Lamm 1.2 vs. Pass xa 60.5

Hasse
Even though I like the pass sound in the last few years I own the xa60.5 and owned the x250 before that, I want to try something else with the risk I will regret this move eventually...

In the June Stereophile, John Atkinson wrote briefly in passing about both of the amps in his review of the MBL Corona amplifiers. He felt that the Pass 60.5 excelled at soundstaging and image palpability, but lacked an iron grip in the bass (compared to Classe), and said the Lamms had a "forceful" sound that might lack the subtlety of MBL's big amps, but bested them slightly in ultimate authority in the lower frequencies. I haven't really heard the Pass amps at any length, but I can see where he's coming from on the Lamms, as I have always felt that they may not be the most absolutely transparent or best soundstaging amps I've heard but they have a power and richness to their presentation that I prefer. I think that they might give you more juice and bass control out of your speakers. Whether that offsets the apparently extraordinary soundstaging capabilities of your Pass amp (Atkinson's review makes note of that in a couple of places) depends on your personal preferences and priorities.

I listened to those Pass Amps but I never bought them. I missed the emotion which is part in any music. They are precise but never moved me, no matter what kind of music I listened to. Real Music reproduction sounds definitely different.
The Lamm 1.2R are a different chapter. Excellent soundstage, true in tonal reproduction, able to deliver the emotion from the Artist or Orchestra when it is recorded properly. A huge step closer to the real thing reproduction. Even when you squeeze it, the sound quality never collapses or will be compressed (getting harsh in the treble like a lot of other designs do). It is definitely a serious amp.

Hi, Icorem those G3 speakers looking at the Steophile test measurments have a current hungry bass, 4ohms and -40 degrees phase angle, also they need watts as well at only 86db efficiency.
I think the Lam's maybe be a bit of a sideways step, if you look at the Stereophile tests on both them and the XA-60.5, as there's not much difference in watts and current.

A suggestion as well if you want good current, bags of watts with the class A sound of the XA60.5. For the price you get for your XA-60.5 you could get a pair of these.

The John Curl (he's up there with Nelson Pass) designed Parasound JC1's will drive anything you can throw at them, even the impossible to drive at their best "Wilson Alexia's". I think they are the best value in big amps.
As you can see below, the watts just keep increasing with lowering impedance, this means they can give great current drive into any load and remain flat in frequency from 20hz to 20khz, instead of acting like a fixed tone control, like some wimpy amps do.

Tested at
8ohms=545watts
4ohms=1154watts
2ohms=2255watts
1ohm=4200watts

They also have one nice feature that let you switch them to much higher 25watts pure class A, still with 545w a/b for transients, (they run hot in this mode)which is good when you listen seriously, then you can switch it out to the lower class A bias, for dinner/parties or background music, and this will save the power bill and they run luke warm.

Cheers George

Thanks so far guys - appreciate your high value points.
Yes, I'm afraid moving to the Lamms will be a bit of a sideways step and I don't have a chance to audition. I also have the option of trading the 60.5 to a 100.8
ahhh - those tough but much needed decisions...