[witchdoctor]

Nelson Pass giving a "tour" of his listening room. Guess what brand of source components he uses?

https://youtu.be/_n3ZJnzo1tY

[I.Greyhound Fan]

Actually watched that earlier today.  All the interviews with Nelson were great.  Of course I am a fan as I own pass gear and have built a diy pass preamp/buffer.

[poseidonsvoice]

Indeed Pass is very cool. Listening to his DIY VFET design.

Best,
Anand.

[Jonathon Janusz]

...and now I'm curious to hear a 20-year-old unobtainum DAC...

[witchdoctor]

I noticed he uses Sony products he had the 400 disc changer, the Hap Z1ES and what looked like a Sony BRD. That made me smile as I use a Sony front end too, the UHPH-1 BRD player that is amazing and less than $500. It plays just about everything and continues to amaze on audio and video.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Cool video, thanks for posting!

[Goosepond]

Poor old guy. He looks really old and he obviously is starting to lose it. The video starts with a pic of what is obviously 2 speakers with interesting grill covers but he calls them amps!!! 

Gene

[Mike B.]

Much respect for Nelson. I exchanged letters with him pre internet back in the Audio Amateur days. He was kind enough to answer my rookie questions. He is one of the very few designers sharing his works with the DIY community.

[brj]

Oh sure, start with the link to the 11 minute Nelson video... which leads to the 30 minute video which leads to the 20 minute and.... I've lost a chunk of my day! 

Not a bad way to enjoy one's morning coffee though.  The only downside is that I had to turn down the volume on my system (which contains both amps and an active crossover from Pass Labs) in order to hear the video!   

Thanks for the link!

For those intrigued by his intersection with Sony, probably the most interesting result was his Sony VFET amp:

• https://www.avsforum.com/forum/173-2-channel-audio/1511844-pass-labs-40-th-anniversary-vfet-amp-ces-2014-a.html
• http://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/art_sony_vfet_40yr.pdf

Or, if, like Anand, you want to build your own DIY version using a single pair of the now unobtainium VFETs per channel instead of the 24 pairs per channel that Nelson used for the amp above:

• http://www.firstwatt.com/pdf/art_diy_sony_vfet.pdf

[FullRangeMan]

Great video, Nelson speakers are no non-sense classics.

[witchdoctor]

My philosophy is that if you don't get the front end right everything after that will sound degraded. This guy is showing us his lab where the MOST revealing speakers he could find (tools) are used to reveal the smallest of changes in the most revealing amplifiers he makes. And he feeds it a signal from a SONY cd player or streamer. That told me all I needed to know about shopping for an uber expensive streamer or CDP (as in DON'T). When you think about it, Sony created the CD format with Philips, of course they would get it "right".

[WC]

I would guess he is using the Sony only as a transport. He has a D1 DAC that it sounded like he loved.

[witchdoctor]

I would guess he is using the Sony only as a transport. He has a D1 DAC that it sounded like he loved.

I saw a Sony transport above that DAC yes. The Sony Jukebox and HAP Z1 looked like they were part of another system with the 1st watt preamps and those jfet amps.

[witchdoctor]

Part 2 of the Nelson Pass interview, how it all began:

https://youtu.be/HvLWqR7QGPM

[OzarkTom]

My philosophy is that if you don't get the front end right everything after that will sound degraded. This guy is showing us his lab where the MOST revealing speakers he could find (tools) are used to reveal the smallest of changes in the most revealing amplifiers he makes. And he feeds it a signal from a SONY cd player or streamer. That told me all I needed to know about shopping for an uber expensive streamer or CDP (as in DON'T). When you think about it, Sony created the CD format with Philips, of course they would get it "right".

The Sony streamer is very good. Just because it says Sony, it is not a slouch.
 

[mmurt]

I noticed he uses Sony products he had the 400 disc changer, the Hap Z1ES and what looked like a Sony BRD. That made me smile as I use a Sony front end too, the UHPH-1 BRD player that is amazing and less than $500. It plays just about everything and continues to amaze on audio and video.
[
I have that same 200 disc CD player.  it has to be 20+ years old and has played thousands of hours on shuffle.  Never malfunctioned once! 

[Early B.]

It's always interesting to see that a lot audio designers don't use "high end, audiophile quality" components. Professional musicians, too. They each have a different perspective.

[grsimmon]

Poor old guy. He looks really old and he obviously is starting to lose it. The video starts with a pic of what is obviously 2 speakers with interesting grill covers but he calls them amps!!! 

Gene

Did you actually WATCH the video?  Those are monobloc amps that he explains in great detail.   

[FullRangeMan]

Did you actually WATCH the video?  Those are monobloc amps that he explains in great detail.

+1.  There is no other greater than Nelson on solidstate amps I can see, everyone in the audio industry respect his work. I like SET tube amps but could love to buy an SIT3 amp if the price was cheap.

[FullRangeMan]

It's always interesting to see that a lot audio designers don't use "high end, audiophile quality" components. Professional musicians, too. They each have a different perspective.

Real musicians cant understand what is an audiophile, they even cant listen a song for pleasure, they want to play. One time in the 90s a great bass player from my city told me:
-I dont waste time listening music, I want to play, if I don't play for 3 or 4 days I miss playing a lot, the music has me.

He was an impressively happy person and overflowed with sympathy and positive feelings. I miss him.
RIP