Any available XA.8 impressions from CES 2014??

[Dave_72]

Originally Posted by PlanarSpeakerFan

Stereophile gave a little mini review on the XA-160.8 from CES.

Here's the link:

Pass Rises High to .8 | Stereophile.com

Nice! Thanks for posting.

[BillK]

Do they come with a dedicated backyard nuclear power plant? ;-)

[PlanarSpeakerFan]

Originally Posted by BillK

Do they come with a dedicated backyard nuclear power plant? ;-)

Hi Bill,

The XA-160.8 only draws 1,000 watts, that's 200 watts less than the XA-160.5. I would never go above the XA-100.8 because I wouldn't be able to manage the additional heat in my room. At 600 watts my electric bill and room temperature remain reasonable. Perhaps a windmill generator, much cleaner.

Best,
Ken

[FlexibleAudio]

From Jason Victor Serinus • Pass Rises High to .8 | Stereophile.com

one difference immediately stood out: the XA200.8 offers superior clarity in the low end, unraveling and illuming in natural light complex interweaving bass lines while at the same time delivering the additional and totally credible wallop that the XA200.5 transmits in softer and less impactful fashion.

"A totally credible wallop in a softer and less impactful fashion?" A somewhat curious statement. Two questions: a) isn't that a bit of an oxymoron, and b) if accurate, is that necessarily a good thing? Everything else Jason described sounds fantastic and this coming from a reviewer that owns the xa200.5's.

I wonder how long I will keep my xa200.5??? I have already talked to my dealer about setting up a comparison.

[cma29]

Originally Posted by FlexibleAudio

From Jason Victor Serinus • Pass Rises High to .8 | Stereophile.com



"A totally credible wallop in a softer and less impactful fashion?" A somewhat curious statement. Two questions: a) isn't that a bit of an oxymoron, and b) if accurate, is that necessarily a good thing? Everything else Jason described sounds fantastic and this coming from a reviewer that owns the xa200.5's.

I wonder how long I will keep my xa200.5??? I have already talked to my dealer about setting up a comparison.

I see your conundrum

I'm already getting a quote to make the upgrade to the XA100.8s while I can still get 100% trade-in credit for what I paid for the XA100.5s.

[PlanarSpeakerFan]

Originally Posted by FlexibleAudio

From Jason Victor Serinus • Pass Rises High to .8 | Stereophile.com



"A totally credible wallop in a softer and less impactful fashion?" A somewhat curious statement. Two questions: a) isn't that a bit of an oxymoron, and b) if accurate, is that necessarily a good thing? Everything else Jason described sounds fantastic and this coming from a reviewer that owns the xa200.5's.

I wonder how long I will keep my xa200.5??? I have already talked to my dealer about setting up a comparison.

Hi Paul,

The way that the sentence is written, I honestly can't tell if he heard the softer and less impactful bass is on the XA-200.8 or XA-200.5. It seems that some clarification is needed on this sentence.

Best,
Ken

[Sceptic]

Originally Posted by PlanarSpeakerFan

Sceptic,

The meter is HUGE on the XA-160.8.

Ken

Heard that the meters on the Point 8´s can be adjusted

[PlanarSpeakerFan]

Originally Posted by Sceptic

Heard that the meters on the Point 8´s can be adjusted

Hi Sceptic,

That's a nice feature. There are times when I listen at night with the lights down low and I really wish I could turn off those blue meter lights.

Ken

[PlanarSpeakerFan]

Originally Posted by FlexibleAudio

From Jason Victor Serinus • Pass Rises High to .8 | Stereophile.com

"A totally credible wallop in a softer and less impactful fashion?" A somewhat curious statement. Two questions: a) isn't that a bit of an oxymoron, and b) if accurate, is that necessarily a good thing? Everything else Jason described sounds fantastic and this coming from a reviewer that owns the xa200.5's.

I wonder how long I will keep my xa200.5??? I have already talked to my dealer about setting up a comparison.

Hi Paul,

Here is the paragraph in question from Jason's review:

"Auditioning one of my trusted reference SACDs, Ivan Fischer's Channel Classics performance of Mahler's Symphony 2, one difference immediately stood out: the XA200.8 offers superior clarity in the low end, unraveling and illuming in natural light complex interweaving bass lines while at the same time delivering the additional and totally credible wallop that the XA200.5 transmits in softer and less impactful fashion."

I've now read this paragraph about 20 times and I'm pretty sure he is stating that the XA-200.5 has softer and less impactful bass, while the XA-200.8 has an additional and totally believable amount of bass slam. This would match to comments made by Pass that the new XA.8 series has improved bass speed and response, which has always been a slight shortcoming in the XA.5 series, depending on whom you talk to.

Ken

[FlexibleAudio]

Ken,

BINGO!......I think your read is indeed correct and it certainly tracks with all Pass announcements. Darn the upgrade is back in play. This is going to be fun.