pass labs xa30 to valve amplifier.

hi, ive been investigating some of the products mentioned by posters here, and others. ive listed ear, atmasphere, vac, almarra, melody. i have the pass xa30.5. i want to make a purchase that is worthwile and not a step down which would be very disappointing. a dealer here has suggested atmasphere s30, though it retails considerably less than the pass. can this be an upgrade? not too keen on the connections at front though, but ultimately i could live with that as its sound quality im after. he also is of the opinion a pre is better than direct connection. anyone mind giving me some further pointers? would a older valve amp be in the league of modern designs? i would also consider preowned one. my zingalis are 92? efficient and zingali say the minimum is 10 watts. 30 in my pass goes really loud, so would this be a true third drop in power? im after really clean bass. any further pointers would be very much appreciated. Thank you all.

I feel pretty strongly that if an OTL can match well with you speaker in terms of power and impedance drive, it is very, very difficult to beat an OTL. Note the M60s are better yet with most speakers, especially in providing incredible bass response that seem untube like. I had the XA30.5 and the Atma M60s in my home for several months going back and forth - I don't have the Pass anymore - which does not mean it is not a great amp, it absolutely is. I would use SS if I needed to, my speakers don't need what SS can do, otherwise I might have kept the Pass with no regrets, as there no absolutes here, but if you want to possibly find "magic", OTL is likely (not guaranteed)to make you feel like you found it IMHO. Think about it: Class A, (real)Triode operation, and no transformers!

Pupul, thank you for the reply. i appreciate the response. the atmosphere s30 is appox 1500 less than the pass xa30.5. that got me thinking. the mono bloc power amps in their range get pricier and i dont really need that much power.
its such a shame they put the connections to the front! it spoils a little what would have been a really good looking retro styled piece of kit.

do you, or anyone else have experience with cd direct as opposed to using pre? the droplet player i have is connected direct. i did try with a pre from one of my first serious hi fi purchses, a musical fidelity a3 cr, but it didnt do anything to the sound. the xlr from cd to pass sounded better.

thank you kindly

The new models have the connection in the back of the amp. I think they were in the front to provide the shortest path to the input tubes, and to keep the wire from having to run through all th electronics, etc - an approach also taking be Convergent Audio Technologies - a bit of an inconvenience, but I suspect the best sound is had that way. Seems like the market prefers the connections on the back on aesthetic grounds and shorter ICs. Of course, if you run balanced, the cheap Mogami XLR IC is going to sound about as good as anything else you buy regardless of cost. What Ralph K of Atma-sphere said regarding the Mogami, and I have no reason not to believe it.

i have the XA 30.5 fed directly by Wadia cdp. i have tried various preamps including ARC ref 5 and prefer no preamp. this is my personal preference.
try tubes like Leben. but if you like the XA 30.5 why bother with tubes?