Who has heard the new Pass XA25?


Anyone heard this new Pass amp?
bobheinatz
I haven't, but since nobody else has chimed in I'll throw out my two cents for whatever it's worth. 

The XA25 isn't all that far divorced from the First Watt F5, of which I'm listening to my own beefed up build of right now. From what I understand, the XA25 is pretty much a two stage push-pull topology with SuSy feedback. A well built F5 sounds very good, but the XA25 is quite a bit better. It uses parallel pairs of outputs and the feedback is more effective with less gain. It has a more muscular, relaxed sound with better articulation, lower noise floor, and less hum. In a lot of ways it's a First Watt amp, even being built into a First Watt chassis, but the better, beefier power supply, parallel outputs, and more effective feedback are what really set it apart. Sound-wise, I'm not sure what exactly to tell you since it most sounds like an obscure First Watt amp of which only 1000 examples were built. It's definitely an excellent example of low power solid state amplification that would drive 2 ohm without burping and does sound excellent. 
I have the XA25 for about three months now. Here’s a review that says it all about the sound:
http://theheadphonelist.com/pass-labs-xa25-vs-first-watt-f7-the-two-newest-nelson-pass-amplifiers-go...
and another:
http://www.moremusic.nl/reviews/passlabs/XA25/review-PassLabs_XA25-music-emotion.pdf
Scroll for the English version.

I’m powering a pair of Acoustic Zen Crescendo 2 speakers (90 dB). Pass suggests at least 91 dB sensitivity so I’m borderline. I find the sound robust, detailed, startlingly quick, with a warm and an unwavering presentation. The 15x20 room fully energizes well before the amp runs out of steam. When pushed, coherence suffers and it’s noticeable. At that level I’m bothering the neighbors anyway (condo). Great amp.