The importance of an audition period including return - refund options

Hi all,

What I thought would be a "no brainer", that being replacing my Pass Labs X250.5 amp with the X350.5, turned out in a most unexpected way.

After listening to the bigger brother for a week, I'm returning the amp and keeping the X250.5.

Ironic that I clearly preferred the "voicing" of the smaller amp (more liquid, less analytical, easier on the ears) after reinstalling in the system.

Dare I say a confirmation for the validity of "auditory memory".

Had to pay for ship costs but oh well.

Mark at Reno Hi Fi was great to work with. Highly recommended if you are interested in auditioning / purchasing Pass gear.

Another lesson confirming the importance of a two week return / refund option. Assume nothing in advance even though you MAY think otherwise.

GG

Hey GG,
I had read many reviews that all said the X250 and X250.5 were better sounding than the 350 counterparts, so this doesn't surprise me.
Glad to know Reno Hi-Fi was good to you!

Gordon,

I bought my Pass Labs XA-160.5 and XP-20 from Mark at Reno Hi-Fi. Very professional and great service. I second your recommendation.

Gary

I third it!

TomDac said:

Hey GG,
I had read many reviews that all said the X250 and X250.5 were better sounding than the 350 counterparts, so this doesn't surprise me.
Glad to know Reno Hi-Fi was good to you!

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Agreed my friend. I've also heard about this apparent disparity. Maybe it's true. Certainly is in my system.

GG

I have heard a few amps with the 116F, all on Jerry's. Here's what I think.

Krell KAV-250A. Excellent. Truly. Best solid state I have heard with 116F. Unconstrained volume wise. Clean but not too clean. Just did nothing wrong, really.

Parasound A21. Very good but a tad mechanical. Like it was trying too hard.

20W Tripath costing around £80 I think. Nice mid range. Quite closed in in stereo image terms. Unable to drive the speaker at any real volume. One of Jerry's all time favourites.

Graaf 50/50. I loved it. Really nice soundstage, fleshed out, relaxing yet fun and entertaining. Engaging, musical, the works really.

My Austria Analog 211 monos - not such a good match. Soundstage was just too huge for a pair of omnis. Total opposite to the Tripath there.

The A21 did very well on my Aps, the Krell less well. After a while you realise it isn't so much about money at all. It is about trying to find the best match to your ears for your speaker. The ONLY way is to keep trying different stuff.

That is just a minuscule subset of what Jerry has tried with them. Seriously! Convicted box swapper!

Gordon, I suggest trying a Pass XA100.5 or XA160.5. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

I'm not a "box swapper" as Justin's friend seems to be.

I really don't like auditioning new stuff and am quite happy with the 250.5.

Would like a tad more definition in the lower bass area but all in all, it's more than adequate for me at the moment.

Next amp switch will be high powered monos once I get my MBL 101E's. And that's easily two years out when I retire.

GG

The Krell really is excellent with 116F. Buy one off the Gon for peanuts to try it if you feel like some fun. Then re-sell it. Won't cost much.

I know you have 116E but should be reasonably similar. Two very experienced people reckon it is excellent with 116F. That is a pretty solid recommendation I reckon

No pressure... I just think you might be surprised.

I know someone who had both Krell and Halcro monos with his 101e. He preferred the Halcro. He alos had a Levinson.

Krell's vary a lot. That us the only one being recommended here. It is cheap - probably way less than a Halcro or Levinson but without model info Kedar your post is worthless.

Just saying itvlike it is Strongly suspect GG won't listen anyway

Yes I know, the FPBs are supposed to be good and they vary a lot too. But this guy was SOTA, so his monoblocks, without knowing the number, were the high end old SOTA ones. he had Esoteric K03/D03, Krell/ML/Halcro at various points in time with his 101e. Don't remember the pre. His 101e was sold off here for around 15k GBP. Would have been a good deal for Jerry. That was just when I started off, he wanted to do a swap with my Summits as he wanted to downgrade, but at that time even my Summit investment had been too much for my original 2k hifi budget

In all fairness, it's difficult to be able to audition all the amps one might want to in their home. I had wanted to listen to some cj gear in my home prior to my purchasing the Pass gear, but couldn't get the gear I wanted to audition. I ended up buying the Pass gear, as I had heard it before at audio shows. I wouldn't want to have to mail order gear to audition and then have to send it back; too much of a hassle. So, unless you have a good dealer nearby...

101E... I saw a couple on audiogon. What's the difference between mk 1 and 2?

Gordon Gray said:

Thanks guys for the suggestions.

I'm not a "box swapper" as Justin's friend seems to be.

I really don't like auditioning new stuff and am quite happy with the 250.5.

Would like a tad more definition in the lower bass area but all in all, it's more than adequate for me at the moment.

Next amp switch will be high powered monos once I get my MBL 101E's. And that's easily two years out when I retire.

GG

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slowGEEZR said:

In all fairness, it's difficult to be able to audition all the amps one might want to in their home. I had wanted to listen to some cj gear in my home prior to my purchasing the Pass gear, but couldn't get the gear I wanted to audition. I ended up buying the Pass gear, as I had heard it before at audio shows. I wouldn't want to have to mail order gear to audition and then have to send it back; too much of a hassle. So, unless you have a good dealer nearby...

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Yep I totally agree. Amps a little easier than speakers though. Speakers are a whole different beast to take. But I agree.