Pass XA.5 vs XA.8

Alpinist said:
Great news, Mike! You must be stoked. :congrats:
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Stoked and broke! LOL. I'm absolutely beyond excited. I LOVE Pass with Strads. Its a perfect match. I've tried 60.5's, 160.5's, 100.8's. All were incredible.


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Mike said:
Stoked and broke! LOL. I'm absolutely beyond excited. I LOVE Pass with Strads. Its a perfect match. I've tried 60.5's, 160.5's, 100.8's. All were incredible.


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Mike,

What a great combination, the most soulful speakers with the most soulful amps! I'm actually most envious of the XS Pre you'll soon be enjoying.

Ken
 
Alpinist said:
Mike,

What a great combination, the most soulful speakers with the most soulful amps! I'm actually most envious of the XS Pre you'll soon be enjoying.

Ken
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Thanks Ken. I whole heartily agree. Strads and Pass is soulful synergy.


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BlueFox said:
I would use painters tape and tape the cardboard to the front. It is a shame somebody designs a great amp and leaves out a very important aesthetic detail.
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I used cardboard as well for a while but then figured i could use photographic paper, cut to just slightly larger diameter than the blue meter, and then i would slide them in place. Very faint glow, but almost completely blocked out and looked way better than cardboard in the daylight. ;)
 
I understand you, gentlemen: my first night with a stack full of Chord component felt like listening to music while watching an aerial view of Las Vegas.
 
I have thought of replacing the cardboard with something a bit more upscale, but haven't got around to it yet. I will remove the cardboard during the day, but once the sun goes down, it goes back in. At night, 99% of the time the front of my house is only illuminated with a recessed 18" flouresent bulb in the kitchen.
 
I truly love the brands I sell, that is why I chose them.

However, Pass is probably the brand I love the most that I don't sell. I feel Nelson Pass is one of the all time greats in this wonderful but crazy industry.

I'm really looking forward to hearing all about Mike's XS's when they arrive.
 
tunes said:
Yes, those xs amps are going to be dynamite on the strads Mike!
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It's hard for me to even imagine a step up from the sound quality of my XP-30 and XA-100.8's. The midrange on these components is to die for. But Mike is going to have it with his XS Pre and XS-150's. We'll want a full report when you get them plugged into the Strads.

Ken
 
Alpinist said:
It's hard for me to even imagine a step up from the sound quality of my XP-30 and XA-100.8's. The midrange on these components is to die for. But Mike is going to have it with his XS Pre and XS-150's. We'll want a full report when you get them plugged into the Strads.

Ken
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You can be sure of that Ken. I heard the 100.8's in my system and was blown away.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1411699535.625313.jpg


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Heard the XS300s- biggest amps ive ever seen. Reminded me of the Rowland 9tis back in the day. Should sound retarded good on Strads.

The SIT amps sound better than the XA.5 series and were used to design the XS as i recall.
 
KeithR said:
Heard the XS300s- biggest amps ive ever seen. Reminded me of the Rowland 9tis back in the day. Should sound retarded good on Strads.

The SIT amps sound better than the XA.5 series and were used to design the XS as i recall.
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Keith - the XS amps (and XS preamp) are in the system and the combo sounds superb. Nelson Pass truly is a genius. I feel that these amps are such a level above anything I have or have had. No wonder all those early adopters like Michael Kim never even hint at selling theirs. Now I understand why.

As for size? Holy crap - they are huge (and heavy).

Heat has not been an issue (knock on wood). Where I have the amps, I have two huge cold air vents blowing directly on them.

You are correct about the SIT amps being the starting point for the three year voicing period of the XS amps.

I'm honestly speechless. I just don't know how I could do better. Different? Yes. Better? Unlikely.

Mike
 
mdkim said:
Mike:

I'm glad you're enjoying the 500+ lbs. of Pass gear :D.
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500 pounds of bliss! :thumbsup: I bet a backache never felt so good, huh Mike? It took my back two days to recover after shipping out my XA-100.5's and setting up my XA-100.8's. But it was worth every twinge.

Ken
 
Ken - I'm over the moon. I listened to Albert King/SRV - In Session and it NEVER sounded like that before.

I hope you can hear the amazing synergy between Pass and Strads.

Mike


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