KWA100SE vs Pass XA-30.5

Alleye · « **on:** 25 Nov 2012, 01:26 am »

Wanted to see if anyone in the community has done a side by side or lived with these amps. I currently have a KWA100 and the LS100 and love the combo, but I'm weighing selling the KWA100 and picking up a used XA-30.5 instead of sending the KWA100 back for the SE upgrade.

Thoughts? Am I crazy? Anyone spend time with both? Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

jaxwired · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Nov 2012, 01:33 am »

I think it depends on your speakers. You'd want something on the effecient end of things for the Pass. If that's whay you have, then I'd vote for the Pass.

Freo-1 · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Nov 2012, 02:01 am »

The Pass Labs XA 30.5 has 6db of head room, so power is not as big of issue as one would first think. As long as the speakers are at or above 87db/w, you cannot go wrong. Many feel it's one of Nelson's best sounding amps. I have one, and I can tell you that to me, it's perhaps the best amp I've ever heard.

Alleye · « **Reply #3 on:** 25 Nov 2012, 03:02 am »

Yeah my current speakers are right at 87db/w and I don't listen overly loud. Mainly jazz, vocal jazz, folk, classical, and some indie rock. The closest Pass dealer is a ways away... Has anyone compared it with the 100SE?

roscoeiii · « **Reply #4 on:** 25 Nov 2012, 03:31 am »

If you don't have a local Pass dealer, give Mark at Reno HiFi a call. Superb guy and he has a trial period for customers that is excellent. He also has a good deal of both new and used Pass amps (trial period available for both new and used). A great guy, and someone worth talking to about the suitability of the 30.5 with your speakers (Having further specs of your speakers besides them being 87dB will also likely help with this decision making process, nominal impedance and ohms vs freq for example).

Nothing beats actually comparing amps side-by-side.

jhm731 · « **Reply #5 on:** 25 Nov 2012, 06:07 am »

I've heard the KWA100, KWA100SE and the XA-30.5. The Pass is a more revealing amp, but it runs much hotter than the MW amps.

If your speakers are 87db/w, sell the KWA100 and get a Sanders Magtech.

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #6 on:** 25 Nov 2012, 09:20 pm »

Get the SE upgrade. It's significant and you'll never regret it.

Freo-1 · « **Reply #7 on:** 25 Nov 2012, 10:19 pm »

Quote from: roscoeiii on 25 Nov 2012, 03:31 am

If you don't have a local Pass dealer, give Mark at Reno HiFi a call. Superb guy and he has a trial period for customers that is excellent. He also has a good deal of both new and used Pass amps (trial period available for both new and used). A great guy, and someone worth talking to about the suitability of the 30.5 with your speakers (Having further specs of your speakers besides them being 87dB will also likely help with this decision making process, nominal impedance and ohms vs freq for example).

Nothing beats actually comparing amps side-by-side.

+ 1

Mark at Reno Hi Fi is outstanding to work with.

Personally, I'm biased towards Class A (pun intended). As Nelson states, they (class A) sound better.

62Truck · « **Reply #8 on:** 10 Dec 2012, 01:55 am »

Any update on this Alleye?

Alleye · « **Reply #9 on:** 10 Dec 2012, 02:02 pm »

Nothing as of yet - I'm tying to work out an extended audition locally, but unfortunately end of year work has taken almost all of my time in the last two weeks. Hopefully more soon.

rollo · « **Reply #10 on:** 10 Dec 2012, 02:56 pm »

Quote from: Alleye on 25 Nov 2012, 01:26 am

Wanted to see if anyone in the community has done a side by side or lived with these amps. I currently have a KWA100 and the LS100 and love the combo, but I'm weighing selling the KWA100 and picking up a used XA-30.5 instead of sending the KWA100 back for the SE upgrade.

Thoughts? Am I crazy? Anyone spend time with both? Any thoughts or comments are greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Not crazy at all. The only crazy thing would be to buy the pass without hearing it first and directly comparing it to your amp. Just two different characters in sonics.

charles

62Truck · « **Reply #11 on:** 12 Dec 2012, 03:51 am »

Quote from: Alleye on 10 Dec 2012, 02:02 pm

Nothing as of yet - I'm tying to work out an extended audition locally, but unfortunately end of year work has taken almost all of my time in the last two weeks. Hopefully more soon.

Thank you for the update, Alleye. I look forward to when you are able to compare. May I ask what you speakers are? I notice you said they are at the 87 dB efficiency rating. Both of these amps are high on my short list.

62Truck · « **Reply #12 on:** 4 Mar 2013, 04:09 pm »

Hey Alleye, I just wanted to check back in to see if you have anything new to report. I hope all is well.

Alleye · « **Reply #13 on:** 9 Mar 2013, 01:11 pm »

Hey - Sadly no. I had to put a lot of my "hobby" time on hold due to a lot of year end work for a client implementation. I'm starting to get some of my weekends back now. I think the plan is to upgrade the KWA (really love that amp) as I feel it's a keeper, and then do a shootout once it returns/burns in.

Hope all is well and hopefully before too long I'll have some findings. Thanks for checking in!

Freo-1 · « **Reply #14 on:** 9 Mar 2013, 01:45 pm »

Someting else to consider:
Look at the Pass Labs INT 30A or the INT 150. I recently auditioned a INT-150, and was so impressed with it's performance that I traded in the XA 30.5. Turns out that in my case, needed the extra power afforded from the INT 150. The beauty of the INT units is that they are DEAD quiet and set a new standard for neutrality. IMHO, they out-perfrom just about any preamp/power amp combination out there.
Once you hear them, it becomes hard to go back to what you were using.

62Truck · « **Reply #15 on:** 12 Mar 2013, 06:51 pm »

Quote from: Alleye on 9 Mar 2013, 01:11 pm

Hey - Sadly no. I had to put a lot of my "hobby" time on hold due to a lot of year end work for a client implementation. I'm starting to get some of my weekends back now. I think the plan is to upgrade the KWA (really love that amp) as I feel it's a keeper, and then do a shootout once it returns/burns in.

Hope all is well and hopefully before too long I'll have some findings. Thanks for checking in!

Alleye, thank you for the update....I completely understand....nature calls. I hope things are settling down for you and you are able to get back to enjoying music at a high level. I look forward to hearing your comments with the SE upgrade and subsequent shootout with the Pass unit.

62Truck · « **Reply #16 on:** 12 Mar 2013, 06:57 pm »

Quote from: Freo-1 on 9 Mar 2013, 01:45 pm

Someting else to consider:
Look at the Pass Labs INT 30A or the INT 150. I recently auditioned a INT-150, and was so impressed with it's performance that I traded in the XA 30.5. Turns out that in my case, needed the extra power afforded from the INT 150. The beauty of the INT units is that they are DEAD quiet and set a new standard for neutrality. IMHO, they out-perfrom just about any preamp/power amp combination out there.
Once you hear them, it becomes hard to go back to what you were using.

Freo, thank you for your firsthand experience and thoughts regarding the XA30.5 vs the INT 150. I am happy that you found a change that improved your setup...that is always nice.

Alleye · « **Reply #17 on:** 13 Apr 2013, 12:06 pm »

Bringing back a thread from the dead....

Quick update - The KWA-100 is now a KWA-100SE and as ScottDazzle mentioned it appears to be a significant upgrade over stock.

Right before the amp left the house, I had been listening to the new album from Lone Bellow. Since little music played while the amp was gone, I started with the same disc when the amp came back home. While the Lone Bellow album isn't an "audiophile" recording, track 4 "You Never Need Nobody", begins with multiple vocalists and a solo piano... Right out of the box, it seemed like I was able to hear each of the individual vocalists better, rather than a single vocal with accompaniment.

That's probably a poor explanation, but overall, it seems like the upgrade has continued to push the needle from "high-fi" to "real music" (insert grain of salt). I guess the best way to put it at the moment is that upgrade shows a lot of promise and sounds pretty good if a bit "stiff" in it's overall presentation. I'll report back after the several hundred hour burn in Dan recommends. Once settled in, I'll hunt down a XA30.5 and try to do a comparison for everyone.

Again sorry for the delay. The end of 2012 and beginning of 2013 has proved to be overly hectic which makes the audio journey slow. I'll try to get another update in the near future.

Happy listening!

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #18 on:** 13 Apr 2013, 02:16 pm »

Alleye, you can expect improved resolution and imaging as the 100SE breaks in. I predict you will be thrilled with the amp in a month or so. The mos-fet design and Dan's mastery of power supply give this amp an appealing balance between ss power, lack of noise, and dynamics, and tube smoothness and air. Enjoy!

kdbrink · « **Reply #19 on:** 7 Mar 2014, 01:26 am »

I too am interested in the differences. I have a ModWright 36.5DM preamp driving a Pass XA-30.5 into Harbeth 30.1 speakers.