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Pass XA Monoblock Amps

I know there have been many threads on these amps and the different levels of power with each set. To those who owned the Pass XA60.5 and went to the Pass XA100.5 monoblocks, did you feel that the change made a big difference in your system or was it not that noticeable whether played at low to mid level volume levels or high volume. I currently own the Pass 60.5 and am contemplating the Pass 100.5. Some people have suggested that it would take a move to the Pass XA160.5 for it to really make a difference but that would unfortunately be out of my price range. The room is 12 by 24 and the speaker load is 2 ten inch seas woofers, 2 seven inch mids, and the tweeter. They are 4 ohm with a sensitivity of 91 but a big speaker. Any thoughts from Pass owners of these amps would be appreciated. The other direction i can go would be to upgrade my Pre-amp from the Rowland Capri but my initial thought was that the Pass amp change would be more of an upgrade. Thanks for your thoughts.
pettyfeversk

Showing 2 responses by almarg

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almarg
9,670 posts
 
Inna, I have no particular familiarity with the Cardas GR's, but from a specification standpoint, at least, I don't see any concerns. Resistance and inductance are extremely low. Capacitance is a little bit on the high side, but I would feel certain that it is not anywhere close to being high enough to cause sonic issues with a Pass amp (conceivably it might be if used with an amp that uses lots of feedback and has extremely wide bandwidth; the Pass amps do not have either of those characteristics).

Rtilden, thanks for providing the good info.

Regards,
-- Al
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
A point that might be relevant is that speaker sensitivity is often defined with respect to 2.83 volts, rather than 1 watt. For an 8 ohm speaker that would make no difference, since 2.83 volts into 8 ohms corresponds to 1 watt. But 2.83 volts into 4 ohms corresponds to 2 watts, so if the 91db figure of your 4 ohm speakers is defined with respect to 2.83 volts, they would be 88db/1W/1m speakers, not 91db/1W/1m.

I did a quick Google search, but couldn't determine how the 91db is defined.

Beautiful system and setup, btw.

Regards,
-- Al
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