Though as it turns out I know some of you I am the knew guy so I apologize in advance if this has been covered before. I have searched and searched, turning over every rock and Googling every combination of words I can think of and can find nothing, no answers to what I thought to be noteworthy and reasonable questions.
It is my claim though I expect his as well that the Stasis 1 amplifier is in fact Mr. Pass’s signature piece. I would go even farther and say it is the most important amplifier of its era.
When I was still a teenager I was fortunate to have had an opportunity to hear the Stasis 1 amps feeding a pr. Of Magnaplanar MG III’s at the 1980 CES show in Vegas. I was quite familiar with the MAGGY’s already, at least I thought I was. I knew them powered by BRYSTON 4b’s and even stacked Naim 250’s but this was something else. I remember the new hit Money For Nothing just starting and immediately was mesmerized. I had no idea those speakers could sound like that, I already thought they were amazing but was about to learn what they could sound like. If ever there was a speaker to demonstrate what big class A power could do this was it. They revealed in the most obvious way a whole new dimension , an unveiling of there potential that came almost like a shock. It was as if they were thanking you for giving them what they needed. Pure class A at 200 watts, un compromised by the demands of sub 2ohm impedance with a truckload of current the amplifiers were just as happy as the speakers were. Not even the bigger Audio Research amps could pull that off. It was and is still my most memorable listening experience that I have carried to this day.
My point here is having brought to the market pure class A with enough power to wake up any speaker just had not been done! 200 watt class A, impossible, you will burn the house down as your listening room turns into a sauna! Nope. Cool and confident. Mr. Pass built what I believe to be possibly the most iconic amplifier of our generation. Gordon Holt still today runs them in his personal system along with his big Infinity’s. 44 years later they are still ready for a showdown with anything new. Built by hand with nothing short of military grade spec they have aged very well.
What the mystery is, to me at least is carved into the faceplate it says “LIMITED PRODUCTION”. Something decided in advance. I know of no other maker to limit the numbers except by how many they can sell. True to those words production stopped after a very successful 3 years of strong sales. It’s not like the SA1 was waiting in the wings as it would be another 3 years before it was introduced. Mr. Pass had made his mark and during those three dry years I think the Stasis 1 was talked about more than when you could go buy one! Of course given they shared the same topology the 800a and the 400a enjoyed great success. My theory is that Mr. Pass showed some brilliance outside of his engineering skills with a masterfully conducted marketing campaign. The three year drought left a thirsty public anxious and wondering about the rumours about a new version coming out, which it did and the SA1 was welcomed by thankful audiophiles everywhere and remained in production for as long as Mr. Pass was there to make them. Now the SA1 is not the same as the Stasis 1 at least in so far as it is 160 watts and not 200 but it is the other differences between them of which I can find no information. My theory being is the Stasis 1 was made no holds barred and Mr. Pass was all in on shining a light on the new technology but was aware he wasn’t making any money on them so understood limiting them made sense and would create an aura about them generating interest. Now the SA1 came out three years later and at a higher price becoming an instant sales hit. Threshold declined at the time to comment on any difference between them making sure the Stasis 1 version stopped getting attention. I can find nothing that compares the two anywhere, if you Google the Stasis 1 it thinks you mean SA1 and makes no difference between them.
I don’t think it has happened before so I think it’s time for Mr. Pass to come clean and give us what he knows in describing the engineering / design and sonic variables between them.
I believe he will agree with me that the Stasis 1 is his signature piece and the time has come to correct my theory or agree.
After not hearing them again since, I did after 44 years finally get a pair of Stasis 1’s, as a matter of fact two pr. From an aging Cowboy in Colorado who bought six in 1980 serial #’s 79-80-81-82
I have become obsessed with finding any competent commentary discussing the differences and look forward to your or any response sir with the faith of a child on Christmas morning.
Peter Smith
It is my claim though I expect his as well that the Stasis 1 amplifier is in fact Mr. Pass’s signature piece. I would go even farther and say it is the most important amplifier of its era.
When I was still a teenager I was fortunate to have had an opportunity to hear the Stasis 1 amps feeding a pr. Of Magnaplanar MG III’s at the 1980 CES show in Vegas. I was quite familiar with the MAGGY’s already, at least I thought I was. I knew them powered by BRYSTON 4b’s and even stacked Naim 250’s but this was something else. I remember the new hit Money For Nothing just starting and immediately was mesmerized. I had no idea those speakers could sound like that, I already thought they were amazing but was about to learn what they could sound like. If ever there was a speaker to demonstrate what big class A power could do this was it. They revealed in the most obvious way a whole new dimension , an unveiling of there potential that came almost like a shock. It was as if they were thanking you for giving them what they needed. Pure class A at 200 watts, un compromised by the demands of sub 2ohm impedance with a truckload of current the amplifiers were just as happy as the speakers were. Not even the bigger Audio Research amps could pull that off. It was and is still my most memorable listening experience that I have carried to this day.
My point here is having brought to the market pure class A with enough power to wake up any speaker just had not been done! 200 watt class A, impossible, you will burn the house down as your listening room turns into a sauna! Nope. Cool and confident. Mr. Pass built what I believe to be possibly the most iconic amplifier of our generation. Gordon Holt still today runs them in his personal system along with his big Infinity’s. 44 years later they are still ready for a showdown with anything new. Built by hand with nothing short of military grade spec they have aged very well.
What the mystery is, to me at least is carved into the faceplate it says “LIMITED PRODUCTION”. Something decided in advance. I know of no other maker to limit the numbers except by how many they can sell. True to those words production stopped after a very successful 3 years of strong sales. It’s not like the SA1 was waiting in the wings as it would be another 3 years before it was introduced. Mr. Pass had made his mark and during those three dry years I think the Stasis 1 was talked about more than when you could go buy one! Of course given they shared the same topology the 800a and the 400a enjoyed great success. My theory is that Mr. Pass showed some brilliance outside of his engineering skills with a masterfully conducted marketing campaign. The three year drought left a thirsty public anxious and wondering about the rumours about a new version coming out, which it did and the SA1 was welcomed by thankful audiophiles everywhere and remained in production for as long as Mr. Pass was there to make them. Now the SA1 is not the same as the Stasis 1 at least in so far as it is 160 watts and not 200 but it is the other differences between them of which I can find no information. My theory being is the Stasis 1 was made no holds barred and Mr. Pass was all in on shining a light on the new technology but was aware he wasn’t making any money on them so understood limiting them made sense and would create an aura about them generating interest. Now the SA1 came out three years later and at a higher price becoming an instant sales hit. Threshold declined at the time to comment on any difference between them making sure the Stasis 1 version stopped getting attention. I can find nothing that compares the two anywhere, if you Google the Stasis 1 it thinks you mean SA1 and makes no difference between them.
I don’t think it has happened before so I think it’s time for Mr. Pass to come clean and give us what he knows in describing the engineering / design and sonic variables between them.
I believe he will agree with me that the Stasis 1 is his signature piece and the time has come to correct my theory or agree.
After not hearing them again since, I did after 44 years finally get a pair of Stasis 1’s, as a matter of fact two pr. From an aging Cowboy in Colorado who bought six in 1980 serial #’s 79-80-81-82
I have become obsessed with finding any competent commentary discussing the differences and look forward to your or any response sir with the faith of a child on Christmas morning.
Peter Smith
This earlier thread has a lot of info.
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/threshold-stasis-1-and-72-output-devices.364225/
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/threshold-stasis-1-and-72-output-devices.364225/
I hope you enjoy your 4 off Stasis 1's - a mighty fine amp even today.
I do hope they are all working fine, but will most likely benefit from some new caps.
I do hope they are all working fine, but will most likely benefit from some new caps.
I feel like I am adopting them, a small herd ! Isn’t it great you can be old and still feel the excitement the passion for this , this love we spend all our money on? Of course I thought I only needed two but of course my brain is working on any excuse to keep all 4! The system this guy had was assembled by some very capable salesman who knew exactly what he should have when the customer says, and I quote, “I want your best guy to put together the very best sound system his imagination can come up with. “The condition was the salesman had to show him how to use everything and teach him about what he bought. One of his Turntables was s Final Audio Research Vt1” with an Emminent technology floating arm system, a $10k Benz cartridge and a $15k Kuetsu. That’s $50 k not including the outboard Versus motor for $2000. Bit odd though to blow that kind of dough and not have had the pleasure of understanding what he had.
I didn’t mention before because it’s a little embarrassing but I have been hanging on to the Threshold “class A” preamp that came out at the same time, the Sl10 with the outboard power supply. It was reviewed just as well as the amplifiers but unlike the amplifiers Mr. Pass did make improvements to later models. Anyone that has one needs to know its weakness was its Alps potentiometer which was just an off the shelf pot found in many lesser products. A sonic upgrade big enough for your wife to notice is found with any decent 47 step attenuator and a bypass of the balance control. It’s a wow moment!
I didn’t mention before because it’s a little embarrassing but I have been hanging on to the Threshold “class A” preamp that came out at the same time, the Sl10 with the outboard power supply. It was reviewed just as well as the amplifiers but unlike the amplifiers Mr. Pass did make improvements to later models. Anyone that has one needs to know its weakness was its Alps potentiometer which was just an off the shelf pot found in many lesser products. A sonic upgrade big enough for your wife to notice is found with any decent 47 step attenuator and a bypass of the balance control. It’s a wow moment!
Attachments
First I need to know something! I am becoming obsessed with my search for any information, commentary or opinion on the difference between The Stasis 1 and the SA1. Is it not bizarre and reflective of Area 51 conspiracies that the greatest amp of our generation was limited in production and then 3 years later comes the SA1. It looks different, it has less power people must of been talking about them but I have looked everywhere and can’t find one word on the topic. Google Stasis 1 and you get the SA1 as even Google thinks they are one and the same. Every great amp gets compared and critiqued but not this one. It has vanished from the archive. I’m trying to get Mr. Pass to solve the mystery and presented my theory but… None of you guys either and when does that happen when talking about iconic audio. I think I’m on to a big story as it feels like the CIA is running around erasing its memory and hiding every trace and I’m the pesky journalist that won’t stop! If something happens to me in the night please tell my wife I used to love her!
Sorry, in answer to your question.
I was listening to a pair of VTL Signature 600 monoblocks that I had been working on for about 3 years. I found a stash of the really good impossible to find KT90’s in England with this little shop that was only just starting to put there inventory on a computer. I called them as part of my random search for these beauties and a nice Lady said in a Cockney accent , I think we just might. Then she starts yelling at what I pictured to be a kid who she dispatched to go look for them. They had 32 in stock unsold for more than 20 years . Now this is the tube Bob Manley designed to work on his VTL’s like mine. You see them today selling for $350 a pop. I bought them for $60. And the lady couldn’t have been happier to clear out some old dead stock. This was shortly after I got them about 3 years ago. It was a sign so I went to town and spent something like $3500 on a lot of VH audio capacitors. I remember one was like $450! These caps are notoriously slow at burning in but I was in love already. Getting a divorce and had to move so I put my stuff in storage and two months ago went to pick it up and every single audio component I had was it turns out stolen by the movers, over 20 items that never made it into storage!
So if ever a man lived that is more deserving of a couple, excuse me 4 Stasis 1’s to fall out of the sky it’s me!
I was listening to a pair of VTL Signature 600 monoblocks that I had been working on for about 3 years. I found a stash of the really good impossible to find KT90’s in England with this little shop that was only just starting to put there inventory on a computer. I called them as part of my random search for these beauties and a nice Lady said in a Cockney accent , I think we just might. Then she starts yelling at what I pictured to be a kid who she dispatched to go look for them. They had 32 in stock unsold for more than 20 years . Now this is the tube Bob Manley designed to work on his VTL’s like mine. You see them today selling for $350 a pop. I bought them for $60. And the lady couldn’t have been happier to clear out some old dead stock. This was shortly after I got them about 3 years ago. It was a sign so I went to town and spent something like $3500 on a lot of VH audio capacitors. I remember one was like $450! These caps are notoriously slow at burning in but I was in love already. Getting a divorce and had to move so I put my stuff in storage and two months ago went to pick it up and every single audio component I had was it turns out stolen by the movers, over 20 items that never made it into storage!
So if ever a man lived that is more deserving of a couple, excuse me 4 Stasis 1’s to fall out of the sky it’s me!
Note to self; one more industry you thought you could openly trust... Sorry to read that happened to you.
I had used them before with my business and didn’t think about it. My insurance didn’t cover anything once it was out the door.
I even showed them what to steal! While loading I would say things like keep that seperate or be careful it’s valuable. Lieca camera gear, antique guns etc. I’m up to about $160,000 and remembering more everyday. As my Mother used to say “it’s hard to see what isn’t there”
I even showed them what to steal! While loading I would say things like keep that seperate or be careful it’s valuable. Lieca camera gear, antique guns etc. I’m up to about $160,000 and remembering more everyday. As my Mother used to say “it’s hard to see what isn’t there”