Pass Labs xa - .5 amps

Hm, I guess it's not my cup of tea. I concur with the no-glare, that part was beautiful, especially for voices. The rest, well, just didn't cut it.

Chashas1, what were the speakers and preamp used in the XA-30.5 system?

Would you describe what aspects of the sound didn't cut it for you?

Various speakers, Tvad, with all pass gear. and it was their wiring.
as i said, beautiful voices, especially say like a frank sintra record, then, you play something that needs to boogie, and it couldn't do it. You nailed it when you said no glare, smooth as anything, yet that's all it could do. I've heard the phono stage in other systems, wonderful. I'd buy it. the other stuff, no way. A real eye-opener, to be sure.

Chashas1, not to beat this to death, but what speakers were you using? I'd like to know for future reference.

FWIW, I thought the Pass XONO phono was boring, and I've thought the Pass Labs rooms at CES were also fairly bland.

I've found pairing my XA-60.5 amps with preamps other than Pass have provided good boogie (Lamm, SMC Audio, and believe it or not Juicy Music...).

Soren, I agree it was not a fair comparison due to power issues. Try an x350.5 or x600.5, maybe with a little toe-in on your speaker.