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PASS LABS XA-30.5 vs XA-60.5

Hello all,
Has anyone heard the differences between these two amps, and have done A/B comparrisons on them? I have a XA-30.5 that I'm using with Totem Hawk Speakers. The XA-30.5 drives them very well, but I have been told the 60.5’s give you much better smoothness and cohesiveness, better imaging, better bass control, greater ease and greater resolution.

Here's the million dollar question:

I am ready for my next upgrade and have roughly $6000. Should I upgrade to the XA-60.5's or upgrade my Esoteric X03-SE cd player to the Esoteric seperates P-05 transport and D-05 DAC??

I have very appealing offers for both options.

Any Thoughts?

My system:

Pass Labs XA-30.5 amp
Pass Labs X0.2 preamp
Esoteric XO3-SE cd player
BPT 3.5 Ultra Sig. power conditioner
Totem Hawk speakers
AudioPath custom IC's and speaker cable
Shunyay Python CX power cords
roor
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
6,996 posts
 
Tvad,
your response regarding BAL. vs RCA is succinct and oh so right. Unless your cable run is long there`s no inherent superiority of balanced ICs. I`ve now heard many direct comparisons where RCA/single end circuit is equal or even out preforms a truely balanced circuit.
tvad
9,467 posts
 

08-18-10: Charles1dad
Unless your cable run is long there`s no inherent superiority of balanced ICs.
Ground loop noise is another reason that balanced may be superior to single ended in some systems.

Balanced operation can eliminate the common-ground impedance mismatch that causes hum.
unsound
6,115 posts
 
It would appear to me that the cases made re: balanced and single ended are generally sound, but not necessarily taking the specifics of the Pass circuitry (marketing?) into consideration:
http://www.passlabs.com/pdfs/articles/susy.pdf
tvad
9,467 posts
 
From the Pass Labs XA-60.5 manual:
The question comes up all the time – are balanced inputs (XLR) better than single-ended (RCA)? The answer is that balanced lines generally give lower noise and slightly less distortion. They are recommended unless your favorite source component has only RCA outputs.

So, according to Pass Labs, utilizing the balanced inputs generally gives a lower noise floor (as has been discussed already), and slightly less distortion ("slightly less distortion" is not defined by specs in the manual).

Having tried both balanced and single ended operation on my XA-60.5, I preferred balanced, but using single ended did not produce an appreciable difference in sound other than an audible 6db reduction in gain.

There are many different personalities among audiophiles. Some would certainly claim a jaw dropping improvement when running Pass Labs amps balanced. I would characterize the difference as marginal.
erndog's avatar
erndog
261 posts
 
Roor,
You've already got an excellent amp and source. I would put the $6000 into upgrading your speakers. Those seem to be the weakest link in your system.
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