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....it's not the sheer amount of boxes that define your enjoyment of good sound. It's the selection of those boxes carefully that does it. YBA is an inspired brand.
Yves Bernard Andre also was the one who said (in a personal telephone call) to listen with the top of the amp off, if possible, as it sounded better.
I've been looking into the passion series myself, and wondered whether, but was not able to confirm that the the Passion 100, 200, and 300 are the same amplifiers except for output.
For anyone out there who, like me, wants to simplify his music system for 2008, and has been thinking of "downgrading" to integrateds, I urge you to put the YBA Passion on your list. The Passion 100 has been playing 24/7 since Friday last week and, except for a brief period when I swopped back to my pre and power, has provided me with a very engaging musical experience without much regret that I was losing one item of equipment from my rig! I have hooked it up to my SB3 (with DAC duties from Altmann and Paradisea), tuner, TV and Turntable. The Passion did not come with a remote (which would have been very convenient and allowed me to configure HT bypass and memory settings for the volume) but was nevertheless a doddle to use. There was a slight hum with no source and volume up but I soon traced it to my cable TV setup box and with this disengaged, the Passion was eerily quiet. Controls were easy to use - left for source (relay) and right for volume. The volume had to be turned several full rotations before it registered a full 1 dB change and there were no indications on the front faceplate to indicate volume level. There is a lit "YBA Passion" fascia in the centre of the faceplate which only goes off when the amplifier is on "mute". Although the lights are not annoyingly bright, a switch to dim or turn it off would be a nice feature. The source selector clicks very positively and smoothly when a source is chosen. The front plate has the thickest aluminium that I have ever seen in an amplifier that small and my mind wonders if the fastidious Yves Bernard Andre put it there to control resonance rather than for the looks. The charateristic tripod legs look sturdy enough and has a rubber padding on the base cylinder for extra resonance control. The speaker terminals are offside rather than symmetrical, suggesting this was the route for shortest path. Unfortunately, my silver Slinkylinks SC were inches too short at one end to reach the speaker binding post. I chose the large speaker connectors for maximum damping since I know 90 watts (4 ohms) into my Thiels isn't much. There are female connectors for biamping. A pre-out was a nice feature which line fed my excellent ACI Force XL subs but was not used because I found the bass adequate as-is without seismic help from my subs. The Passion 100 is defintely different sounding than its predecesssor, the DT. Same wattage but it seems the DT has passive pre while the Passion's pre is active. Living with a truly transparent pre as John Chapman's TAP, I found the DT more transparent and "leaner" than the Passion. I did not know why at first but now know that the DT's passive pre was largely responsible for the familiar "see through" transparency and purity which passives triumph over active preamplification. The Passion sounded very much more powerful and had greater bass punch and slam than the DT. So while the Passion sacrifices some transparency, it makes this up with better bass and LF. After extended listening, the Passion shares that same quality that has made YBA gear famous - "True Emotion". These are two words YBA uses which well describes my experience with the Passion and the DT. If I could use an analogy, listening to the Passion is like appreciating a Monet or listening to Debussy. If one looks closely at a Monet, it is just a mass of colours and brush strokes. But if one stands back to view a Monet, one sees the painting as a pleasing whole. Listening to the Passion forces you to listen to the whole, but gives you the liberty to concentrate on a part if you so wish. But, the focus is on the big picture. This made my listening sessions very enjoyable as the Passion drew me into the music. The German word "gestalt" best describes the point I am making.Whatever the source I selected, I was less critical, less analytical and conversely more relaxed and unconstrained. I think this is what audiophiles mean when they say a component is non-fatiguing. I felt no urge to get up from my sweet spot to tweak this or that. It sounded good as-is!The time has come for me to return the Passion 100 and make a choice. At this point, I am inclined to just go for it and get the Passion. End of story. I hope there is an AudioCircler out there who is in the same boat as I am, hoping to simplify his music system for 2008 and redefining his goal to focus on the music with a good quality integrated which hopefully will end his audio nervosa! If he is, please share your thoughts too!Best RegardsDennisPs, Merle: if you are still visiting AC I must thank you for your inspiring post when you simplified your system by going for Rega. Your post planted the seeds for me to simplify my system too! I have heard the Rega system (minus speakers) and found the Mira very musical indeed!
LesThanks for sharing! I am glad that you have finally settled down to something you like that allows you to just enjoy the music. The Shindo Montille looks like an honest piece of equipment. "Less is more!"Best RegardsDennis
But, at the end of the day its the music that matters most and the Leben is definitely the most musically satisfying of the three, with the YBA second and the LFD third.Best RegardsDennis
Quote from: denjo on 18 Feb 2008, 02:31 pmBut, at the end of the day its the music that matters most and the Leben is definitely the most musically satisfying of the three, with the YBA second and the LFD third.Best RegardsDennisSorta' same thing here....had several wonderful SS amps here, bought hi-quality tube amps, and they've been banished for 2 years now. It may be nothing more than 'coloration' that we call musicality....but it's what keep same happy each day (and I suspect, you will, too).Enjoy - John
Does this mean that you will be parting with your Bent Audio TAP?Dave
