2. amps-preamps
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What effects soundstage more ....

I have recently auditioned two sets of separates Pass x2.5/x250 and a Plinius CDLAD mkII/SA102. The speakers I have are on the revealing side, Angstrom Obbligato's. The differences between these two set ups was big. The Plinius set had a wonderful overall tone. The low frequencies sounded awesome, but they lacked some weight at low volumes. The Pass in contrast had weight at the low frequencies at low volumes and the soundstage grew in every direction. The drawback with the Pass was as the volume increased so did the "harshness" or attack. I want the soundstage and low volume "thump" of the pass with the better tone of the Plinius. Is there something that can do that? Would swapping the pre-amps help at all? What has the biggest effect on soundstage and tone ( amp or pre )? Any thoughts would be appreciated
oside_e
cpdunn99's avatar
cpdunn99
639 posts
 
Plinius is "voiced" with Siltech wire. I prefer copper, myself, but that's just me.
oside_e OP
2 posts
 
I think I am going to try to change out the preamps and see what that does to the sound. All I want is the tone of the plinius set with the soundstage and low frequency weight at low volumes of the pass set. I do not have a lot of experience with cabling ( the ones used in this audition were Harmonic Technology IC and XLO s/c ) but what would be easier to accomplish with cabling, a bigger soundstage and low frequency boost ( this could be gainied with better placing of the speakers maybe? ) or sweetening the tone throughout all frequencies? Or is that too much to ask of cables?

I am leaning towards getting the pass setup. I do not plan on my current speakers being the ones at the final step of this process. I imagine some time down the road upgrading those so I think the pass stuff allows me more flexibility on speakers ( in the case of a power hungry speaker ).

I appreciate all of your comments. Thank you for your time. Also anyone else feel free to chime in on your thoughts/experiences.
ckoffend
684 posts
 
While this is years later, my experience confirms the OP that the harshness in the Pass 2.5/250 is pretty normal. The 250 can be a bit harsch, as Nelson Pass will completely attest to and hence the move to the 250.5 which was much smoother and subsequently again to his new amps, which are even more smooth. This being 2010, there have been a lot of improvements with Nelson's amps, towards less strident or smoother performance. I does not surprise me that the OP encountered this scenario with the Pass and at the same time felt the plinius' soundstage did not hold up to the pass combo.
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