Moving up the Pass Labs food chain

Ern Dog
Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
edited June 2010 in 2 Channel Audio
That's right, I'm upgrading my Pass Labs X150 to an X150.5!

The 150.5 has some nice features and the cool blue dial. My hope is that this amp will be the perfect marriage between the best qualities of tube amps and SS designs. It should be here in about a week. More to come for sure...
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited May 2010
    Cool!! I'm very interested in hearing your thoughts on the differences between those two!
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited May 2010
    So how does your X150 look like? That picture has the face and blue dial my X250 has. The .5 series is a little different.
    _________________________________________________
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    2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
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    Thank God for different opinions. Imagine the world if we all wanted the same woman
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited May 2010
    The changes from the X to X.5 series is significant. So much so an additional patent was added.

    Ricardo the X150 looks just like the photo above except it doesn't have the bias meter. The 150.5 adds the same bias meter all the other Pass amps have.

    Congrats!

    My dream amp is XA30.5 one day I'll get the money together.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited May 2010
    I meant differences in sound.

    I get it. So the 150 is a step behind the rest of the amps in terms of how they look (the 150.5 looks like the 250, 350, etc).
    _________________________________________________
    ***\\\\\........................... My Audio Journey ............................./////***

    2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
    SOPA
    Thank God for different opinions. Imagine the world if we all wanted the same woman
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited May 2010
    I know, but you asked what the X150 looked like so I answered :).

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • comfortablycurt
    comfortablycurt Posts: 6,745
    edited May 2010
    Very nice!!!!

    Congrats! I can't wait to hear your thoughts between the two of them.
    The nirvana inducer-
    APC H10 Power Conditioner
    Marantz UD5005 universal player
    Parasound Halo P5 preamp
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  • cstmar01
    cstmar01 Posts: 4,424
    edited May 2010
    There is a pair of pass mono blocks that I think would be very nice out on audiogon for like 9K. If I had better gear (and 9K to pick them up with) they would be mine.

    nice buy! always wanted to hear some of their gear.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited May 2010
    cstmar01 wrote: »
    always wanted to hear some of their gear.

    You will on Friday :D

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • cstmar01
    cstmar01 Posts: 4,424
    edited May 2010
    heiney9 wrote: »
    You will on Friday :D

    H9

    looking forward to it!!!
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited May 2010
    heiney9 wrote: »
    The changes from the X to X.5 series is significant. So much so an additional patent was added.

    Ricardo the X150 looks just like the photo above except it doesn't have the bias meter. The 150.5 adds the same bias meter all the other Pass amps have.

    Congrats!

    My dream amp is XA30.5 one day I'll get the money together.

    H9


    Yeah, that XA30.5 is pure class A and I bet it sounds Heavenly. The X and X.5 are class AB. We'll see if there is a significant difference in the sound quality between the X150 vs X150.5.
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  • thsmith
    thsmith Posts: 6,082
    edited May 2010
    Congrats !
    Speakers: SDA-1C (most all the goodies)
    Preamp: Joule Electra LA-150 MKII SE
    Amp: Wright WPA 50-50 EAT KT88s
    Analog: Marantz TT-15S1 MBS Glider SL| Wright WPP100C Amperex BB 6er5 and 7316 & WPM-100 SUT
    Digital: Mac mini 2.3GHz dual-core i5 8g RAM 1.5 TB HDD Music Server Amarra (memory play) - USB - W4S DAC 2
    Cables: Mits S3 IC and Spk cables| PS Audio PCs
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  • polkfarmboy
    polkfarmboy Posts: 5,703
    edited May 2010
    I am filled with player hating envy
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited May 2010
    Sweet. Is it a tube amp? I see something about a bias control mentioned but I thought Pass Labs was all SS.
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  • FTGV
    FTGV Posts: 3,649
    edited May 2010
    organ wrote: »
    Sweet. Is it a tube amp? I see something about a bias control mentioned but I thought Pass Labs was all SS.
    It's SS using FET's,and just as with tubes SS requires a bias current to set it's operating point.
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  • organ
    organ Posts: 4,969
    edited May 2010
    aaaah cool. I bet it sounds super.
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited May 2010
    When I got home from work today I saw the Big **** box sitting on my porch :)

    I got the X-150.5 hooked up and it is eye candy for sure. My first impression is that it has way more bass than I'm used to hearing and it is super smooth. It totally sounds like a tube amp. It's got a deep and weighty presentation.

    Now I really like the presentation of my X-150 too. It is a totally different sound though. At this point, I'm not sure which sound I like better.
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,420
    edited May 2010
    Ern Dog wrote: »
    When I got home from work today I saw the Big **** box sitting on my porch :)

    I got the X-150.5 hooked up and it is eye candy for sure. My first impression is that it has way more bass than I'm used to hearing and it is super smooth. It totally sounds like a tube amp. It's got a deep and weighty presentation.

    Now I really like the presentation of my X-150 too. It is a totally different sound though. At this point, I'm not sure which sound I like better.

    Congrats man. The fun will be figuring out which is best and for what reasons... ENJOY!:)
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • polkatese
    polkatese Posts: 6,767
    edited May 2010
    Congrats Ern Dog. Pass Labs is one hell of sweet brand. I've auditioned my SF Cremona with a X350.5 and made me took out my wallet. It gave me a major goose bump. I would have consider Pass Labs seriously if I am in the market for a 2 channel system. It would be prohibitively expensive to use them for HT/Multi-Channels (and perhaps a major waste of money).

    Enjoy! I would love to hear your system, since I never heard a Tyler.
    I am sorry, I have no opinion on the matter. I am sure you do. So, don't mind me, I just want to talk audio and pie.
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited May 2010
    Well my whole rig has been configured around my old X150. To me the X150 sounds totally neutral, so I added the warm sounding Marantz Reference SACD player and two Pangea power cords to help warm things up so that it was a perfect balance. So, when I swapped out the X150 with the new X150.5 it sounded way toooo warm! I removed all the Pangea power cords and replaced them with the stock ones, which helped. I'll probably need to try some different cables/PC's and maybe a new neutral sounding SACD player:D to bring the rig back to balance again.

    Who knows, these are just some initial thoughts. It may be just fine as it is. It is such a contrast from the X150 that it will take my ears and brain more time to adjust to this new sound.
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited May 2010
    polkatese wrote: »
    Congrats Ern Dog. Pass Labs is one hell of sweet brand. I've auditioned my SF Cremona with a X350.5 and made me took out my wallet. It gave me a major goose bump. I would have consider Pass Labs seriously if I am in the market for a 2 channel system. It would be prohibitively expensive to use them for HT/Multi-Channels (and perhaps a major waste of money).

    Enjoy! I would love to hear your system, since I never heard a Tyler.

    I'd love to hear your Modwright Oppo. It may be just what I'm looking for. Are you still breaking it in? How's it sounding these days?
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  • reeltrouble1
    reeltrouble1 Posts: 9,312
    edited May 2010
    Getting your hi-fi on, cool beans, the older Esoteric players would be something you might want to consider from what I read in your findings. I have not heard a Tyler sound warm, different gear for sure when Trey had his at my place.

    Rock on.

    RT1
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  • Face
    Face Posts: 14,340
    edited May 2010
    I agree with Ted, check out Esoteric. On a budget, check out Cambridge.
    "He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
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  • Ricardo
    Ricardo Posts: 10,636
    edited May 2010
    Sounds like a lot of work and expenses to try to get back the sound you had with the X150....
    _________________________________________________
    ***\\\\\........................... My Audio Journey ............................./////***

    2008 & 2010 Football Pool WINNER
    SOPA
    Thank God for different opinions. Imagine the world if we all wanted the same woman
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  • polkatese
    polkatese Posts: 6,767
    edited May 2010
    Ern Dog wrote: »
    I'd love to hear your Modwright Oppo. It may be just what I'm looking for. Are you still breaking it in? How's it sounding these days?

    It is breaking in nicely. It has been almost a month, perhaps 100 hours so far. The fact it is a Universal player made it easier to break in, since I basically cycling through my HDCD, SACD, DVD-A, BD, and DVD collections.
    I am sorry, I have no opinion on the matter. I am sure you do. So, don't mind me, I just want to talk audio and pie.
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited May 2010
    Ricardo wrote: »
    Sounds like a lot of work and expenses to try to get back the sound you had with the X150....


    You kidding me, this isn't work- this is how I play :)

    I find that every new component that I add needs a little tweaking so that it sounds good with the rest of the components and sometimes involves upgrading something else too. Sometimes this tweaking can go on a couple months before I have it all dialed in the way I like it.

    I must have a screw loose because I've had the X150 for about 6 months and it took 5 months of adjusting things until I got it to where I fell in love with it and now I've started over with a new amp. :eek:
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited May 2010
    reeltrouble1 wrote: »
    Getting your hi-fi on, cool beans, the older Esoteric players would be something you might want to consider from what I read in your findings. I have not heard a Tyler sound warm, different gear for sure when Trey had his at my place.

    Rock on.

    RT1


    Those Esoteric SACD players look nice.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited May 2010
    R U selling the X150? Might be interested. Let me know

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • DarqueKnight
    DarqueKnight Posts: 6,765
    edited May 2010
    polkatese wrote: »
    It is breaking in nicely. It has been almost a month, perhaps 100 hours so far. The fact it is a Universal player made it easier to break in, since I basically cycling through my HDCD, SACD, DVD-A, BD, and DVD collections.

    All of my multi-format players were more time consuming to break in since each format's circuitry required the manufacturer specified number of break in hours. I kept a log of how much break in time I logged per format.

    Of course, each format's signal goes through the same output circuitry, so, if I understand you correctly, in your case the only thing the 100 hours really applies to is the output stage electronics.
    Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
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  • polkatese
    polkatese Posts: 6,767
    edited May 2010
    That's what I meant Raife.
    I am sorry, I have no opinion on the matter. I am sure you do. So, don't mind me, I just want to talk audio and pie.
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  • Ern Dog
    Ern Dog Posts: 2,237
    edited May 2010
    heiney9 wrote: »
    R U selling the X150? Might be interested. Let me know

    H9

    Not sure yet. If I can get my new amp to the same level of enjoyment I had with the X150, then yes.

    Right now the X150.5 still sounds a tad too warm/smooth, but this may be due to ancillary gear/cables.
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