I want to thank you guys, Tmoney, Musicman59 for the reference 'content' i've been reading and re-reading on the Pass HPA-1 for the past year and as always when a piece of kit is as esoteric and unavailable as the Pass, one has to rely on reviews and listen to guys like Drew Baird at Moon where I finally ordered the HPA-1 and put it in place a few days ago. This is just an add on 1st impression as many of you are more adept than I at reviewing electronics and probably have the "ear" for evaluating complex musical rendition too. I read John Atkinson's review several times as he used my headphones (LCD-X) for the review and I talked to Drew, but with the HPA-1 now burning in, I must say the due diligence and time reading here was well worth it. This amp was not a spontaneous purchase as you can see the dates on this thread, it takes time to consider spending $3500. In this case i fit the criteria as an end user who can be happy with single ended, no remote, 2 input, just give me the reference sound, thank you kinda guy. I used the stock power cord and a pair of Audioquest Water Ic's and was greeted with a very deep, wide, detailed soundstage... 2Cellos, Jacintha, Neil Young Storytone, Alisa Weilerstein's every breath on every cello strike revealed in passionate detail to the ears. To keep this short and sum up the experience, never have i had the hairs on my body stand up and shiver so many times while listening to files I've heard hundreds of times. Pretty cool. I did sub out the power cord with an Analysis Plus Power Oval 2 and then the Analysis Plus Ultimate Power, along with Analysis Plus Solo Crystal single ended Ic's which is what really put it over the top for me. I'm not a tube guy, nor am i in a SS box, I just love the fact that PASS would address the need or "desire" of the headphone market enough to put out such a quality piece of gear. Kudos to Nelson and Jam, and if any of you guys bought the HPA-1, i'd love to hear more of your thoughts, appreciate you guys, thanks.
