Pass XA.5 vs XA.8

slowikpl said:
My Pre is an Old Aleph P last edition. If I had money or compared to the new Pre`s from Pass I cult maybe reconsider to buy new one. Untill then I will be using my old mate.

I`m experiencing that the pointer moves 1mm if the loudness on my speakers is almost to the max. I think my speakers needs more watts than I think. But also I hope this will not degrade my experience on my LP. If happens onley on very loud listening that I usely do not do.
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All that means is that it is barely sliding out of Class A when you listen extremely loudly. Nothing to worry about.

I had a late model Aleph P and loved it. The remote and aesthetics were great. I listened with the gain dials turned to low and the volume dials turned to high. The new XP10 will be quieter sounding and more transparent, but the aleph is excellent.
 
joeinid said:
Hi,

Congratulations!

Don't be too concerned about the meters. You could try cleaning the glass in front with a good glass cleaner and antistatic solution. My XA60.5 meters are not always exactly the same. Just make sure you break them in properly. On for week continously, then on for 12 hours and off, completely unplugged for 12 hours for another week. Then you are good to go.
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Is this long break-in period proven by anybody that owns Pass .8 AMPS ?

I'm now 24h for 4th day and there is little improvement.
I do get some electronic Smell of the Amplifiers.
I saw on another reviews that if the smell is gone I'm on the half way through the break-in period.
 
Pass Amp Break In Process:

1. on 24 hours/day for 5 days straight
2. on 12 hours/day, then COMPLETELY off (unplugged from wall) for 12 hours/day. Repeat for 5 days.
3. ENJOY!!!!

The amps will continue to break in over the next couple of hundred hours, but you will be 85% of the way there after completing the above process.
 
Update on my findings about the XA 60.8 ( 14 days – of use)

On the 5 day of constant burn in the AMPs began the first time to sing.( not yet with the full bloom) After that it was 3 days long waiting for some hours of good music reproduction. In those 3 day the AMPs I though they are broken or I had some problem with other gear. The sound was really annoying. There was no depth, no definition and liquidity in sound, only the bass was ok, but nothing special.
After another 5 day 12hrs/ On-Off there were only 1 day that the Pass ware good, but again nothing special. But from today morning it was the first time that I experienced the real (I think) Pass – sound. Lots of detail (little tube like definition, but nothing sweet just very convincing), midrange was a little not there but I assume that this will improve later, and very good definition of bass.
I left the AMP again for 24hrs to burn-in. 12hrs off the wall.

PS : the smell on the MOS-FETs 240 heatsinks was now disappeared. Only on the back – where the J-FETs are the smell is still there.
 
I'm guessing you'll find that the midrange on the .8's is not at all similar to the .5's (which have a lot more bloom).
 
Hi ,
I hoop this will not be the case. In the future , like 4 weeks I will report on this.
I was upgrading the Speakers to DIY and also on my DIY DAC yesterday I was installing the Duelund CAST DC coupling capacitors. Hey all need some time to bloom :)


madfloyd said:
I'm guessing you'll find that the midrange on the .8's is not at all similar to the .5's (which have a lot more bloom).
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I didn't mean to imply there was anything wrong with the .8's. I think they are better than the .5's, but they do sound different.

Let us know what you think as they break in more.
 
madfloyd said:
I'm guessing you'll find that the midrange on the .8's is not at all similar to the .5's (which have a lot more bloom).
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I am/was considering the XA60.8's but LOVE my 60.5's so much that I am not sure I'd want to give up my 60.5's. My 60.5's have more than enough power for me and sound great. I'd have to demo the .8's in my system.
 
joeinid said:
I am/was considering the XA60.8's but LOVE my 60.5's so much that I am not sure I'd want to give up my 60.5's. My 60.5's have more than enough power for me and sound great. I'd have to demo the .8's in my system.
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What’s very important is the Burn-In mark of i think at least 6 weeks. Do inform about it before you bring those amps home. Please do write something if your compare those two amps.
 
slowikpl said:
What’s very important is the Burn-In mark of i think at least 6 weeks. Do inform about it before you bring those amps home. Please do write something if your compare those two amps.
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I will. I don't anticipate trying the .8's until the end of the year, at the earliest. I am in a great place now and know I'll upset the balance :D
 
joeinid said:
I am/was considering the XA60.8's but LOVE my 60.5's so much that I am not sure I'd want to give up my 60.5's. My 60.5's have more than enough power for me and sound great. I'd have to demo the .8's in my system.
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Remember that like all the XA.5 series compared to the .8, the XA60.5 is more powerful than the XA60.8.
 
rbbert said:
Remember that like all the XA.5 series compared to the .8, the XA60.5 is more powerful than the XA60.8.
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It's not the case for me. I went from XA30.5 to XA30.8 and feel XA30.8 is more powerful and has a lot more drive.
 
The XA30.5 clips at about 120-130 W/ch, by which time it has been in Class AB mode for about 6 dB. The XA30.8 clips at under 60 W/ch, although nearly all of that is in Class A.
 
XA30.5
Max Output (volts): 23
Max Output (amps): 18
Leaves Class A (watts): 60

XA30.8
Max Output (volts): 40
Max Output (amps): 20
Leaves Class A (watts): 61
 
Only relaying what I was told by Pass. They are pretty emphatic that the .8's have less maximum power output than the .5's. I was also told they need to update their spec sheet.
 
That's the 2014 spec sheet, not yet revised. It's unintentionally misleading because it doesn't give the maximum power output of the XA.8 amps; the older spec sheet for the XA.5 amps always noted 6 dB of Class AB headroom above the rated Class A power output, and that's not happening with the XA.8 series. The .8 amps are biased more deeply into Class A, thus giving up some Class AB headroom; if you think you are reading something that says differently, I think you are misreading it.
 
Based on everything I've read from Pass Labs, the Point 8 series has larger power supplies, more storage capacitance, more precise reference voltages, and larger heat sinks that allow them to be more deeply biased into Class A. They have already revised the preliminary specs they originally released for these amps although I can't say for sure they won't be revised again. My take on this is that the Point 8s pull more power from the wall and send more power to the speakers than the Point 5s. Hopefully Nelson or one of his minions from Pass Labs will happen along and clarify this further.
 
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