pass labs vs. plinius class a

marvda1

anyone compare the pass labs class a amps to the plinius class a amps?
i just let a plinius sa 50 mkIII pas thru my fingers for $1700:sad:

tonyb

Do a search, we had a member here, Joey I think his name was. He had a Plinius running some ML Summits and thought it was the next best thing to sliced bread. I believe he has moved on however.
Haven't had an ear on either one truthfully, but like all amp makers, models will vary within a line and a turkey or 2 is bound to happen. Never heard too many complaints on either when I was researching amps. For the price, it was probably a good deal and easily flippable just in case.

cstmar01

hmmm...

I talked to a guy that was here in WI that was running Pass and also tried out Plinius in his system.

He said that to him he liked the Plinius better than Pass as he found it a little more liquid to him. I'm trying to remember the model but the Pass was the X series. The Plinius I would have to look up. He did run it in a full Pass vs Plinius system so not sure on its own or what other gear your using with it and how it would compare.

I like the build of Plinius but they do get very hot when in class A.

heiney9

Going to have to be a little more specific about what Pass Labs you are talking about. His amps have a different sound based on the topology and generation, ie; X150 and X150.5 are very different sounding as well as the XA compared to the X and the XA.5 to the XA series.

Also associated gear should be a consideration and included when asking for opinions and or getting an opinion.

As far as getting hot in class A, it will and it should if it's worth it's class A rating. That's why the heatsinks as well as the trannys are so large and expect to increase room temp by 3-4* with proper single ended class A operation.

In the end at this level of component (and hopefully quality associated gear) you're probably going to have to an in home comparo in your own environment. I can highly recommend Reno HiFi as a top notch Pass dealer and they have 30 day in home trials. Don't know much about Plinius dealers or what types of programs they have available. They seem to get good reviews and look as well built as the Pass stuff, which is top notch bullit proof and then some.

H9

heiney9

cstmar01 wrote: »

hmmm...

I talked to a guy that was here in WI that was running Pass and also tried out Plinius in his system.

He said that to him he liked the Plinius better than Pass as he found it a little more liquid to him. I'm trying to remember the model but the Pass was the X series. The Plinius I would have to look up. He did run it in a full Pass vs Plinius system so not sure on its own or what other gear your using with it and how it would compare.

I like the build of Plinius but they do get very hot when in class A.

That could be the X or the X.5 or the XA or XA.5 all very different amps.

H9

SCompRacer

Folks at the Martin Logan forum are running Plinius and Pass Labs amps along with many other brands on very difficult to drive speakers. Maybe poke around over there. JoeyV is still a member there and posted much more there than here so a search should dig up some of his threads. IIRC some of the Plinius models were switchable between Class A and Class A/B, so make sure you are not apples and oranges when comparing models to other amps, or at least be sure what mode they were in when offering their opinion.

http://www.martinloganowners.com/forum/index.php

heiney9

What do you mean by class A?

The Pass X series is A/B. It is heavily biased into class A especially the 250 and 350. The .5 series is the better series

The Pass XA series is single ended class A, but when it reaches it's rated output it will slip into push/pull class A. These are expensive amps, well beyond the $1700 you quoted for the Plinius even used. The XA30 starts at $5500 retail probably not an apples to apples comparison to the Plinius which I doubt is single ended class A. Very hard to find anything on the internet for that model.

H9

marvda1

my original thought was the pass xa 30.5 vs. the plinius sa 103 but that's 30 watts vs. 125 watts of class a plus the sa 103 goes used for about 2-3k more than the used xa 30.5 that's why i said i messed up when the discontinued sa 50 mkIII (50 watts) came up for $1700. the amp will be paired with usher 6381 ( hopefully mini dancer 2), belles 21a w/auricap preamp and virtue audio piano m1 cdp. currently running tubes consonance cyber 800 mono blocks so heat will not be a problem.