Pass Laboratories, known worldwide for class-leading, musically engaging solid-state electronics, has made the best even better with its new XS Pre 2. The award-winning XS Preamp has been at the top of the Pass range for a dozen years and remains a favorite of demanding audiophiles and reviewers. Suffice it to say that Pass Labs does not introduce new models unless significant advances have occurred.
That change is evident the minute you see the XS Pre 2, now with a three-box design featuring separate mono amplification sections. The result is a preamplifier that is quieter and more dynamic, revealing a greater sense of musical realism than the model it replaces—a difficult challenge, to be sure.
The three-box design also incorporates a wide range of innovations from the ground up. The power supply is also a dual mono design, with three double-shielded transformers to lower mechanical and radiated noise—one for each channel and one separate digital supply. Of course, more capacitance and pre-regulators absent from the original design deliver the sheer brawn, while all the other subtle improvements add up to a flagship pre that is superior in every way.
The output stage has more class A bias and lower output impedance, so it can easily drive long cable runs and any power amplifier. The volume control offers 100dB of range in .5dB steps for seamless attenuation. The new ceramic-based, gold-plated circuit boards are updated, featuring Toshiba FETs in the input stage and MOSFETs in the output stage. These have always been Pass’s choice for maximum sonics, and we have a vast stockpile to ensure a long product life.
And that’s only part of the story. You need to experience the XS Pre 2. Stop by and see us at the show to hear it for yourself.
Pass Labs’ Wayne Colburn – the mastermind behind the original XS Pre feels the new XS Pre 2 “is the best work I’ve done in 35 years.”