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pass labs xa100.5 or pilinius sa 103

Hi there. I am about to say yes to a dealer who introduced the pass labs xa100.5
to replace my plinius sa 103 to drive my dynaudio confidence 4 with ear 868 w phono preamp and michell orbe sme v arm / ortofon a90 cart , shunyata v ray w kimber palladian power 20 amp power chord and au24e IC & speaker wire.

Anyone who has suggestions / experience to share is very highly appreciated.

Thanks.
sgm
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,262 posts
 
Will the dealer not let you take the Pass home? I imagine the two would be close in performance and the sound a matter of preference without one being a clear winner.

my two cents...
thesoundhouse
247 posts
 
That is tough, both have great sound and are built very well. You should see if you can try both before you buy. If all equal and you live in the US I would buy the Pass Labs service maybe a little easier. I have a Pass Labs X350.5 and my friend has a very similar sized Pilinius and both are excellent sounding amps and strange enough they both have a very similar sound signature.
ngjockey
1,042 posts
 
Would miss the front switches of the Plinius, especially in the summer. Also has more gain so volume knob will be higher with the Pass.
dpac996's avatar
dpac996
433 posts
 
Had pass x250.5 with contour s 3.4's. Also had plinius sa 102 ( extremely similar to sa103). To my ears pass/dynaudio far better. Plinius/dun combo had noticable coloration treble region which caused the soundstage to appear compressed. Did not like plinius at all. Pass sounded more like music. Also ran plinius on s 5.4 which are same tweeters as C 4. Got the same result. Could not stand it, but that's just me. Ymmv
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