Pass Labs XA25

@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.

Avanti1960

 When the XA 25 arrived I hooked it up to my Dynaudio Focus 360's that I had purchased around 2010 (was the most I had ever spent on speakers). As soon as the XA25 warmed up (about an hour) I started playing Stan Getz: The Bossa Nova Album and then Trombone in Jazz by Massimo Pirone. I knew immediately that wasn't going to work. Then I hooked up my Focal Aria stand speakers, ok but not what I wanted. Next the Paradigm Premier stand speakers so,so, and then the Triangle Borea Bro4 stand speakers. The Bro4's sounded the best to me. I also have the Paradigm Mini Monitors but I didn't hook those up. As you can see I try to keep my stand speakers under $2000 per pair. And I hold onto them. 

I have tried tube swapping in the SLP-98  From Electro Harmonix (which came with the SLP-98)  Tung sol, RCA, JJ tubes, etc, I just can't make myself lay down $800 or more for a quad of NOS tubes.

obviously you would need very sensitive speakers. You have a lot of speakers which is nice but maybe none of them are a good fit.