Has anyone purchased the new Elac Adante floorstanders yet?

The Elacs are going to be good, I would really recommend moving to that next level, as your components warrant it. 

You can get a way better dac, then the Codex, a T plus A DAC 8DSD will make a noticable improvement. 

For an experiment try the Brooklyn in place of the Codex. I am willing one of the reasons you like your less expensive rig is the Brooklyn.

I would also replace your speaker cables and interconnects, one cardinal rule is to have the same cables for the amp to preamp and preamp to dac, also which usb cable are you using?

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

I’m thinking the "lack some sparkle, air and detail" is due to the mismatch of your preamp and power amp. The Cary and Pass appear to be matched looking at listed specifications, however measurements in the Stereophile reviews tell a different story. Generally the input impedance of the amp should be at least 10 times greater than the output impedance of the preamp, and many say it is safer to have that difference even higher, as in 20 times greater. The measured input impedance of the XA60.5 is 17k ohms. The measured output impedance of SLP-05 rises as frequency increases to 3400 ohms at 20k Hz. So at that frequency, the difference is only a multiple of 5.

A few years ago, I had a tube preamp and tried different amps with it due to this matching issue. Surprisingly, an amp with much less power and excellent matching sounded more dynamic, lively, and had sparkle (to use your term) than a more powerful amp (4 times more) with poor matching. Poor matching will cause the sound to be lifeless and dull.

Before trying different speakers or anything else in your system, I would try a different preamp, one that is properly matched to the Pass. Trying anything else would be like chasing after the end of a rainbow. It’s always best to correct problems first.

Thanks to these suggestions, I will try moving various eqipment from the less expensive rig to the main system, as an experiment. If the Cronus Magnum improves the sound, then preamp/amp is the culprit, for example. If nothing improves it, then it’s most likely the room itself, the speakers or cabling.
All this will take some doing, so I probably won’t get to it for a week or so.

Don’t want to add significant $$ to system at this time.

I still would like to hear from an actual Elac Adante owner, though.

You might want to try the Brooklyn as a preamp into the XA60s.  You may or may not like the sound but it also might balance the warmness of the Pass amps - either way, you'll learn something.  My other thought is that we're talking about two different rooms here and the room is almost always a huge contributor to the system's sound (nearfield listening also eliminates a lot of this).  Dick

I owned the Cary slp-05 a few years ago.
To me, it is a very dark sounding piece. I even tried some expensive tube rolling, sold the Cary. 

Also once you replace the Cary get Cerious Matrix cabling throughout.

ozzy