Pass Is in the House

[Northy]

After many years of saving up and research, I finally got the Pass Labs XA30.8. I had to wait three months to receive it after I ordered it due to the back-order. Mated to the Theos and only with less than 50 hours on it, it is singing beautifully. PRAT (pace, rhythm, accuracy and timing) are evident in spade. I know I have to eventually upgrade the power cord which I would like to get some suggestions from you guys for.

Although rated on paper as 30 watts/channel of pure class A, it has a phenomenal headroom. Even at high volume, the needle hardly moves. I know it is a cliché, but I am rediscovering my music collection especially the SACDs and DVD Audios discs.

Kudos to Nelson Pass and his team for building these great boxes.

 

[Brad225]

congratulations Northy.

Pass and ML sound stunning together. As to PC look for Audio Seduction's (George) members page to see what he uses. His system sounds fabulous.

 

[twich54]

Congrats on the your new amp !

here's what I use to power up my X260.8's ..............

http://signalcable.com/magicpower.html

plenty of other good options out there as well, hopefully you won't get hoodwinked into thinking you need to spend 4 figures on PC's........you don't !

 

[Northy]

Thanks Brad and Dave for your kind words. I already have a silver speaker cable from Signal Cable and it is a great value. Indeed, I am not going to spend more than $400 (tops) for the PC. One can easily get carried away. I would rather save and upgrade to a PASS preamplifier like the fabulous SP-12.

 

[TomDac]

great combination. Congrats!!

 

[Northy]

great combination. Congrats!!

Thanks Tom. It sure is.

 

[adeep42]

Really good to hear two people recommending cables from Signal Cable. He's so reasonably priced, everything is made to order. Amazing quality at bargain price. One more kudo here for Frank.

 

[Northy]

The amp has now just over 100 hours on it and I have to say that I see a good difference from the first day. The bass is more defined, midrange clearer and there is more air on the top end. I am now blessed with an amp that invites you to listen by being non-fatiguing without sounding dull. Some of my CDs from the 80's were ear-piercing before, I am now really enjoying them.

 

[Northy]

So bought a Kimber Kable Ascent PK10 with the rhodium upgrade at a really good price and swapped for the stock power cord. I am hearing subtle differences which make me happy that I have not totally wasted the money. Now I am looking for another tweak which is using an aftermarket power adaptor for the stats. Does anyone have this BOTW P&P ECO 15-16V MKII (may be a different voltage)? I did a search and could not find much on this forum or on Google for that matter. It is rather pricy at $500 each but a look inside the unit shows a little toroid plus capacitors, etc.

 

[jtucker]

I'm sure you will be liking that combination. I have been using Pass INT-150 to power ML Montis for a few years now. Pass and ML are a great match IMHO.

 

[Northy]

I'm sure you will be liking that combination. I have been using Pass INT-150 to power ML Montis for a few years now. Pass and ML are a great match IMHO.

Indeed, it is an amazing combo and getting better by day as the amp is still burning in.