Pass Labs X150.5 Has Arrived

[frenchmon]

Congrats Jack! Can't wait to read your review!

I see you have a VoooDooo PC, which one and how do you like it? I've heard great things about them.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Congrats Jack! Can't wait to read your review!

I see you have a VoooDooo PC, which one and how do you like it? I've heard great things about them.

Thanks Frenchie, the X150.5 is sounding sweet. Everything I pull out to listen to sounds a little different. I can't always put my finger on the difference, but all of a sudden, there it is.

I have the Voodoo Tiger. I was sort of bummed that I couldn't use it in my setup. The head of the plug won't fit thru the holes that are provided in the support post for wire management. I might need a 90 degree plug that goes up so I can use the Tiger.

[Mr Peabody]

Jack it will only get better as warm up and break in happens. So it drives the Dyn's pretty well?

[Jack in Wilmington]

Jack it will only get better as warm up and break in happens. So it drives the Dyn's pretty well?

It does drive the Dyn's very well. I sat down and listened for about three hours last night and I haven't done that in a while. Everything I threw at it sounded better, some times in a small way and others (like piano) sounded remarkably better.

The amp also warmed up the room nicely, which felt good on a cold night.

[blackraven]

Congrats Jack! Good choice on a CJ or ARC preamp as I am not completely sold on the X1. Before I bought it I was considering a CJ Premier 17LS tube preamp and the ARC LS25 MKII. They can be had for around $2000-2500 used.

How do you like the dynamics of the Pass? I find it truly amazing, especially on Classical music. Its ability and control to go from quiet, soft passages to loud and robust and back to quiet again is truly amazing. It is effortless and the low passages sound great.

I look forward to more of your thoughts on the amp.

[Jack in Wilmington]

Congrats Jack! Good choice on a CJ or ARC preamp as I am not completely sold on the X1. Before I bought it I was considering a CJ Premier 17LS tube preamp and the ARC LS25 MKII. They can be had for around $2000-2500 used.

How do you like the dynamics of the Pass? I find it truly amazing, especially on Classical music. Its ability and control to go from quiet, soft passages to loud and robust and back to quiet again is truly amazing. It is effortless and the low passages sound great.

I look forward to more of your thoughts on the amp.

Being a class D guy, I wasn't prepared for the dynamics. It snapped my head around the first time. I have my eye on the CJ 17LS also.

[Mr Peabody]

Something JM has now come to realize, and I continue to encourage you, when considering the preamp you should look for true balanced circuitry as the Pass is truly balanced. Note in your manual it should discuss the Pass patented circuit in the amp. The CJ would take the system more to a romantic sound. I don't recall Jack talking much about what you like in sound. Have you ever had tube gear?

Jack, I mentioned that on one of these Pass threads as well, piano is stunning.

Frenchmon may have a link but a good performing power cord is Triode, they sell direct. I heard one Frenchie has on the same day we compared several, the Triode had the same type of sound or effect as the Clarus Crimson just not as good. The Triode was much better than the Pangea or my entry Transparent. Resolving amps like Pass will show the benefit of a good power cord, as well as interconnects.

[Feanor]

Being a class D guy, I wasn't prepared for the dynamics. It snapped my head around the first time. I have my eye on the CJ 17LS also.

I was also a class D guy recently too. I had Class D Audio SDS-258 which is generally a very good amp and rather amazing for $600. The thing I liked least about it was its bright top highs which could be quite shrill depending on the recording. The last quality was what drove me to consider a change. However I considered the Class D Audio to be dynamic with precise base, and transparent & airy.

Before considering the Pass I listened to comment comments by Mr P, blackraven, harley, et al., and was impressed by comments about the Pass' transparency. So I wasn't surprised by improvement in this area. But the improvement versus the pretty good CDA SDS in dynamics, "PRaT", and bass was genuine surprise.

Not only piano but all percussion instruments really come alive with the Pass X150.5 -- it seemed phenomenal to me. Bass too was improved; since I listen mainly to classical music what struck me was the the Pass was able to replicate the weight & and impact of orchestral bass, i.e. string base, bassoon, bass drum, tympani, etc. (I don't mean to imply that this bass is in the least bloated or exaggeratedly warm.)

Where I'm a little disappointed with the Pass is that I expected a little more smoothness on the top end. So while the Pass is somewhat smoother and less bright than the CDA SDS, it is by no means warm or rolled off. The practical meaning of this is that overly top-end bright recordings -- of which there are many -- still sound that way.

As for the single-ended vs. balanced issue, I have only driven the Pass with a fully balanced preamp, an ARC LS9. I do know that when I got the ARC, the CDA SDS sounded more dynamic -- but I had been using a passive preamp previously, not an active single-end.

[harley .guy07]

The amp also warmed up the room nicely, which felt good on a cold night.

I will say that I have my setup in my living room which is a pretty big room and my 150.5 augments my fireplace nicely. A lot of people complain about the heat, I don't because I had a super cool running class d audio amp that I did not like so I call the heat of the x150.5 a small price to pay for the sonic goodness of a Pass Labs amplifier.

I have a question, what is a Voodoo pc? is it a gaming computer rig or just one of those high end custom pc's that are built. Just wondering

[Jack in Wilmington]

I will say that I have my setup in my living room which is a pretty big room and my 150.5 augments my fireplace nicely. A lot of people complain about the heat, I don't because I had a super cool running class d audio amp that I did not like so I call the heat of the x150.5 a small price to pay for the sonic goodness of a Pass Labs amplifier.

I have a question, what is a Voodoo pc? is it a gaming computer rig or just one of those high end custom pc's that are built. Just wondering

Sorry Harley, in this case pc stands for power cord. I got it at "the cable co." online.