My new Pass Amps

[mbovaird]

I've had my Pass xa160.5's for 11 days now and they are breaking in wonderfully. Yesterday during a fun little amp shoot out (Pass xa160.5's vs Mcintosh 2301 vs Classe ca-2300) - I made a discovery that may help some of you.

I had been told by Pass to use the stock power cords and plug the amps directly into the walls. Although I was very impressed with the sound, the sound went to a whole new level when I decided to swap the stock power cords for WW Silver Electra PC's and plug the amps into my power conditioner (the massive APC S20). EVERYTHING got better - bass, much tighter bass, MUCH smoother top end, dynamic range, sound stage, you name it. Instruments had much better tone color.

I'm sure other Pass owners have made similar discoveries with Shunyata and other PC's. I'm not exactly sure if the secret sauce is the power cords or the power conditioner or both - but it works - very well.