Pass Labs XA25

It's interesting that you say that the XA25 "doesn't live up to all the hype."  I've had my eyes on this amplifier for quite a while although I've never heard it.  I did notice that it does come up for sale quite frequently, so perhaps others have had the same experience.

@mfb33 curious what about the amp made you decide to keep it, despite not liking it for your main system ...

@mfb33 

Having had the XA25 I know that two weeks of burn in is not nearly enough to give the time for this amplifier to sound as smooth as it can. 

Give it at least 200 to 400 hrs.  Listen for the incredibly fast transients that can keep up with the fastest paced rhythm sections.  Listen for instrument separation as if the players had their own channel, position in space and speaker.  

Give it time !  It truly is one of the best sounding amplifiers on the market, you just have to be patient and work with it.  

Your Cary preamp has excellent gain which is a great match for the lower gain of the ’25 (20db).  Possibly try some NOS Sylvania tubes if you haven’t. 

Speaker cables can help. 

Also speaker pairing is important- what speakers did you run it with?  

Yowser - By hype I meant reviews that said the 25 watts would be enough and it’s not. I knew that going in. I need to reword my post. Yowser, I went to edit my post but it won't allow me (more than 30 mins) smh

JI35 - Why I  decided to keep the XA25 even though it’s not for my main system. Because it’s a Pass Labs... I owned the X150 for 16 or so years before giving it to one of sons. Before getting the X150 I was going through amps like crazy trying find that ultimate sound and with the X150 mated with the VTL TL 2.5 preamp that I had in the mid 2000’s, and guess what, I found what I was looking (listening) for.  No more amp chasing....

Another main reason I bought the X150 was back in the mid 2000’s I emailed Nelson to ask a few questions and he responded promptly and answered my questions just like he did 1 week ago. 

Avanti1960 - That’s why I emailed Nelson about the break-in time. Like I said it’s not for me in my main system (yet) maybe after like you said give it time...  

I hope this answer’s all you guys questions.