I know that there are some very knowledgeable Pass owners here on Audiogon, so I will not comment, as I found out that different models may sometimes use different topology.
Amarg, Kosst, Charles1dad, any ideas?
Bob |
The Pass amps all share similar technologies but have slight differences in flavor. As stated here many times before call Pass Labs they will be glad to discuss this and not pressure you into buying, extremely nice people and they also have exemplary service.
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Thank you @gdnrbob and @shannere I will give the folks at Pass a call next week but I would also enjoy hearing from any Pass owners here on the forum. The amps are so well made, it would be nice to go a step up in the prior line (i.e., 600.5 monos) but it seems the P8 series amps have used technology from the XS series amplifiers to significantly improve on the P5 series as indicated by the following comments taken from two different reviews of the X600.8. The design of the X600.8, and indeed, all of the .8 series, is similar to the Xs 300. The differentiating factor of the .8’s and Xs from the .5’s is the presence of a high power current source that is separate from the output devices. This allows deeper and punchier bass. and In the owner’s manual for the X600.8, Nelson Pass writes that his goal was to advance the key elements of the older amps to the next level. This wound up involving more of everything. The X600.8 uses bigger hardware that is biased more deeply into the Class A operating region. The front-end circuit is more sophisticated and customized for each model. The power supply also is beefier. And, finally, there are those heat fins – larger and more abundant to carry off the extra heat. The solid-state front end uses a mix of JFET, MOSFET and bipolar devices made by Toshiba. The parts actually have been discontinued, but Pass believes so strongly they are superior to anything else that he ordered a deep stock to allow both construction of new amps and repairs. “The result is a front end with high stability, low distortion and (low) noise,” Pass says. “It has a very high input and is DC-coupled. There are no compensation capacitors — in fact, there are no capacitors in the amplifier circuit except across the shunt bias regulators and the power supply.” |
I’d strongly suggest you also listen to a couple of other amps:
Parasound - I like the sound better or equal for a lot less.
Ayre - I like the sound MUCH better than Pass
Personal preferences and speakers matter. My one point is, don’t get hung up on a brand unless you have auditioned the alternatives.
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