Unfair Competition: Orchard Audio Bosc Monoblocks vs. Pass Labs XA30.8


After hearing a friend's Orchard Audio Starkrimson Integrated Amplifier in my system (https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/9074) a few weeks ago (it sounded pretty good!), I arranged to audition a pair of used Bosc $1500 monoblocks (now called Starkrimson) for close listening.  Was curious to see just how well this "distortion-free" class D amp (https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?attachments/orchard-audio-bosc-pdf.47492/) could replicate my beloved Pass labs class A beast costing >$6000 new.  Close listening was done after several days of casual listening/break-in.

Bosc - The Good:
- Wide and tall soundstage
- Convincing central image
- Extremely quiet -- less baseline hiss than the Pass
- Fast transients
- Excellent instrument decay/echo
- Obviously more energy and space efficient

Bosc - The Not as Good
- Lacked soundstage depth/separation
- Less vibrant and engaging, lacking difficult-to-articulate "magic" of the Pass
- Inconsistent bass performance, some tracks sounded firmer and tighter, others weaker than the Pass
- "Flat sounding" with less fleshed-out midrange

After having the Bosc in my system for a few days and listening to nothing but that with a variety of music, I would have been very happy to keep it for the long-term.  It was only after A/B with my Pass that I realized what I was missing.  

Not a fair comparison dollar-wise, but I was, perhaps naively, prepared to be convinced the Bosc could go head to head.  A nice reminder of what I enjoy about the Pass in my system, though.  How to measure these qualities, though?
redwoodaudio
Damn upgraditis still itches...  Thankfully several honest dealers have dissuaded me of the notion I'm going to find a significant improvement from among their demo stock. I'm gonna leave it alone and just play with some cables... 
The preamp is EAR 868 with 5v output balanced, 600 ohms. No problem getting adequate volume.
Ok. Thanks.


Very interesting to hear - just based on the data, I'd suspect the Bosc are giving the more 'correct' or 'transparent' presentation (fx. based on my own experience i with some such amps/gear, I suspect that 'inconsistent' bass is something in the tracks, that the Bosc is just showing more clearly) - but that of course doesn't change the fact that the Pass might be more enjoyable to listen to, which is the point at the end of the day... So if you prefer the pass, and have them, then that choice is ease I suppose - Pass certainly has a reputation for being enjoyable :)
Thanks for the comparison. I'm just about to give the Orchard monos a trial, deciding that 600w idle and an hour warmup is just becoming burdensome with my pair of Aleph 2 monos. I'm unwilling to give up their richness and very deep stage. But being careful to compare different apples (Pass' iterations) with an orange (from a different Orchard!), I wonder how my old Alephs compare with the OP's XA30.8?  I'm not lacking for bass slam (Verity Parsifal Encore w/ 4ohm woofs), but maybe they're a little soft up top?
I think draaglah is spot on.  I have in front of me right now an Ayre V-5xe, Ayre AX-5 Twenty, Krell K-300i and a Cherry MEGAschino (crazy powerful). In order of coloring the music from most to least I really believe it's AX-5, V-5xe, MEGAschino, then Krell. The last 2 are close.  As far as my enjoyment, I like them all and would choose one over the other depending on mood, time of day and music I'm listening to. As an all arounder I'd choose the AX-5 Twenty HT pass through using my Primaluna EVO400 preamp.  I was at a high end dealer yesterday who had Pass monos hooked up to some $23k speakers and an Aesthetix CD player (I believe). I didn't like the sound at all. It's like we pay more for the designer's choice of coloring.  I don't believe this is a bad thing I think it just is what it is.