Thread: new amp on the way

In the last few weeks I have been thinking about getting a new amp. I was thinking about building an Audio Note EL34 kit as the OTL monoblocks I built recently just didn't work 100% for me. They were really nice amps but didn't blow my dress up so I sold them. I was also looking at a Luxman MQ-88uC, an Ayon Spirit, First Watt F8 and a Pass XA25. Called Suncoast today and spoke with Mike for a bit and wound up ordering an XA25. It should be here in a few weeks, it will be interesting to see how it works in my system compared to my F6. My suspicion is it will have tighter/deeper bass, comparable midrange and a more extended top end. Most importantly it will be very musical, I have no doubt at all about this. It should mate very well with the Volti's and my Ayon preamp. Every review I have read on this amp is nothing short of stellar.

FirstWatt/PassLab low power amps, when matched with proper speakers, are amazing both in terms of sound and value.

Thanks guys, I can't wait to go pick it up.

Originally Posted by Randy Myers

Awesome; congratz on the new amp. If I recall the F6 and the XA25 have the same power but the Pass has a bit higher gain. I would be interested in how you feel they compare!

The Pass is a bit higher gain ( 20db vs 14db ) but it also has a way higher damping factor of 500 vs 16 for the First Watt. I have always felt the bass on the F6 was a little loose, not flabby, but not quite perfect either. I will go off the subject a bit here on gain. My cd player and preamp both have a high/low gain setting which I have both set to low so I can use most of the volume control. My old preamp had such high gain I could only use the first 20% of the volume knob. This used to drive me nuts as it made it difficult to find the perfect volume level for each cd, especially when using the remote. Rant over.

I received a message today that my amp is in and ready to be picked up. Suncoast has put some hours on it so it will not be completely virgin when I receive it. In typical fashion I ordered the amp before reading all of the reviews and researching everything I could find. The good news is the amp should be better than I expect it to be. It is facing a tall order to better the F6 in my system, however, something tells me it will. I am planning on picking it up on Thursday around noon so I will know by Thursday early evening if it stays or goes. I never go back and forth with equipment by changing them in and out of the system. It will either sound more musical or it won't. Review coming soon.

Well, the best laid plans...lol. I had planned to head down that way yesterday as Sarasota is only about 1 1/2 hours from my office in Tampa. Just when I was getting ready to leave the crap hit the fan and I got swamped with reports that had to get out by the end of the week. So here I sit slaving away on the last bit of paperwork I need to get out. I am supposed to go see the grand kids at 2:00 today. Should I risk divorce and go down and pick up the amp instead (if Mike is there) and miss seeing the kids? Crap, never mind, I'll get it next week.

Not to rain on the parade, but if you want some perspective on how the first Watt and xa25 compare to the ank el34 kits, I have that perspective. I have had the stereo amp and now own the level 4 monoblocks. Previously had 2 xa25’s, sit 2 and 3, 2 j2’s, various other fw and pass’s. The reason I turned all those pass and fw’s? The ank monos. They were simply better in every way. If you can solder, these are really great amps. For perspective I also have arc ref level, Luxman 900 pre and power, and various set’s. The ank are the real deal. But the xa25 is nice, but not equal to the el34 monoblocks.

I am happy you love the ANK amps. I have built dozens of kits and they are on my short list for my next build. Also, it is very important to remember that each components' performance is system dependent AND listener dependent. For example, I recently built a pair of 40wpc OTL mono blocks. I really wanted to like them but they just didn't blow my dress up, so I sold them. On the other hand, there are many guys that built these same amps and absolutely love them and say it is the best amp they have ever heard. Thanks for your feedback. Cheers.

I picked up the amp today and put it in the system. It was great to meet Mike but he had an appointment at 1:00 so I had to grab and run. My first impression is the bass is deeper and better controlled than the F6. The highs are a bit more extended and just as smooth as the F6. Now the fly in the ointment, the midrange has a hint of roughness which is not present with the F6. However, the XA25 gives me a deeper look at the details in the music and I am hearing some things in familiar songs I haven't noticed before. I did replace the Tara interconnects with Cardas and it tamed the midrange some but that little hint of "edge" has to go. I am hoping more break in hours will bring it around. So, at this point in time I will rate the F6 at a solid 8.5 and the XA25 AT 8.0. After all, if the midrange isn't perfect I can't enjoy it.

I let it run all night and it was a touch better this morning. I hope it keeps getting warmer and more relaxed.

The amp has many more hours on it and it has warmed up very nicely. I had all Cardas and Vansevers cables in the system while the amp was breaking in as these are the smoothest cables I have. The system eventually became almost too dark so I installed a Tara Labs power cord on the amp and Tara Labs interconnects between the preamp and CD player. Also, while the F6 and all of my other amps like to be plugged into the PS Audio, the XA25 was not having any of that. It is now plugged directly into the wall. My Auris II preamp is also plugged directly into the wall per instructions from Ayon. I can now say without question that this amp everything the reviews say it is. It is very musical, involving, very detailed from top to bottom and gets the midrange right. Overall I would rate this amp a 9.5 as I am not thrilled with the binding posts, these have the plastic receivers that keep the cables from touching (per an electrical code of some sort). I much prefer the solid copper posts where you can use a nut driver, like the posts on the F6. Cheers and thanks for following.

This amp goes deeper and stronger in the bass than the F6 which was creating some muddiness on certain CD's. I wound up putting points under my preamp to get it off of the factory feet, this helped quite a bit. Then I wound up pulling the speakers about 6" further from the corners. I have a small room and they are now 38" from the back wall (or front wall?) and 24" from the side walls. I also moved the listening position back about 16". This doesn't seem like a lot but I only have 200 sq ft to deal with and getting the bass smooth has been no easy task. I pretty much have it nailed right now. Cheers.

Originally Posted by Guitardave

Not to rain on the parade, but if you want some perspective on how the first Watt and xa25 compare to the ank el34 kits, I have that perspective. I have had the stereo amp and now own the level 4 monoblocks. Previously had 2 xa25’s, sit 2 and 3, 2 j2’s, various other fw and pass’s. The reason I turned all those pass and fw’s? The ank monos. They were simply better in every way. If you can solder, these are really great amps. For perspective I also have arc ref level, Luxman 900 pre and power, and various set’s. The ank are the real deal. But the xa25 is nice, but not equal to the el34 monoblocks.

They are pretty pricey for a kit amp , especially with all those recently raved about Chinese integrated amps under 2K ready to go ..



Regards

I was thinking about getting one of those integrated amps, bypassing the preamp section and using my preamp. However, I am also very tempted to get one of the Border Patrol amps. The ANK amps are also very nice and would feed my need to tackle another project. My present combo of the Volti's and the XA25 is simply outstanding. The dynamics and transparency are highly entertaining. I had my Japanese pressing of Dark Side cranked and Led Zep #1 cranked a bit ago, entertaining as heck....lol.

This XA25 (and perhaps my fairly new Player, preamp and speakers) continues to change it's sound a bit as it gets a touch smoother with more bass almost every few days (getting darker). I wound up pulling the speakers away from the corners a bit, spread them as wide as possible and aimed the tweeters to cross about 16" from my ears. This made the sound stage wider and deeper and also reduced just a touch of bass. I then finally installed my two bass traps in the front corners, I did this at the same time as moving the speakers so I'm not sure how much these helped on bass control. I then took the Cardas Golden Cross power cord off of the preamp and installed a Vansevers white power cord. The result ? Slightly less bass and more highs, the midrange stayed about the same. For now it's close to perfect but I have a suspicion it's going to change again. There is about 250 hours on it now. Cheers.

Hi i bought a new, integrated amp, sold my Spectral pre and power mono's, was not happy, nothing in it , but after a few months run in the best amp ive had , give it time, and congratataulatuianns, for the amp, iv'e had a few beers

Originally Posted by greystoke4

Hi i bought a new, integrated amp, sold my Spectral pre and power mono's, was not happy, nothing in it , but after a few months run in the best amp ive had , give it time, and congratataulatuianns, for the amp, iv'e had a few beers

Congrats on the new amp, OP. Congrats to you also, greystoke4- I ordered the same amp as you, but now they tell me Furutech Japan has COVID-based delays, so waiting, waiting, waiting...and then burn-in is MORE waiting!

When I called Mike my intention was to get a Luxman amp but it would have been a very long wait due to all of these delays. I got the XA25 as I just had to buy something and the wait was only a month or so. Congrats to both of you guys. Isn't it fun to get new stuff?