coincident so I sold my Pass too (for Coincident's 300b monos). If I ever can't have tubes sitting out in the open I'll probably switch to one of Nelson's first watt offerings.
Pass Labs XA30.5 in my system?
Dear Audiophiles!
I am looking for a solid-state class A power amplifier with balanced circuit topology to replace Acurus in my modest Hi-Fi setup:
Mac mini (USB3 output) ->
Singxer SU-1 ->
Yggdrasil DAC (AES/EBU XLR input) ->
Primare PRE30 preamplifier (AES/EBU XLR input) ->
Acurus A250 power amplifier (RCA input) ->
Monitor Audio RS-6
I am currently considering Pass Labs XA30.5 and am wondering if it will “work nicely” with my upstream and downstream components.
Any info/advice is very much appreciated. Please chime in!
Please see the specs below for your consideration.
Pass Labs XA30.5
Type: Solid-state stereo amplifier
Power Output: 30 wpc into 8 Ohm, 60 wpc into 4 Ohm (both 14.8dbW)
Power Consumption (Watts): 238
Temperature (deg C.): 53
Voltage Gain: 26 dB
Input Sensitivity: 0.77 V at 26db gain
Frequency Response: 1.5Hz–100kHz, –3db at 1.5Hz, –2db at 100kHz
Signal/noise: 150db at full power (I cannot believe this is not a misprint!)
Distortion: 0.01% at 3 watts, 0.1% at 30 watts (measured at 1 kHz)
Input Impedance: 30 kOhm balanced, 15 kOhm unbalanced
Damping Factor: 150 for an 8 Ohm nominal load
Maximum Output Current: 20 Ampere
Maximum Output Voltage: ±35 Volts
Output Noise: 150 microvolt unweighted 20 Hz - 20 kHz
DC Offset: <50 mV
Slew rate: ±50 V/µs
Dimensions: 19" (485mm) W by 7" (180mm) H by 19" (485mm) D
Weight: 62 lbs (28kg)
Shipping weight: 75 lbs (34kg)
Primare PRE30 Preamplifier
Balanced inputs 560mV
Line inputs 280mV
Sensitivity adjustment -20dB to +20dB
Tape outputs 280mV
Gain 16dB
Frequency response DC to 100kHz ± 0.1dB
THD <0.01%
Signal-to-noise ratio -118dB
Crosstalk -113dB
Mains 100/115/230V
Dimensions (WxDxH) 430 x 410 x 100mm
Weight 9.5kg
Monitor Audio RS6
Frequency Response: 38 Hz - 30 KHz
Sensitivity (1W@1M): 91 dB
Nominal Impedance: 6 Ohms
Power Handling (RMS): 120 W
Recommended Amplifier Requirements (RMS): 40 - 120 W
Tweeter Crossover Frequency: 3 KHz
Drive Unit Compliment: 1 x 6” C-CAM® Bass, 1 x 6” C-CAM® Bass Mid-range. 1 x 1” gold dome C-CAM® tweeter.
Cabinet Design: Balanced velocity twin reflex ported
Product External Dimensions: (H x W x D) 850 x 185 x 250 mm
Plinth Dimensions: (H x W x D): 25 x 255 x 305 mm
Individual Weight: 18 Kg
N.B. Impedance varies with frequency and goes to as low as 4 Ohms and as high as 16 Ohms. And, most importantly,“real” sensitivity is much lower than “nominal”: 87.40dB (averaged 300Hz-3kHz, 2.83V/1m)!
Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link:
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1221:nrc-measu...
I am looking for a solid-state class A power amplifier with balanced circuit topology to replace Acurus in my modest Hi-Fi setup:
Mac mini (USB3 output) ->
Singxer SU-1 ->
Yggdrasil DAC (AES/EBU XLR input) ->
Primare PRE30 preamplifier (AES/EBU XLR input) ->
Acurus A250 power amplifier (RCA input) ->
Monitor Audio RS-6
I am currently considering Pass Labs XA30.5 and am wondering if it will “work nicely” with my upstream and downstream components.
Any info/advice is very much appreciated. Please chime in!
Please see the specs below for your consideration.
Pass Labs XA30.5
Type: Solid-state stereo amplifier
Power Output: 30 wpc into 8 Ohm, 60 wpc into 4 Ohm (both 14.8dbW)
Power Consumption (Watts): 238
Temperature (deg C.): 53
Voltage Gain: 26 dB
Input Sensitivity: 0.77 V at 26db gain
Frequency Response: 1.5Hz–100kHz, –3db at 1.5Hz, –2db at 100kHz
Signal/noise: 150db at full power (I cannot believe this is not a misprint!)
Distortion: 0.01% at 3 watts, 0.1% at 30 watts (measured at 1 kHz)
Input Impedance: 30 kOhm balanced, 15 kOhm unbalanced
Damping Factor: 150 for an 8 Ohm nominal load
Maximum Output Current: 20 Ampere
Maximum Output Voltage: ±35 Volts
Output Noise: 150 microvolt unweighted 20 Hz - 20 kHz
DC Offset: <50 mV
Slew rate: ±50 V/µs
Dimensions: 19" (485mm) W by 7" (180mm) H by 19" (485mm) D
Weight: 62 lbs (28kg)
Shipping weight: 75 lbs (34kg)
Primare PRE30 Preamplifier
Balanced inputs 560mV
Line inputs 280mV
Sensitivity adjustment -20dB to +20dB
Tape outputs 280mV
Gain 16dB
Frequency response DC to 100kHz ± 0.1dB
THD <0.01%
Signal-to-noise ratio -118dB
Crosstalk -113dB
Mains 100/115/230V
Dimensions (WxDxH) 430 x 410 x 100mm
Weight 9.5kg
Monitor Audio RS6
Frequency Response: 38 Hz - 30 KHz
Sensitivity (1W@1M): 91 dB
Nominal Impedance: 6 Ohms
Power Handling (RMS): 120 W
Recommended Amplifier Requirements (RMS): 40 - 120 W
Tweeter Crossover Frequency: 3 KHz
Drive Unit Compliment: 1 x 6” C-CAM® Bass, 1 x 6” C-CAM® Bass Mid-range. 1 x 1” gold dome C-CAM® tweeter.
Cabinet Design: Balanced velocity twin reflex ported
Product External Dimensions: (H x W x D) 850 x 185 x 250 mm
Plinth Dimensions: (H x W x D): 25 x 255 x 305 mm
Individual Weight: 18 Kg
N.B. Impedance varies with frequency and goes to as low as 4 Ohms and as high as 16 Ohms. And, most importantly,“real” sensitivity is much lower than “nominal”: 87.40dB (averaged 300Hz-3kHz, 2.83V/1m)!
Measurements taken in the anechoic chamber at Canada's National Research Council can be found through this link:
http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1221:nrc-measu...
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- 37 posts total
Thank you very much @cal3713 ! For me it is a huge difference: $3300 at Reno and about $2700 at US Audio Mart. My problem is that not many sellers are willing to ship to Canada... Could you please give me your suggestions on solid-state power amplifiers with balanced circuit topology biased in such way that they do operate in class A for the first 20W - 30W? Oh, and I would prefer to stay up to 3K used... I was considering the Son of Ampzilla II stereo power amplifier (http://www.sst.audio/son-of-ampzilla), but in this design Class A bias extends to 10W only (http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/sst/2.html). |
I recently switched to the Efficient Speaker/Small Tube Amp Camp (ESSTAC). This is after decades of having fun with various SS and tube amps (I also owned an Acurus A250 years ago that sounded fine but had to be sent back to Mondial a couple of times for repair…annoying). I recently bought a pair of Sonist Recital 3 speakers (93db seems like enough efficiency for my purposes) and a Dennis Had "Inspire" SEP "Fire Bottle" amp with 12 massive watts per side (massive…trust me). By far the best sounding rig I’ve owned, and FAR less expensive than one might expect for hifi astonishment. |
- 37 posts total