A real big review Xono, X2.5, XA100

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Danish/swedish "High Fidelity" Issue 6, 2005 has a real massive review on these products above and also real nice photos of the inside of the products (better than Nelson's own?).

I have not read the review to 100% but it is good but they don't wet their pant of excitement. It's also a sign of integrity if they can find both pros and cons.

If/when I have got the time I can translate it into english. I'll let you know where you can find the translation.

Nelson, it looks nice, nice pcb's with even SMD parts! :nod: :up:

Just wondering, are the holemounted parts mounted by hand or by a machine?
 
The translated review, see my sig below. It's a quite big article in 8 full pages.

From the pictures of the inside I see that most of the parts are "normal", which means normal high industrial quality. I see also that the relays seem to be NAIS (former SDS) DS type which is "Spitzenklasse", one of the best relays I know especially when it comes to switching low currents. :up:
 

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It's not a good idea to have mains filter connected to chassis in environments where it's not standard to have grounded outlets. In Sweden we have in all new installations in houses grounded oputlets but this rule started only 5-10 years back and most people have grounded outlets only in the kitchen, bathroom and laundry rooms.

I'm pretty sure that Nelson not have investigated what conditions there are outside the US and also the necessity of a mains filter from a technical point of view. It's a bit alarming that expensive high-end gear can't meet up with a normal home environment.

The main reason for using a mains filter is to block noise created by the apparatus not the other way around.
 
Test continued...

I take myself the liberty of adding another chapter of the test, the part about the Xono - taking over where PA left. Being one of those in here that dosent have the wits and knowledge to add anything constructive about electronics, one use the advices of the very skilled people in here, translating a test from my native language (danish) to english so all of you Pass freaks can have a peak is a modest contribution.

I would like to post it on PA's forum, just after his part, but i can not. I must add, just as PA, that some of the subjective superlatives used in this test is a little hard to translate - keep that in mind.......

Here it comes:

... and then with the Xono

There are inputs both for MM and MC cartridges but you can't use them at the same time. This way you have the advantage of avoiding switches in the signal path. During the use of this unit we didn’t experience any noise – buzz or hiss. You find yourself unwillingly playing a little louder than normal, because everything seems so effortless and fluent. The sound is almost tube like with a wonderful effortless and spontaneity. Yes, those are the exact words, because everything sounds as if the music flows through the RIAA without being squeezed or forced. Everything seems easy and with plenty of energy reserves. On the classic “Sultans of Swing” from Dire Straits, the guitar pickings has new life and dynamics. At the same time there is a spontaneity that would prove characteristic for everything we played through the Xono. On Jennifer Warnes “The Well” it is the size of the soundstage and the treble range that draws your attention. Once you hear how a good pickup through this MC/RIAA manages to reproduce the highest octaves with weightlessness and plasticity, you’re sold. We can very well understand why many regards the Xono as being amongst the best available on the market. Though, the Xono can seem a little more cool and sober than most of really good tube RIAAs that typically uses a MC transformer at the input. Compared to those, the Xono, as well as the X2.5, can be said to lack a little bit of warmth and roundness, but on the other hand you get almost all other qualities that you can think of. The Xono will be missed on our shelf.



I will be back with the test of the XA100 later today....

Cheers!
Buhl
 
Half way through the XA100 review.....

A little bit more - have to go and eat now.....


Pass Power
After about one hour of heating up, the two XA100 are ready. Not just ready, but impressing from the first notes, with a large, very open soundstage, where especially the important midrange is wonderfully present and three-dimensional. Musicians seems physically present in a way we only have heard from the best single ended triode amps. Already now we have found these amps strong side. They simply have an almost organic way of reproducing the whole large fundamental keynote range – the same qualities we found in the X2.5 preamp, but still in a slight different way.
Here we have a little bit of the roundness and warmth, that very distinguished completes the preamp.

Take for example the new CD with Allan Olsen/Gæst (Danish artist). It is very well recorded, and you very much hear recording room, and wholeness in a very captivating and “poisoning” way. By poisoning we mean in relation to everything else we have heard. This is very much the well known openness and spontaneity you hear from the very best tube amps, in a way that make these amps a dangerous competitor to almost all other amps in the very highest class.

Moving up in the tonal spectrum, its safe to say that the XA100 is a little bit forgiving. It never sounds direct or harsh. Its laid back and compared to other alternatives in the price range also a bit on the nice side. You can also say that it holds back a small part of the details. We are talking about wholeness instead of focusing on single instruments or parts of the music. We have heard our ribbon tweeters deliver more air and detail, but again, this was with amps in the same price range as the XA100. Another way of putting it is to say that reverberation of the recording room fades out more rapidly. Its like there’s missing a little bit of air in the highest octaves.

Cheers !
Buhl
 
Disabled Account
Joined 2002
Did I say that Pass XA100 was the no.1 choice (18 points) at the similar price range by Japanese Stereo Sound critics? Followers are Linn Klimax Chakra Twin (15 points), Goldmund Mimesis 18.4M (12 points), Mckintosh MC501 (8 points), . . .
Read Stereo Sound No.153 2005.

Regards
jH
 

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The end......

Here are the last part of the AX100 test and the conclusion.
I understand that PA is working on the translation of the quite extensive measurements.
**********************
A good example of dynamics and space is High Fidelity Reference CD No. 78 (the magazines own CDs that comes with every issue) track 5 and 7 with “Tango Orkesteret” and “Freedom”. Both tracks offers lots of details and dynamics – micro dynamics as well as when the whole soundstage is crashing in to your living room. Here the XA100 has a good grip on everything. XA 100 focuses on the instruments and their messages, and also more on the space around the music, instead of the tiny details. Dynamically there is also a little bit less “jump-effect” than we experience from our Accuphase A60, which has its focus on the dynamics and liveliness in the music.

On the other hand the XA100 has the ability of placing a guitar more realistic in the soundstage, with lots of space and air to the imaginary rear wall and the other instruments. The AX100 excels in two areas – the liveliness and the organic in all instruments and the reproducing of space. Especially on the organ recording, track 7, where the large room opens and expands a bit into the track. The speakers simply vanish in the soundstage - that is if they have the necessary quality. Here you can say that XA100 is demanding, because they definitely deserve a good pair of speakers.

Now that we are at it, lets take the bass. With the available speakers there certainly weren’t any problems, but again it’s an organic and very musical reproduction rather than a reproduction that seeks to impress you. Electronic music as for example Yello is handled nicely, but its not here that the quality is revealed. Instead take a large orchestra where everything suddenly explodes. It’s this ability to expand and at the same time preserve the overview in the music that the XA100 masters. Speaking of classic music, this has to be the amp of dreams for opera fans. Listening to Cecilia Bartoli brought tears to our eyes. With music of this character you easily forget to listen to what the amp does and does not. Here you simply enjoy the music, which, in the end, has to be the meaning with it all.

Conclusion
No doubt about that it’s the XA 100 that makes the icing on the cake in this trio. These impressive mono stages don’t belong in the analytical and 100% neutral part of the high-end world, but on the other hand you get a present and three-dimensional reproduction that’s unheard of. You have the perfect combination together with the Pass Labs own X2.5 preamp. We can only imagine how it will sound with the even better alternatives in the Pass Labs selection of preamps.
Xono offers the best conditions to even the most expensive pickup and turntable. We have a hard time thinking of what more to wish for – in any case it would only concern use and facilities. We have absolutely no complains about the sound.
All in all, these products from Pass Labs have been a great experience, visually as sonically, exactly as it should be with real high-end gear.


Cheers !
Hans
 
Nais

peranders said:

***
I see also that the relays seem to be NAIS (former SDS) DS type which is "Spitzenklasse", one of the best relays I know especially when it comes to switching low currents. :up:

I agree. I have used NAIS D2 and D4 "latching" relays in my BOSOZ. They are very very nice; I think I sought them out after seeing them in Pass Labs and in Mark Levinson equipment.

NAIS D2 For input LED indicator.

NAIS D4 For Input Selection.

(for projects click www link in signature line).

I like the "latching" type because once SET (switched) they stay in that position until you deliberately switch them (RESET) again. So they have a memory effect with is great for selecting inputs. And it does not hurt to RESET or SET them if they are already RESET or SET...but sorry, I don't want to go off topic.

Name a better one.
Here is 1 of 12 in my pre-amp.
Beat you by 6 months

Jacco- I didn't beat you did I?

- my preamp in 2004- not your mommy's BOSOZ

ooops, I forgot, the links are no good, I've since moved them to parttimeprojects.com
 
Great review! I have read the whle review on the scanned files (in Swedish).

I wouldn't hesitate i buying an Xono after having looked inside this phono preamp!

One thing that puzzles me is the use of an electrolytic cap in the signal path in the XA100!
Two 100uF/35V are in series with the signal at the input.

Nelson - I hope you do not mind me asking: why do you use a electrolytic cap in the signal path?



Sigurd
 
Sigurd, the issue of the aleph electrolytic coupling capacitors have been discussed before, try a quick search of the forum. I recall that Nelson is not afraid of using a cap in the signal path, as he thinks that gain devices makes up for way more distortion and degradation of the sound – but try a search.

I’m afraid that you can no longer buy Pearl PCBs from pass labs, but Promitheus has a thread in this forum selling PCB and parts. I have built two of his “kits” and can recommend them without hesitation – excellent parts, and excellent service from Promitheus.

Per Anders – I don’t think that the pearl is the same RIAA as the Xono – but I might be wrong given my poor skills in electronics. The Pearl is a single ended circuit, and the Xono looks to be two single ended circuits in a balanced “X” configuration – maybe others can enlighten this ???

But anyway, the Pearl is a very, very good sounding RIAA, if you can live with the MM input. My friend, whom I build a pearl for compares it with the, otherwise good sounding RIAA in his McIntosch amp as “is sounds as if its broken” when comparing the McIntosch to the Pearl. I especially like its reproduction of space, compared to the other RIAAs I have heard – it is truly a “Pearl”…...


Cheers
Hans Buhl Houmøller
 
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