Great Reading

[blackraven]

Check out this excellent review-

Magnepan and Tekton meet Pass Labs, Odyssey, Job, Merrill, Red Wine Audio, First Watt and Vitus Audio | Confessions of a Part-Time Audiophile

[Feanor]

Check out this excellent review-

Magnepan and Tekton meet Pass Labs, Odyssey, Job, Merrill, Red Wine Audio, First Watt and Vitus Audio | Confessions of a Part-Time Audiophile

Yes, thanks for that. A very interesting comparative review indeed.

The reviewer, Scott Hull, astutely remarks that some listeners prefer DETAIL and some TONE; (both terms are, IMO, oversimplifications, but still they are apropos). I can think of a few pundits who are very heavily on the side of "tone", one being the Brad Morrical (Morricab at AudioAsylum), another is AbeCollins at AA, and yet another, our erstwhile member, RGA. "Detail" appreciaters are in the minority, but I happen to be one of them.

Personally I would have preferred that he reviewed a more down-to-earth Pass Labs such as my X150.5 which is "only" $5500 MSRP vs. the XA100.5 at $16,500. (Thank goodness one can buy used equipment.) The description of the latter Pass in the review as "invisible" and defining neutrality is probably very accurate; it is, I'd say, a reasonable description of the X150.5. That since all the class A and class AB in the Pass 'X_.5' line have a lot in common in design.

That 'invisible/neutral" description, however, reveals why Morricab doesn't care for the Pass Labs amps. I'm sure he would lean to the Vitas RS-100 or even more romantic amps.

The comments on the NCore-based Merrill Veritas are also very interesting. Here is an amp that falls down on the side of "detailed" and speed -- not surprising for a class D amp.

[blackraven]

I used to be a detail guy but I am becoming more of a tone guy. I think that I would like the Red Wine amps.

[Feanor]

I used to be a detail guy but I am becoming more of a tone guy. I think that I would like the Red Wine amps.

I might enjoy the Vitus RS-100 but that's not going to happen.

[Mr Peabody]

I couldn't hard line one way or the other, I like detail but not at the sacrifice of tone and vice versa, I think Pass offers ample helping of both. Unless you are using "tone" to mean something else. Piano is beautifully toned, bass and Cello has nice tone and body, brass is excellent. To me there is a very big difference between "tone" and "colored". To me "colored" is masking, altering the tone to be less natural, perhaps softening, over saturating the tone. Results vary with associated gear as well. Here's the definition of Coloured - Having timbres that are not true to life. Non flat response; peaks or dips. When I was talking about "tone", I mean Timbre - The tonal character of an instrument

[Feanor]

I couldn't hard line one way or the other, I like detail but not at the sacrifice of tone and vice versa, I think Pass offers ample helping of both. Unless you are using "tone" to mean something else. Piano is beautifully toned, bass and Cello has nice tone and body, brass is excellent. To me there is a very big difference between "tone" and "colored". To me "colored" is masking, altering the tone to be less natural, perhaps softening, over saturating the tone. Results vary with associated gear as well. Here's the definition of Coloured - Having timbres that are not true to life. Non flat response; peaks or dips. When I was talking about "tone", I mean Timbre - The tonal character of an instrument

Your descriptions resonate with me, Mr P, although I'm not sure that your definition of "tone" is exactly what the reviewer had in mind.


With respect to the Pass Labs amps, I personally find that the X150.5 provided the truest instrument sound that I've hear so far by quite a large margin. As I see, there are several aspects:

1. The X150.5 has the most distinct dynamic contrast, (i.e. strongest PRaT), that I've heard. This is critical to the piano sound which I totally agree is outstanding. It equally effects all percussion instruments rendering them all more accurately than I've heard previously
2. It delivers the sound of orchestral bass, i.e. bassoon, string bass, bass drum, tympani, etc. with more authority and realism than I've heard before -- this makes the listening experience far more like "live" performance than I've heard outside the concert hall
3. More generally,it delivers the instrument timbres -- i.e. in the classic sense, the overtones -- more accurately than I've heard before.

Bottom line: the Pass Labs produces highly natural instrument sound and life-like experience.

When the review author spoke of "tone", (a shorthand qualifier), I suspect he was referring to qualities often associated with decent tube equipment, especially smooth highs and a slightly warm, "tonally rich" midrange. (My own experience with tubes is limited admittedly.) Morricab, the AA pundit, personally recommended the Forte Model 5 to me as a low-priced amp that tends to his concept of how an amp ought to sound despite being s/s. I bought one because it was cheap. The Forte 5 is to my ear totally inadequate; in first place the bass is weak and flabby, in the second place the sound of instruments is markedly unnatural -- a total contrast to the Pass and even class D amp I was using at the time.