Pass Labs Speaker Choices

I have a pair of Pass XA60.8’s, and I am driving Dynaudio Confidence 20’s. Preamp is a Prima Luna EVO 400. They sound amazing! I use a Dynaudio Sub 6 as well, but I turn it off when listening to jazz/vocals. Previously I had a pair of Harbeth Monitors 40.2. They also sounded amazing, but I moved into a smaller listening room. So, I got the Confidence 20’s. 

Honestly, I don’t think there is a speaker out there that wouldn’t sound good with Pass Labs amps. Just match the power with the load, and you should be good to go!

Magnepans and YG Acoustics.

I got good results with the Pass XA25 and Tekton Lore Ref BEs (about 89db free air sensitivity). 
 

Great amp but I wouldn’t recommend it for speakers any less efficient, unless one has a small near-field setup.

Can’t comment on other Pass amps but it’s interesting that since I’ve listed my XA25 for sale, multiple potential buyers have told me it’s the best sounding of all Pass amplifiers. 

I currently have Pass INT-150 and Martin Logan Montis.  Like that pairing very much.

The first Magnepans I ever heard were driven by a First Watt amp, I forget which one. The owner thought it showed that a good power supply and solid engineering provided plenty of juice if you weren’t aiming for rock concert sound levels. I took it to heart and now have a living room secondary setup of a diy First Watt M2 driving Maggie MMGWs with a little Martin Logan sub. It’s a sweet sound, but again, pretty modest sound levels and mostly acoustic music.

Nelson Pass uses Tannoy speakers to voice his amps and I can verify that the Cheviot is an outstanding pairing with a Pass INT 25.

Pass Labs XA-200.5's with Sasha I speakers

Meridain 800 digital front end with high end cables and power conditioner in a well set up room.

We use live music as a reference.

I use Focal Aria 948 with Pass INT-25 and INT-250 and both they sound wonderful.

150.8 & Magico A3.  The 150 watts on tap is more than sufficient to drive the speakers.

@andrei_nz I almost picked up a pair of the A3 lightly used at a dealer. I found an excellent deal on my Dynaudio Contour 60i that I couldn’t pass up. 

@docfletch I was thinking about the 60.8s this week. If for some reason I change my amp, that’s what I am going to go with. I worry a little that my amp is a lot for my  space. I wrote pass labs and they said I should be good. I figured if anything I could get smaller speakers first. I suppose the real reason I went with the 250.8 was I listen to some heavier rock and I thought it would be an overall better choice. Guess we shall see. 

Pass int 250. Dyn special 40’s in 12x14 room. Sound like floor standing speakers in my room. 

Pass XA-25

Revel M126be/ ATC  SCM 19v2/ Gallo Reference Strata 2

Triad Silver sub woofer & Gallo TR 3d

Anthem STR

OPPO 205 Modwright

Gem Dandy Poly Table-Hana ML lo-Sutherland 20/20

Furman IT 1220 balanced power

Diffusers & Absorption 

The Office system.....great fun...

I would describe the XA-25 sound as lush/warm/detailed..... a keeper for sure..

Martin Logan. 

My 250.8 powers Wilson Audio Sabrina X's, ARC REF6 pre, and MSB Discrete DAC.  When I sit in my music room and smoke a bong hit when listening to live music, I feel as if stage security is going to kick me out, LOL!

Some very nice match ups. The overall impressions of the XA25 continue to be great. Saw a post of a guy running the Jubilee's with a pair of XA25's, wow! I might have missed one, but no B&W? Had an X250.5 powering B&W 804's in a very well tuned room. Amazing dynamics and slam. 

this thread cracks me up, guess we are bored sitting around for the holidays between meals, nothing better to do 😂

fact is, pass makes amps that span all practical loudspeaker power envelopes, and on top of that, they are over engineered and deliver ample current to drive hard-to-drive speakers when called for

so just about any and all serious speakers can be driven by pass labs amps - as a result i guess this thread as it continues becomes a random listing of any and all decent high end hifi speakers in existence

so hey folks, what amplifiers do you use with audioquest interconnects?

merry christmas to all 🌲

Bah humbug!

Pass labs XA 100.8 with Wilson Sasha

Pass Labs uses Tannoy’s for critical listening for the development of their amps. I had an INT60 with Tannoy Yorkminsters and really liked how it played. 

Pass XA60.5s driving Borresen Z1's (Cryo) -- love this set up

note: also using distributed bass array w/ it’s own pair of amps -- super fun

XP-27 to a XP-32 to a X250.8 into a pair of Martin Logan 13s with 2 Martin Logan 210 subs. The room is big and the sound is "bigger"!

My first exposure to Nelson Pass gear was the Adcoms he designed 20 years ago. Been a huge fan ever since. The ML13's seem to really pull out all the detail of the amp.

PassLabs X150.5 rotating in rotation Don Sachs tube amp running in triode; .  Listening to my system so much that I have to slide a solid state amp or two in the rotation to save my tubes.  I have Spatial X5 speakers.  Interesting they do better with my modded PassLabs X150.5 than the excellent Coda 16 amp.  I am running a modded Supratek 6SN7 preamp with Zavfino RCA interconnects and Grover Huffman Pharoah speaker cables.   

@jaymark, doing something similar this weekend. KT120 mono tube amps rotated out (a rest) for my now upgraded Pass/Forte Class A 50w solid state amp. Was 200w Class AB, now full Class A 50w operation with several upgrades, main power caps, rectifiers, Cardas binding posts, wiring, many spades eliminated, all direct solder now. Whew. Like you, using my upgraded Cary 6SN7 triode tube preamp to drive these amps. Speakers are scratch custom design by me, yet realizing once again a nicely upgraded amp helps bring out the best in speakers. Everything matters at every layer. :)

Int60 with Daedalus audio Apollo V2 speakers. Amp @ 96db sensitivity, and never leaves class A.