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Pass Labs X260.5 Class AB monoblock amplifiers review

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On the song ‘Joan Of Arc’, her piano was closer to sounding real with the modified Denon, the percussive quality of the piano was better reproduced. When Jennifer Warnes sings the same song along with Leonard Cohen: the singing of the words, “I saw the glory in her eyes”, the emotion and drama in their singing was more communicative with the Denon amps, so much so that I started to cry at this particular part of the song. What a wimp! The interpretation of the music was easier to hear and enjoy with the Denon, when Jennifer Warnes sings the “la da da, la da da da da da” section.

The tempo and the pace of this piece sounded like the movement of the flames, that “are” burning St. John of Arc. This same piece was less transparent through the Pass Labs amps, but it had a beauty and refinement about it, along with a density, solidity and power that eluded the Denon amplifiers. Different flavours, different pluses and minuses, ahhh, all the choices we have to make. This is the life of an audiophile. Sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating, sometimes rewarding and sometimes, a downright addiction. What a hobby we’ve gotten ourselves into!

The high frequencies on the Pass Labs X260.5 amplifiers were a little polite and a little soft sounding, not as quick and not as fast as the modified Denon. This is not a bad thing, just simply a preference. There were some recordings which worked better with the Pass Labs, while others worked better with my Denon’s. The Denon’s produce triangles and percussion with a more life-like quality, being more metallic, faster and airier, along with a quicker attack and longer decays. Also the drums, especially the snare, sounded more real than the slightly softer, denser, more substantial highs from the Pass Labs gear. The drumsticks hitting the drum skins were clearer and more real sounding on the Denon’s, however they did not have the nice dense texture, the power, the intensity and the oomph-mess of the Pass Labs. The Pass Labs were more dense, solid with better texture and greater power; the Denon’s were quicker, faster, with more air, but tended to sound more ethereal rather than solid and dense.

What I was hearing from the Pass Labs, as well as my modified Denon’s, to a great extent and, in my experience, was the sonic difference that I consistently hear between the sound of MOSFET devices versus bipolar devices. The Denon’s being bipolar, especially being zero feedback, sounded cleaner, clearer, more transparent, closer to live sounding, however they did not reproduce the music with the density, solidity, power and control of the Pass Labs. Also the Denon’s were a little lighter in sound, with less weight than the Pass Labs. On certain music, the Denon’s were just slightly a little hard sounding and would begin distorting a little bit sooner than the more powerful and more controlled Pass Labs. The X260.5’s were warmer sounding, more beautiful, a little rounder, and being less transparent, not as quick and fast as the Denon’s.

In the power, dynamics and sheer weight of the sound, it was no contest, the Pass Labs X260.5 won hands-down. As I said before, the warmer and more musical sound of the Pass Labs is what I hear when I listen to MOSFET amplifiers. Because most MOSFET amplifiers are warm, musical and a little soft sounding, I have heard some audio industry people refer to the sound of MOSFET amplifiers as “The MOSFET Mist”, meaning the lack of clarity, like seeing things through a “mist. Bipolar devices tend to sound clearer and more transparent, however they can cross the line over to the clinical, analytical and hard side of neutral, especially on complex and dynamic passages and/or louder volume settings.

Another thing I noticed about the Pass Labs X260.5 amplifiers was that, even though they were powerful and dynamic sounding as well as musical, there seemed to be a sense of a type of “restraint” on the music, a sort of “holding back”. Sort of like a power/speed governor on a lawn motor engine, it seems to restrict the amplifier from fully “letting go”, of blooming and expanding unrestricted and quite possibly, preventing the amp from distorting. This invisible “ceiling” seems to somehow restrict the energy and flow of the music “downwards”, by not “letting it go” and allowing the music to flow out, just like it does in real life. The modified Denon amplifiers allowed the music to flow out, much better (less of a governor/ceiling effect) than the Pass Labs, however at times, you could hear that the Denon’s were starting to distort and this distortion started earlier and at a lower volume than the Pass Labs.

This warmth and this musicality of the X260.5’s seems to have been a design choice at Pass Labs. As a matter of fact, when I was speaking with Kent English of Pass Labs on the phone, he told me that their equipment was focused around this. He stated: “Warmth and musicality – that was the goal”.

To use an analogy, if you’re a little bit of a car guy like me, I would say that the modified Denon POA-6600 amplifiers with their bipolar devices are like a Ferrari, quick, agile, communicative and sometimes a little quirky; while the Pass Labs X260.5’s with their MOSFET devices are more like a Jaguar sports car, softer, plusher, more sedate and more comfortable. With the Jaguar, you can use it more often, on more roads, it is simply more useable. Like many people have said, “You pay your money and you make your choices”.

In the imaging and soundstaging department, the Pass Labs were very good. The X260.5’s had a very good soundstage depth behind the speaker. The width of the soundstage at the front of the stage, was good but not spectacular. The same goes for the soundstage width at the rear of the soundstage. There was very little soundstage extension in front of speakers into the room, where the Denon’s were better at this extension in front of the loudspeakers.

Finally, the Pass Labs amplifiers were also very quiet, there was very little self-noise. This allowed a sense of ease, clarity and authenticity to the reproduction of music.

In life there are many choices. Choices in clothing, watches, automobiles, life-mate, even ice cream flavors, and of course, in audio components as well. The design choices that were made at Pass Labs for their X260.5 monoblocks, I think were very wise. I feel that for most music and most listening tastes, especially if the sound system consists of traditional moving-coil drivers and/or solid-state front end, Pass Labs’ decision on their type of sound will yield a lot of pleasure, relaxation, rejuvenation, a musicality to the audiophile, especially if the audiophile is more of a “music lover”, rather than an “analytical/detail” type of listener.

 

Conclusion

In examining the Pass Labs X260.5 monoblock amplifiers from a sonic as well as a build perspective, I now totally understand what all these people have been telling me about. That Pass Labs amplifiers sound powerful, dynamic, musical, are very easy to listen to, and are a touch on the warm side.

The Pass Labs X260.5’s build quality is definitely first-rate, without a doubt. The quality of construction, the size of the power transformer, the quality of the circuit boards, as well as the layout of these boards, is exemplary. Sonically, this amplifier is slightly on the warm side, is musical, very easy to listen to, is powerful, dynamic and has got good detail and realism.

This is a type of amplifier that you purchase and hold onto because it brings you so much pleasure and enjoyment. It’s like marrying your soulmate or high school sweetheart. The Pass Labs X260.5 monoblocks are a well-built, no muss, no fuss, type of audio component. They work and operate great, they look great and sound great, as well. If, as Pass Labs states in their literature, you are drawn to “warmth, sweetness, depth and space”, I highly encourage you to go and listen to these excellent amplifiers. Especially, if you are more of a “music lover”, versus a “detail-type” audiophile.

In my opinion, these are “first-rate” power amplifiers. And compared with other amplifiers from other competitors, they are very well priced. You definitely get value for your dollar with these power amplifiers. Well done, Nelson and company!

2 Responses to Pass Labs X260.5 Class AB monoblock amplifiers review


  1. Hans-Peter Schmid says:

    As the owner of a Pass X-350 that I bought in 2003 I can only agree that Pass’ products are made for eternity. Twelve years of trouble free daily use and a sound that I still enjoy as much as on the first day.

    My amp does react to the support I place it on. Mine sits on a sturdy Copulare rack isolated by stacked pairs of Aurios feet. This arrangement opened up the top end and gave me a more relaxed sound from top to bottom, or bottom to top – I have a hard time placing the amp in either camp in the
    context of my system.

  2. becka says:

    a review of the .5 series is so late and irrelevant now that the .8 series is out…. how about catch up?

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