100 hours is plenty of time. Don’t expect any dramatic changes hereon.
We all have our own tastes and this might not suit yours.
That said, in my experience having owned one for a few years, I would say that the essential virtue of anything from Pass Labs is that you don’t get “cold, bright, analytical”.
If you bought it used, maybe a trip back to the factory for a check up would make sense. It might have been messed with by some knucklehead pretending to be authorized factory service.
Call them and speak to Kent.
Love the DQ10s! Remember my dad’s set!
My experience with Pass has been great. Wonder if something is off…..
I did call him when researching a xp-30 that I didn’t end up getting. He was very helpful. Maybe I will give him another call on this one. He did say he could look up the service history if I had the serial # which I have- obviously.
Because of the “right to repair” law, in so many states, individuals with no training can offer their services as “authorized”. Yes, by the wording of the law, they are authorized to open your component up and work on it and so are you. And if they fantasize about knowing more than the factory, they might substitute parts. Pass Labs would have no record of this.
A factory check up would make sense. And since Nelson Pass does not allow their service department to operate as a profit center, their services are most reasonable.
I’ve had the XP-32 with the DS DAC-MK2 for over a year. Organic, natural, and spacious has been my experience of the XP. It introduced a sense of feeling enveloped with the music, with details appearing in a well-placed and -timed manner. It added neither softness nor brightness to the presentation.
I called Kent at Pass Labs. Gave him the serial # and we reviewed the service history. Everything was fine with the unit per their records. He said I was free to send it back to them and they would be happy to look it over. On passing he mentioned that I should look into the voltage that my MKII was delivering to the preamp as they don’t recommend anything over 2 volts. According to the owners manual “output level high, maximum” is 4VRMS BALANCED and 2VRMS Single Ended. After I hung up I switched to a single ended cable from the previous balanced cable DAC to preamp. Instantly I could hear a massive difference. The soundstage could BREATHE again. Depth, dynamics, bass everything I was missing before was there in spades. Such a simple thing. I must have been overloading to preamp input stage somehow using the balanced interconnect. I don’t understand it as you wouldn’t think it would be a problem during quiet passages but there you go. I’ve been reveling in glorious, dynamic sound with a stunningly deep soundstage for over a hour now. Can’t believe it! I think I can declare this problem solved. Thanks Kent.
Kent, et al at Pass really know their stuff. I’m glad you’re happy with it.
And here for a moment I thought I might get a deal on an XP-22.
Don’t forget you can reduce the output of the DS DAC.
Hmm, somebody remind me - at maximum volume out on the MkII, what’s the XLR voltage?
Analog Audio Output:
Connector RCA single ended or balanced, XLR balanced
Output level high, maximum 4 VRMS Balanced
2 VRMS Single Ended
Output Impedance <100Ω/<200Ω
Frequency Response 20-20KHz +/- 0.25dB
THD+N @ 1KHz (full scale) <0.1%
Output Stage Passive audio transformer, fed by high current, high speed
analog amps producing double rate DSD
I never had issues running DS2 into XP-22 with XLR cables…nor with DS1 into XP-20 …
My DSD MK1 is outputting via XLR into my XP-32. Sounds mellifluous.
I have no answer for this. The whole thing seems crazy to me. Logic would leave you to believe that this would be a universal thing with this preamp. When talking about this with Kent all he said was he runs into strange things that defies explanation all the time and he just rolls with it. All I know is I’m listening to my XP-22 today and it’s wonderful and 24 hours ago it absolutely wasn’t. I’m just going to roll with it.
Enjoy is all that matters !!!
Are the RCA ic’s the same as the XLR’s you were using.
Very interesting. I had exactly the same problem.
I went from a Bryston BP-26 to the Pass-22, solely because I wanted the volume display on the Pass. I was hoping, with the Pass, I could note the perfect Volume level for each of my albums and set the volume to the perfect level and then, forget about the volume.
When I hooked up the Pass I couldn’t believe how bad it sounded. I still had the Bryston, so the Bryston went right back into my system and the Pass was returned. I use XLR cables from my DAC to my preamp.
Later, I found a stick on volume indicator. I put it on my Bryston and now I can preset the volume on my CDs, so I’m happy.
Yes, both Silversmith Fidelium interconnects
Funny how my thoughts keep evolving on the xp-22 preamp. Originally my belief was my initial negative reaction to its sound was due to lack of adequate burn in time. Then when I changed to single ended in from my DAC (see above) and experienced such a drastic jump in sound I thought burn in wasn’t much of a factor. Now, with more time on the unit, I’m hearing further improvements every time I revisit it. This thing just continues to amaze me as the soundstage and tonality continues to present surprises.