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Pass INT-30A with Acoustic Zen Adagio

I'm currently using a Pass INT-30A with a pair of Acoustic Zen Adagio speakers.  Based on all review I've read, the reviews of both the speakers and the amp led me to believe that this would be a very smooth, musical combination.  However, I'm finding it to be rather analytical.  Good recordings sound fantastic, but any recordings that are just a hair short of spectacular come across as sounding very bad.  This is not what I was looking to get into, having only a portion of my music that I can listen to due to this problem.  

I have been racking my brain for days now trying to decide if I should switch out the amp or the speakers.  The amp does so many things so well, but so do the speakers.  I was considering a pair of LSA2 towers, since I used to own the LSA1 bookshelves and found them to be the smoothest, most musical speakers I've ever owned.  On the other hand, I could swap out the amp and go back to tubes and get that smoothness back that way.

Has anyone had experience with this amp, the speakers, or even both in combination?
jwglista
newbee
4,751 posts
 
That is a very nice integrated amp. I've thought of getting one for myself. I think your instincts are correct, i.e. you might benefit from getting different speakers. I think one of the underrated speakers presently out is Silverline Prelude Pluses. Small and tall. Easy to drive (as are all Silverlines). Silverline has used Pass amps to drive their stuff at shows. Not very expensive. Check them out. There are others in that line that are also very good but they can get pricey.
jwglista OP
206 posts
 
Newbee thanks for the response.  I do agree that the amp is amazing.  I'm just wondering if I'm out of my element, seeing as how I was a tube guy for quite a while.  I really would like to make the amp work for me, but I've been chasing my tail for about 1.5 years now trying to find a good, musical system to just sit down and enjoy, but I haven't had much luck.  I had a good thing going, then tried to change it up, and have been making adjustments ever since.

I tend to be sensitive to hyper-detail and accented treble, which is one of the reasons I was drawn to the Pass, based on everything I read.  The Pass is definitely not forward, aggressive, or bright, but I also wouldn't quite describe it as the lushest solid state amp I've ever heard.  It can definitely sound analytical if paired incorrectly.

My preferences definitely lean towards warmth, tonality, musicality, and expression.  I really could care less about imaging, soundstage, detail retrieval, etc.  Those all come second for me; I need to be able to connect emotionally to the music, and not sit there and just listen to "sound".

Would you describe the Silverlines as having a very warm, lush sound?
missioncoonery
1,190 posts
 

"rather analytical"...

  This is exactly my impressions of this integrated with various speakers .I owned Pass in the past and got away from their line ,way too pricey for what I heard coming out,just my opinion.Im sure you can find something to pair it with but for me after thinking about what was ahead of  to much of a hassle and struggle so I opted out and went in another direction. They do have a super great customer service which I had to use more than once for service on a new amplifier.

jwglista OP
206 posts
 
Missioncoonery: I appreciate the response.  Glad to hear there is someone else that shares this opinion.  I was trying so hard to figure out if it was my speakers or amp, but I have heard a few other amps with the Adagios, and I did have them sounding pretty decent at one point.  It really is a shame because the Pass is such a quite, well-posed, dynamic amplifier without any sort of grain or hash in the treble.  I don't think I've ever heard strings produced so nicely and accurately.  If the presentation was less on the analytical side, this would have been it for me.

What speakers did you try with the Pass amp?
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