Nelson Pass...........

Mike said:
Earth to Michael Kim....we need an XS update!
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Didn't get a chance to respond to the Pass beacon with family commitments but here I am :hi:

The Xs series are, for me, as close to the pinnacle of amp technology as I've experienced. I'm going to sound like an ad, but: incredible micro detail, great separation of each and every vocal layer and instrument, widest and tallest (yes I'm talking about a high hat 6" off the ground, a vocal 5' high, and everything in between) soundstage I've experienced with my speakers, as well as the tightest and most textured bass response I've heard. In comparison to Pass' very own XA160.5s, which I am very very high on, the Xs simply clear away the haze and mud you never knew were there. In fact, they made me really hear what the eMM DAC2X was capable of...who needs dCS?! At least for now :D.

Anyways, I really cannot recommend them enough.

Peace. Off to have more booze now :cool:
 
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mdkim said:
Didn't get a chance to respond to the Pass beacon with family commitments but here I am :hi:

The Xs series are, for me, as close to the pinnacle of amp technology as I've experienced. I'm going to sound like an ad, but: incredible micro detail, great separation of each and every vocal layer and instrument, widest and tallest (yes I'm talking about a high hat 6" off the ground, a vocal 5' high, and everything in between) soundstage I've experienced with my speakers, as well as the tightest and most textured bass response I've heard. In comparison to Pass' very own XA160.5s, which I am very very high on, the Xs simply clear away the haze and mud you never knew were there. In fact, they made me really hear what the eMM DAC2X was capable of...who needs dCS?! At least for now :D.

Anyways, I really cannot recommend them enough.

Peace. Off to have more booze now :cool:
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Michael - congrats! I'm so glad you're enjoying them! I can't wait to hear them.

Mike
 
joeinid said:
Congratulations on the new Xs preamp coming out.
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That would be Wayne's project.

Did you ever hear the Wayne story?

Back in like '87 or so, I needed some more help and we had some $ available, so I
ran an ad in Audio Amateur:

Assistant Amplifier Designer:

High Pay

No Work

All Glory

Wayne is the guy who got the job.

After 26 years he has achieved all but the middle one,
but thanks to Wayne, I have the middle one, at least in regards
to preamps.

;)
 
Ha!

Very funny. We really appreciate your presence here. Thanks for your support.



Nelson Pass said:
That would be Wayne's project.

Did you ever hear the Wayne story?

Back in like '87 or so, I needed some more help and we had some $ available, so I
ran an ad in Audio Amateur:

Assistant Amplifier Designer:

High Pay

No Work

All Glory

Wayne is the guy who got the job.

After 26 years he has achieved all but the middle one,
but thanks to Wayne, I have the middle one, at least in regards
to preamps.

;)
Click to expand...
 
I built my B1 preamp this weekend! Aside from challenges due to the case I chose, it all went smoothly and it sounds fantastic (driving my Spectron at the moment). Soldering to Miles Davis was a very meditative experience... The Pass DIY forum at audio circle was a godsend, kudos to that group if any are lurking here.

Now, what's next, an amp? Thanks Nelson!
 
Finished box on top of the spectron. Still needs knobs on the left and right channel volume pots! Switch in the middle is for source selection.

IMG_20130519_203023.jpg
IMG_20130519_202912.jpg

Of course I neglected to take a pic of the completed circuit board, I'll have to lift off the top and do that so you can see it in all its glory! But now I'm listening.....
 
jwhite613 said:
Nelson... Would you be willing to share your current audio system with us?
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Between Foresthill and the coast I have about 6 systems, of which two just provide
background "work" music.

At the moment I am looking at a pair of SR-1's driven by XA60.5's and an XP10.
The digital player is an Oppo, and the vinyl is a Basis 2500 with the Vector arm
and a Dynavector DV-20X and XP-25.

Back in Foresthill tomorrow I have a pair of JBL Array 1400's waiting for me in boxes....
 
Hi Nelson,

Thank you so much. Looks like you have great taste in gear and speakers. Please let us know how you like the JBL 1400's. I am sure they will be wonderful with your amps.

:exciting:

Nelson Pass said:
Between Foresthill and the coast I have about 6 systems, of which two just provide
background "work" music.

At the moment I am looking at a pair of SR-1's driven by XA60.5's and an XP10.
The digital player is an Oppo, and the vinyl is a Basis 2500 with the Vector arm
and a Dynavector DV-20X and XP-25.

Back in Foresthill tomorrow I have a pair of JBL Array 1400's waiting for me in boxes....
Click to expand...
 
First off, I think they're gorgeous, and lots of value at the retail price.

I only had the opportunity to put in a few hours with them (should have hauled them
out to the coast) but I am very impressed. All the best qualities of horns without the
drawbacks. Very smooth, and great articulation. I do like a little more upper-mid / top
(probably from years of listening to Lowthers) and I think the amps that do the best in
this region don't seem to have the control on the bottom I want, so probably I'll bi-amp
these (two convenient sets of terminals on the back) with an FW on the top and an XA
on the bottom and see what we get.

I'll let you know...
 
I thought I would follow up...

I moved the Array 1400's out to the coast and installed them in my man cave,
responding to normally very tolerant wife Jill's observation that they look like
aliens that will suck your face off. Mmmmmmm, that's a thought...

As with the previous (larger) listening space, they had too much bottom end in
the balance for my taste. Part of this would be the lower damping factor than
they probably used at JBL to voice these, and as Greg Timber pointed out, I'm
probably seeing some room modes.

Replacing a set of open baffle woofers, the difference is more stark since the
OB's don't tend to excite room modes as much.

Anyway, the ear wants what the ear wants, so I set them up for bi amping using
the stock crossovers and an amp with a decent DF on the bottom and a SIT-2
on the top. Still too much 70 Hz, so I notched it a bit at that frequency.

The result is pretty spectacular. These are among the few horns that have all
the virtues, the dynamics and articulation that you might be looking for, but have
little or no horn artifacts - smooth as a baby's bottom.

I've been running them for a few weeks and they are definitely keepers, the kind
of speakers that reveal new information on old recordings and never annoy. At
about $11,000 I think they are a bargain. These are now going to be used for amplifier
testing, and I have forwarded my old Tannoy 15" HPD coaxials (in Jensen Imperial
enclosures) to Jam, the newest member of our listening panel.
 
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