[music_man]

Yeah, thanks from me too.

Dude, yes in Serbia you going to get it faster than in the US. Here I get the Pass in 3-4 days. I got the Pass. I have better already but I wanted kind of small and just a different sonic flavor on hand. It looks good. Let's hear it and I will tell you. Remember it is subjective anyways. I mean like Tyll and the Z1R lol. He is not really a pro though. Did you ever read stereophile or TAS diss anything period? Well, I would not call that professional either but whatever. Why I always say listen for yourself.

OH, I totally forgot about Lake People. That is great for the price actually.

 

[purk]

Ecp amps go from $2k all the way to $5k. Seriously great sound with beautiful chassis to match. Do a search for an ECP DSHA-3 for an amazing wooden finish. I take this amp over GSX MKII or Liquid Gold.

 

[music_man]

Got the Pass. Happy out of the box. Let me give it 200 hours. Obviously it sounds good. It would depend on what you like and if it jives with your equipment.

 

[Chartreuse]

Ask me specific questions about the Pass if you'd like.

What kind of DAC are you using? Looking to start upgrading the rig (I've got a Burson all in one integrated + LCD-2 rev2), and was thinking the Pass Labs + LCD-X + dac of some kind (not sure where I need to be here to get a good match)

 

[music_man]

With this I am using DAVE. All that will fit here, sideways. It is on the end of the table so that is fine. You do not have to spend that much though. My AYRE Codex is very nice. I modified it but it was very nice to begin with. Or a Hugo TT.

 

[ufospls2]

Wells Audio does some great High end SS amps with no DAC for what its worth.

 

[rgs9200m]

Looking forward to any impressions of the Pass. I had a Pass X350 power amp for a while and heard out-of-this-world vocals, amazingly better than the (much cheaper) Aragon amp that it replaced. (Aerial 10T speakers.)
There was something special and ethereal about the Pass vocals, and all mids were well textured with nice bloom.
But the class-A box ran mighty hot and would heat up the room.
Does the Pass headphone amp run hot?
Conrats and thanks for this great thread and good luck.

 

[greggf]

The Pass headphone amp is lukewarm at all times - they recommend leaving it on. But never hot and I wouldn't even call it warm to the touch. Just enough to know it's alive.

I use Yamaha and Luxman SACD players as sources. I think both use an Analog Devices dac. I might have that name wrong.

 

[music_man]

It is very nice. Certainly worth the price. At that price hard to say if it is competing with more expensive amps but it is good nonetheless. Good separation, headstage, airy, fast, smooth, liquid. everything that is good. I am very happy with it. I needed something that size to fit here and was not sure what I would get but this is absolutelt fine.

As for Yamaha I just got a CD S3000. This thing is insane. It will compete with $40,000 CD players. I am running it into DAVE and to the Pass then the Z1R with crazy expensive cable I paid nothing for. The Z1R really needs a pure silver or silver/gold cable imo and many others agree. I have my Grado's and everything else of course but I am currently in love with the Z1R. So I have not tried anything else yet.

I actually prefer the Directstream on REdCloud but it will not fit on this table the Yamaha being huge. I have a Equitech power conditioner on the floor on it's side standing up. Out of room pretty much. The door cannot open all the way because it hits the sub lol.

It still needs more break in TBH.

 

[RalphRS]

hi, i'm using a Trilogy 933 with good results working well with HD800's, LCD3's, Utopias and Ultrasones...
http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/trilogy-933-headphone-amplifier-hi-fi/

and the Sugden is the successor to the Headmaster i use...
https://www.sugdenaudio.com/ha-4-headphone-pre-amplifier

 

[Chartreuse]

With this I am using DAVE. All that will fit here, sideways. It is on the end of the table so that is fine. You do not have to spend that much though. My AYRE Codex is very nice. I modified it but it was very nice to begin with. Or a Hugo TT.

Great. Now I have a DAVE on order, and I have you to blame

Research suggested that the internal headphone amp on the DAVE is pretty kick ass already (e.g., limited benefit to adding an external headphone amp), so I'm going to run it like that for a while. Still want to upgrade the cans, though... running LCD2s that I bought ~5 years ago. Need to figure out what the best synergy with the DAVE is gonna be at the top end. Heard it pairs really well with the LCD4, but I've also heard it's super power hungry and wonder if the DAVE has enough output power... maybe the LCD-MX4? So many options and can't audition any of them!

 

[music_man]

Sorry about your wallet. You should enjoy the DAVE. The headphone amp is better than many but it is not a 4 grand headphone amplifier.

On that note the Pass is very good quality. Pretty much all I would expect. It is a lot better than DAVES headphone jack. Although you could do much worse than DAVE. I agree you will do better to get new headphones.

 

[rgs9200m]

Thanks for the Pass amp impressions. Good to know it's a quality headphone amp. I'll put it on my future-list.
I now use a Forza (balanced) hybrid cable for the Z1R with fine results. Nice resolution with highs that go just far enough without being hyped up almost all of the time.

The Z1R is great. Right up there with the LCD4 (w/ the superb Danacable Lazuli reference cable) to my ears but very lightweight on the head and very comfortable in all respects. I use both of these.

They sound very different and I like the variety of approaches my headphones provide.
(The Hifiman HEKv2 is also really good to me. Norne Draug cable on that one.)

 

[music_man]

It is good and not just for it's size. it is reference class.
As far as much different I will add the Z1R is every bit as serious as the SR009. They are like a sleeper. They need a cable. Many people don't try them and some others dislike them. They are like good 'ol HIFI. They are not a technical headphone now I have said 1000 times. The cable is key. I liked them better single ended with this crazy expensive cable I built from scrap for free.