The Best 5 cost-no-object power Amplifiers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ส.ค. 2024
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I agree with you completely about Pass Labs. Nelson Pass is a class act and a heck of a talented designer. I have a Pass Labs Aleph 3 (which I love) and after all these years, it needed to have the electrolytic capacitors replaced. I elected to do the job myself and the folks at Pass were extremely helpful with information and advice and were highly responsive. They build great products and are one of the best companies in audio. This doesn’t even take into account Nelson’s work in the DIY community. Amazing dedication to the world of audio!
The Pass Aleph was legendary. Had the Aleph 1 and 1.2, best silicon based amps I ever had. I prefer SET DHT but if I had Apogee’s or similarly difficult load speakers, Aleph would be the top choice. His XA series amps appear nicely built, just not sound quality of the Aleph
Brands mentioned:
1. Block Audio (Czech Republic)
2. Dan D’Agostino (US)
3. Constellation (Australia)
4. Gryphon (Denmark)
5. Pass Labs (US)
Cost aside, the only amp from these brands I’d consider is the Pass Aleph, a design over 20 years out of production.
I’m impressed with the Constellation phono preamp but at $30k I’ll stick with my Convergent SL-1 Legend.
As amps or preamps, every one of these would be a very hard no. Personally my Wavac 805 is best sounding amp I’ve ever heard. I’ll take Border Patrol, VTL, Rogue, Manley, Audio Note, EAR and Unison Research over any of those 5 regardless of cost.
Dan’s amps look like jewelry crossed with steampunk. Beautiful!
Totally agree on amplifier designs need to be more eco friendly, too many designers are still living in the past with their class A designs that are super inefficient. Manufacturer's like Merrill, Bel Canto and Mola Mola need to keep pushing forward because they are making incredible gains on all the class A and AB designs out there. I know because I bought a pair just last year and have never looked back.
I agree. Constant High bias settings was my number one reason to avoid others and eventually sell my BAT VK 500 power amp. My best amp!
Always desired a Pass Lab. But my electric bill shouldn't be in any amp decission. That prerequisite of keeping the power on draw was a deal breaker for me with the VK-500, and it really wasn't a room heater either!
I have large pass lab amps including X260.5 monos and I just leave them on. Was told by someone that a studio had a number of Pass Lab amps on for 20 years without turning it off with no failure ( this is not a chevy bro it works so don't mess with it if you want Pass labs to give you a new amp every year you miss the point. If you paid 50k for an amp why are you complaining about you light bill please advise)
No tube amplifiers were good enough for this list , You really should try Bob Carver's cost no object Silver Seven 900 (that's 900 watts )each at $32,000.a pair. They are custom hand built in the USA and have a lifetime warranty including the tubes that run so cool you can touch the tops and not get burned. The original silver seven was rated as one of the 10 best amplifiers ever.
Why not VAC Statement, too? Worth trying perhaps.
@@asegal4677 There’s better tube amps than VAC, both international or US produced if that matters to you. While I prefer SET amps, before you buy a VAC Statement, demo it against a Rogue Apollo Dark or VTL MB450 Signature. Run both in triode mode, unless you’ve got crazy high load speakers which require tetrode mode. Staggering good for p-p type amps, more musical than VAC imo.
Crazy thing is VonSchweikert has a relationship w/Kevin @ VAC do they are working together at shows in NA market. If they were using Rogue or VTL, I think as incredible as VS Ultra 55 is, it would be better w/Rogue or VTL amps and pre’s. I use the Rogue in bi-amp setup powering the woofs on my VR5 Anniversary MkII, a Wavac 805 feeding the mid-tweets w/CAT SL1 preamp. It’s best sound I’ve ever had in my home. 👍
@@MichaelM-to4sg Interesting. Thanks! Will check into all this.
Nice one big man. Cheers mate .
as always-thank you Jay for doing what we cannot afford
trickle-down is real.
Thanks
WOW!!! AMAZING TO SEE ALL THOSE AMPS!!! HATS OFF TO YOU & YOUR COOL JOURNEY. THANKS. T.C & BYE 👍😊😊
Thanks for the detailed synopsis of your 5 best amps.
You really need to get the Mephisto stereo at some point, it will easily make your top 5.
I will be demoing a Mephisto this month, so psyched.
Cheers.
watching your channel is like going to school. I was not aware of such high-end equipment. Good thing too because they are way beyond my means. Nevertheless I love watching your channel. Just mind boggling stuff. Thanks for your expertise and enthusiasm.
Thank you Nelson
I appreciate you sharing your experiences! $167k AUD for XS300 : ) , imma get to work
Why has amplifier designers decided that class A is the way to go in this day of green power and have forced us to only accept this topology as being best regardless of other technology available, even though saying crossover distortion is bad foe sound, why not tailor the sound of an amplifier to be what is now desired, just like speakers can be adjusted and DACs can be improved.
I have a Pass Labs INT-250 and soon after it’s warmed up it sounds fantastic
I can’t say I’ve noticed any difference to the sound after leaving it on for a long time
In standby it uses 1 watt
I don’t know yet how much power it uses when left on
It certainly much better if it doesn’t eat up power when your not using it in my opinion
You are right on the money about Pass Labs
Hey None of mine made your top 5 ! Great reviews however Jay. How far is the distance between the rear wall to your speakers seating Jay? Have a wonderful 4th July weekend sir !
In the description please provide the full details of the components...
You should try a ASR Emitter 2
Did you inherit a farm from your grandmother and discover oil in it? :-) How did you buy/own all those amp models?
Each person has his fair share of life wealth. If not then it is in afterlife. Never give up.
You now your stuff, good job!!
Great video if you think the DA'gostino Momentum are great you should hear the new Restless they will blow you away and your wallet,lol
Just found you good sir! Love the channel!
Nice amps! But where does my old Rotel RB981 fit? 130W/ch of pure modest but honest entry level sound 😂🤣😂
Hey Jay, in your opinion where do the Jeff Rowland 925s rank amongst these bests?
My Boulder 3060 is the best I have ever heard. IMO it is in a different league from these.
Where did you listen to it? Driving what speakers? I’ve heard various Boulder amps over the years, I live near the factory in the mountains above Boulder, the city.
Fwiw, while Boulder, the city, is home to half dozen high end audio oem’s, Boulder the electronics company is not located in Boulder but about 10 miles NE of town in Longmont.
I’ve listened to several of their amps, preamps and digital gear over last 15 years, never bought a single piece of their equipment. In fairness, I’m not the biggest fan of solid state amps and I don’t own speakers that are so difficult to drive and/or inefficient that they are best suited to solid state. Of the Boulder based electronics and speaker manufacturers or broadening it out to the entire front range which would encompass nearly a dozen manufacturers, I have owned an example of nearly every brand except Boulder. I personally do not think the voicing of their amps is as appealing as several other regional brands, much less brands outside the area.
Maybe it’s just the speakers I listened to. I’ve heard them w/various VonSchweikert’s, a few Wilson’s, Ayon, Quad ESL’s, the big Maggies, ML CLX, Audio Physics, B&W, Spendor and maybe a few others that escape my recollection. Among my local group of music fans, a few are professional musicians, none own Boulder electronics and like me they prefer to support the local manufacturers. They’ve obviously been around for several decades now so somebody is buying them but for my musical tastes and the balance of my systems, Boulder electronics is not a good match.
Have you heard or have an opinion of Electrocompaniet amps made in Norway?
No Nat magma? What are your top 5 tube amps?
You know your TOYS!!😉😉 wow did you blow though your money buying them toys 😕 and took it back to the store and did they take it back ? MAN when my old lady leaves I will
Change up my amps 😄 and won't worry about her mouth, telling me IT'S TOO LOUD!!! YOUR A LUCKY MAN!!!!!
Thank you
So, old men are building like they did 40 years ago, you buy, review and promote it, having it running with AC for days.
This is what you call acting responsible?
Have you ever reviewed Kef Blade speakers
Have you try Lamm monoblocks M 1.2 Or ML3 Signature Monoblocks?
Have you ever tried pathos monoblocks
Very Nice!
JC1+ ZOTL
Another interesting presentation , thanks . I can't speak for Nelson Pass but do know as fact one of the philosophies that enables Pass amps to deliver such sweet music is simplicity in circuit design through minimal devices in signal path . That said , Luxman for example has products that give a good amount of class A before switching to AB . I have never read or heard any comments saying these products are not fluid , musical or detailed , on the contrary. The other side of that is Lux products are not simple circuit design . Perhaps creating a more complex overall topology would impact dependability as well.
Nicely done. It would appear that you don't think the best class D can compete against the best class A or AB that you've heard. I'm guessing the Luxman M900U monos might slot in at #6?
The luxman M900U might be not on the top 5 caliber base on price point, maybe the luxman B 1000F monoblock might if Jay can get his hands on a pair of those.
Car manufacturers are going to turbos and v4's because of government regulations not because they want to.
best under 5k bat 600se
best under 10k simaudio 860a
best under 15k luxman 900u
best under 40k rowland 925
As far as power consumption efficiency goes, it has to be class D and the leader in that is Mola Mola Kaluga monos. You might try them.
My Mephisto sounded best in High mode, no matter the load.
By the way I’m curious with that class A heat of Pass And Gryphon, how long will components inside last ?
Not sure.
One of my best friends has my old Aleph 1. He’s driving Quad ESL 63, a very difficult load. I bought them new in ‘94, maybe 95 using them regularly until 97 when I bought 1.2 version. He bought them from me after they were sitting for about a year, has used them in his regular system ever since. He sent them to Pass Labs in California around 2015 after one was thermally tripping after an hour or so of uninterrupted operation. Pass replaced the electrolytic caps in PS and I recall they may have upgraded some resistors, the entire cost for repairs was under $1k iirc and was warranted for 5 years. He’s never had a problem since. I last heard them this past Summer, still sound liquid smooth with deep and wide soundstage I’ve never heard from any silicon based amp.
My son has my 1.2 version, which I used in main system until 2000. It then moved to our vacation home in MT until 2012 when my son took them to his home while he was finishing grad school. They now are in Houston in his living room feeding some old B&W 801’s. They’ve never been to Pass Labs for any service, still operate flawlessly.
If you’re worried about thermal stability of the mosfets, use an ir thermometer on the units, you’ll find the temperatures are always well within the operating range of the devices. Even Nelson’s newer XA offerings, the amplifying devices operate well within designed thermal range. They feel so warm because the heat sink fins are so effective at thermal transfer away from device and to the passive cooling fins.
because lincoln and for would be like buying an av reciever. you are talking about the best of the best, the ferarri laferrari of amplifiers here.
Hi
Great work, and thanks for keeping it real and honest. I Would love to hear your opinion about the cheapest component from Analog Domain - their integreret amplifier or....
Hope you All have a good musical day.
Nice to have your money. 😀
Good comment about pass labs support. NAD shd offer better support for their expensive master series, v bad customer service
I'm pretty sure sales of new Class-A amplifiers will be banned within the next few years, certainly here in the EU at least.
Why not just go with Merrill or Mola-Mola and get on with it?
😉
The more choices the better.
Although, I did downsize my BAT VK-500 power amp for a more efficient A/B class amp set up. I went vintage!
No Audionet?
Expensive amplifier does not mean great sound 🙏
Love your channel and all the videos, any chance you could review the new Rotel Michi S5, P5 and M8 amps would be curious to know what your thoughts are.
lamm hybrid
Hi Jay can you tell us about the stacked subs in the background please
Those are REL PREDATOR 1508
Thanks Jay, was hoping for a bit more 😂 as in how you use them, do you use different crossover and/or cut off frequencies? Stereo and/or Movies only. I have Focal maestro utopia speakers driven by Levinson 33H’s but still benefit from a single SVS ultra 16. I also have Quad ESL 2905’s which I love but they don’t go loud enough for rock type music and I’d considered 4 subs in your configuration, crossing over to them at 80hz via my pre amp hence my question.
krell ear burner
Nice! What's your experience with the AVM Ovation line?
I only want kondo pre and kondo ongaku amp. Period.
I take it you only reply to people that agree with your opinions that you know what your talking about
I am going to say that my word isn't gospel. I present my own findings based on the money I spend since nothing I showcase here is free...if it helps anyone inform themselves then great and if it doesn't then that is ok too :)
In Life, you can't please everyone but you can accept that and be happy with your own views :).
Thanks since I responded to you I appreciate your response
I have over a dozen class ab monoblocs in my various systems for all the reasons we know, albeit not at the mega level you inhabit, but I 100% agree that these inefficient designs are no longer acceptable, and that my personal view has changed with regard to sustainability and respect for the planet.
"made in usa" should not be a concern at this stage, now of course I could care less as long as I can get my equipment repaired. I just care how they sound.
For me, once I got into the $5k-$10k amplification American made does it best. Plus, it's my contribution to the USA economy..its workers.
However, finding great American audio gear on the used market still requires financial planning compared to vintage Japanese.
In the "boom" it's Pass Labs or Macs, in a "crash" it's Sansui or Pioneer. Lol
@@jamiesmith6838 Lol, there are many fine companies around the world putting out audio equipment that easily rival or best anything in the USA.
I can see if you want to be nationalistic about it and buy from your own economy, but to me this is a kin to dating someone from your own town, thinking that this is the best it will ever get.
@@mesonto As long as you're not going to do something stupid and get married, date anyone from anywhere you want. But when it comes to audio, this is important. Everyone has their own way of selecting components and its a sacred thing. Like religion, but more important. Stay out of it.
@@solarfall2728 lol!