Anyone Hear the New .8 Amps Yet

madfloyd said:
+1 ! Sandman, it's been 9 days since your last confession...
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I wanted to do a "full" break-in before saying anything. I think I've posted elsewhere that I believe it's best to cold cycle gear during the break-in. I discussed this with my dealer, who surprisingly agreed. He suggested that I leave the amps on for 5 solid days, then turn them completely off every night (via the circuit breaker in the back, so not in "stand by") and run them during the day for another 5 days. That process finished today. :)

FlexibleAudio said:
Yes Howard, we are on sonic "pins and needles".......I have a feeling the .8s will have even better synergy with the S5's than the existing great Pass/Magico synergy.
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I think the Point 5s had good synergy with the S5s in the context of jazz, vocals, and small scale classical, but not necessarily for large scale classical and especially rock music. TBH I didn't expect there to be that big of a difference between the Point 5s and Point 8s. But there is a huge difference, and for me the Point 8s are better in pretty much every way. They seem to have the best characteristics of really good Class A/B amps with the added bonus of Class A sweetness/smoothness. There is a difference in the warmth - the Point 5s are a bit more meaty, more tube-like whereas the Point 8s are smoother, yet with a more realistic texture. I could see someone preferring the Point 5s to the Point 8s in a certain kind of system listening to certain types of music exclusively.

I'd say the biggest differences are in the dynamics (you really have to watch it with the volume control), lower noise floor, more realistic vocals and instrumental sounds, much better sound at low volumes. Bass is perfect for me, and rock sounds way better than with the Point 5s. I'm currently crossing the S5s over to the subs at 29 Hz FWIW.
 
The Sandman said:
There is a difference in the warmth - the Point 5s are a bit more meaty, more tube-like whereas the Point 8s are smoother, yet with a more realistic texture. I could see someone preferring the Point 5s to the Point 8s in a certain kind of system listening to certain types of music exclusively.
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Refresh my memory regarding which .5 and which .8? This is the opposite of what I found with 160's.
 
madfloyd said:
Refresh my memory regarding which .5 and which .8? This is the opposite of what I found with 160's.
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I'm talking about XA160.5 vs XA160.8. I'm also using the XP-30 preamp, so either our ears are wired out of phase from each other or the difference is in the Alexias vs the S5s.
 
The Sandman said:
I'm talking about XA160.5 vs XA160.8. I'm also using the XP-30 preamp, so either our ears are wired out of phase from each other or the difference is in the Alexias vs the S5s.
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That is fascinating. My wife and I also find the .5's smoother and the .8's a little harder sounding in the lower treble which is also different but I can see that being the speakers.

What aspect of the .8 makes them work better with rock in your system?
 
madfloyd said:
That is fascinating. My wife and I also find the .5's smoother and the .8's a little harder sounding in the lower treble which is also different but I can see that being the speakers.

What aspect of the .8 makes them work better with rock in your system?
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I'm not sure I can pin it down - the dynamics, the bass, the resolution - I'm not sure. Badly recorded stuff still sounds bad though - it's not a panacea.
 
The Sandman said:
I'm talking about XA160.5 vs XA160.8. I'm also using the XP-30 preamp, so either our ears are wired out of phase from each other or the difference is in the Alexias vs the S5s.
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The Alexias and the S5 have different measurements and present different loads for the amps. This may account in part for the differences the two of you hear. The different rooms may also be factors.

Sandman, what cables and source do you use? Thank you for sharing your impressions. I know Madfloyd's system pretty well and own XA160.5 and XP20/XP25 myself, so I am very curious about the .8 amps and have been following the various threads closely.

I tend to listen to clasical music and value clarity, dynamics and timbre, so I think for me, the .8 would be great.
 
Happy Easter to all who celebrate!

Anyone else have any updates on their XA.8 experiences?? I have been looking at Raidho D3's and the thread on these new speakers has panned their synergy with the xa100.8 due to lack of bass control and speed. I find these observations odd and question if the problem is a current limitation of the 100.8s when up against the tough load of these 84 dB speakers. Any thoughts?
 
I went to Axpona yesterday hoping to get to hear the XA.8s. None were to be found. I listened to the XA.5 but no .8s.

Very odd to me.

Did any one by chance find a .8 at Axpona that I somehow missed, X or XA???
 
I just heard the Pass XA100.8's on my Focal Scala Utopias at Design Audio Video and it was a real disappointment. The Soulution gear clobbered it. There's a price difference of course.
 
dfwmediagroup said:
I just heard the Pass XA100.8's on my Focal Scala Utopias at Design Audio Video and it was a real disappointment. The Soulution gear clobbered it. There's a price difference of course.
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Could you elaborate on your comments? Which preamp was used? How did the Solution gear clobber the Pass? Power, distortion, clarity, soundstage, timbre, dynamics? What kind of a load is the Focal Scala Utopia? Thanks.
 
PeterA said:
Could you elaborate on your comments? Which preamp was used? How did the Solution gear clobber the Pass? Power, distortion, clarity, soundstage, timbre, dynamics? What kind of a load is the Focal Scala Utopia? Thanks.
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Lol, I was just going to say the same thing...
 
It sounded bright and harsh and busy. Very hi-fi. The bass was fine, but the mids and top end were not pleasant at higher volumes. The setup consisted of Accuphase DP-550 cd player, Pass XP-20 preamp and Tara Labs and Anzus cabling. The cables were swapped out during the audition for comparisons sake. The Soulution was superior to the Pass in most all regards. It had better clarity, was smoother, less noise, better dynamics, imaging, soundstaging. It is the most undistorted, powerful and detailed sounding gear I've yet heard. The presentation is just more natural than the Pass. No hi-fi sound, just music. The Scalas do not present a tough load since they are 92 db efficient and are rated at 4 ohm nominal impedance.
 
I am going back to Axpona tomorrow. I will try to corner Mick, the owner of Quintessence Audio the big Pass dealer in Chicago who has three rooms at the show, and ask him why no .8s.
 
Peter - that's very interesting feedback on the Pass amps. Any idea how many hours the dealer (David) has on them?

Admittedly, the Soulution 711 I heard was simply, awesome.


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Mike said:
Peter - that's very interesting feedback on the Pass amps. Any idea how many hours the dealer (David) has on them?

Admittedly, the Soulution 711 I heard was simply, awesome.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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I asked this question twice when these amps were yielding poor results on the D3's (assuming they are still the same xa100.8s David received a few weeks ago). I think they are pretty run in by now.
 
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