Pass Labs XP-20

I had an XP-10 and while it was a very good preamp, it does not compare to my BAT VK-51se preamp. The XP-10 had great air and bass slam. It is very dynamic at low level listening but the midrange was thin and less musical than the BAT. I would have liked to hear an XP-20.
 
I really like mine but I wish the display was larger and not blue. Extremely difficult to see from any distance. Or maybe if it was yellow like my cj preamp I would be able to see it easy.
 
That better not have been the last 3. When I spoke with him earlier he said if I ordered now I would have it on Wednesday. If I have to wait I will be POed. Get a decent pre that only requires 1 cable.

Just received my shipping notification with an ETA of Wednesday.
 
So is this up and running in your system? What's your impression of it?

Mine are coming tomorrow along with a set of custom adapters so I can cook them on my cable cooker from time to time.

I received mine yesterday, and installed them to make sure the pre didn't go up in flames. I will not do any serious listening until late tomorrow night or Saturday night, but so far they are sounding good. One thing that seemed to occur was the soundstage was more pronounced left and right, but i can't swear to that.

I ordered the standard .75 meter version. The stock Pass cable is relatively thin, and the DB25 connectors are plastic. The Revelation Audio cable is twice as thick, and the DB25 connectors are Mil-Spec metal, suppossedly for reduced RFI interferance. One nice thing about the Pass is their cable has thumb screws so it is easy to plug the cable in and attach it without moving the pre-amp. The cable has little screws to secure it, so I did have to move the pre around to get both ends attached. However, I only had to disconnect one cable (aside from the power cable) in order to rotate the pre, so it wasn't to bad.

I just causally listened last night after I got home. During the week, I keep the amps off until I get home at night, but after they warmed up I kept finding myself stopping reading, and start listening. It was if something new was there, or more pronounced than before. Whatever, it would catch my ear and I would pay attention more.

Since the pre is always on the cable should be getting acclimated, so I hope tonight I have a similar experience, and tomorrow can get serious (relax and drink some beer) and really evaluate this cable. Being Friday I will turn the amps on in the morning so they will be ready to go tomorrow night.

As of now though, I like it, and expect it to improve.
 
Well, I am liking this cable. Tonight, the pre sounds louder! I am listening to Patricia Barber Modern Cool on a ripped Blue Ray audio, and it is superb. Very, very clean with excellent detail in instrument location, and superb sound stage. I do believe this cable is a keeper. Tomorrow night I will be able to listen to more tunes, along with some rock. Right now classical and jazz is doing quite well.
 
Hey Guys,

Anyone face this problem when XP-20 is not playing- the upper chassis get hot or warm. And when playing music it cool off. Anyone experience this unusual problem- will it damage given the heat accumulation if not playing and get overheated as to shorten the life span of the component.
 
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