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February / March 2010
North American
Premiere
The XP-15 is the successor to Pass Labs’ venerable Xono phono ‘stage, the Xono being a two-box affair, the new XP-15 is a single chassis unit. Pass Labs claims that the XP-15 improves upon the Xono's design by “lowering noise, having greater resolution, and bass control”. These are mighty strong claims given that legions of Xono fans swore that the Xono was the greatest solid-state phono preamplifier that ever was created. But there is no question that many will forget the old unit when they hear this new issue, not to mention the benefit of the newer XP-15 taking up less rack space with its smaller, yet extremely attractive, superbly constructed cabinet.
The Pass Labs XP-15 front panel includes nothing but its sculpted silver aluminum face plate with a blue LED in the center that indicates that the unit is powered. And since Pass recommends that the unit remain powered unless it is not going to be used for an extended period of time, this unobtrusive indicator light remained a constant throughout the review period. The rear panel includes both balanced RCA and unbalanced XLR inputs and outputs, a five-way binding post for the tonearm's ground cable, and an IEC power output jack for the XP-15's removable AC cord. Two pairs of DIP switches control the selectable cartridge gain and loading. There are three gain settings: 56, 66, and 76 dB, and the cartridge loading can be adjusted from the DIP switches from only a couple of Ohms to 47 kOhms, with a parallel capacitance from 100 pF to 750 pF. The flexibility of the XP-15 is, as the manual states, “likely sufficient to cover the needs of all but the most obscure cartridge”. I agree. One more thing: the manual that accompanies the XP-15 is one of the most informative, and more importantly -- comprehensible -- that I have ever read.
Accurate The XP-15 was connected to either a tubed Balanced Audio Technology (BAT) VK-3iX or Acousticbuoy Scorpion, or a solid-state Burson Audio PPE-160 preamplifier. Most of the time I used a Krell KAV-250a power amp, but I also spent some time with an Emotiva XPA-2 in the system. The speakers were the Sound Lab DynaStat electrostatic/dynamic hybrid assisted by a Velodyne HGS-15b sub. The front end, including the phono preamp's power cord as well as the rest of the front-end was hooked up to a PS Audio AC regenerator, with a separate PSA regenerator for the turntable. The Velodyne's power was connected to a Chang Lightspeed power conditioner. The dedicated listening room is treated with Echo Buster acoustic panels, and has two dedicated 15 Ampere lines. As those who are familiar with my current system should know by now, the source that fed the XP-15 was a glossy black Basis Debut V with a LyraHelikon cartridge mounted on a Tri-Planar VII U tonearm.
The
Pleasure A perfect example of the above traits can be found on the excellent re-issue pressed by Classic Records of the Mercury Living Presence LP of Prokofiev's Love For Three Oranges and Scythian Suite conducted by Antal Dorati. I've listened to this particular pressing dozens of times since I first got it, so please excuse the cliché, but it was as if I was listening to this record for the first time because so many new details of these rather complex compositions were revealed. At the same time this pressing sounded incredible.. But I not just the clarity of sound, but I was particularly stuck by the Scythian side, where the orchestra swells in the beginning of the piece before it breaks out in its pseudo-Rite of Spring clamor. I'm well aware that Prokofiev was influenced by Stravinsky's groundbreaking composition at this time, but I never really enjoyed Scythian as a genuine Prokofiev piece so much before this. The string sound of the London Symphony Orchestra in its prime is outstanding in every aspect, not only because the string sound is rendered so magnificently by the XP-15, but largely because the XP-15 was able to reveal the sound so excellently captured by the Mercury engineering and production team. If you asked me while this disc was spinning, I would have said that this is surely one of the best Living Presence recordings ever released. During the course of the review period I had the opportunity to listen to all sorts of music, but of course when playing music of real musicians playing real instruments in a real space are the best to judge any piece of equipment, and unless this is the first equipment review you've ever read, you're well aware of this fact -- but when playing a record such as this, where I assume all the participants are no longer with us -- those real musicians are reanimated via this sonic time machine. It is tough to focus on a particular trait of the XP-15, but I was particularly impressed how it was able to sort out complex recordings, yet it did this while retaining the spark of life that makes music reproduction via vinyl so great. Cecil Taylor's 3 Phasis album on New World Records was a perfect illustration, although I will admit that it is fairly common that many either love or hate his brand of free jazz at first blush. When I saw him play live in the late 1990s I sort of enjoyed it, even though much of the sound just washed right over me (and probably over about half the audience that didn't stick around for the second half of the show). But repeated listenings to his recordings not only led to a greater understanding and appreciation of the music, but also to the increased intelligibility of his message. Even if you aren't a fan, please bear with me for a moment while I describe the utter joy of hearing his piano and the rest of his band reproduced with such tonic exactitude, from the piano's lowest to highest registers and everything in between. During both side long sections of the single piece it hardly mattered if he was playing one of his many unaccompanied passages or underneath the six-piece band's complexus. His thematic figures, daring acrobatics, chord clusters, multiple citations, and percussive lineament were all in full sonic view. The sound of the alto sax of Mr. Taylor's long time partner in crime Jimmy Lyon's had a crispness and naturally hooty blare, and it was never carried away by the undercurrent of the rest of the band. The cymbals on Ronald Shannon Jackson's kit had a lifelike shimmer that cut through the fray, and even though cymbals might not be the first thing that comes to mind as an instrument that might not get lost in a mix, it was almost as important that the sound did not unnaturally stand out. Raphe Malik's trumpet, Ramsey Ameen's violin, and Sirone's bass also didn't find themselves unnaturally highlighted or buried, and sounded as believable as any non-audiophile pressing had the right to. The rather high level of surface noise of the most likely not-so-virgin vinyl was a bit distracting during the quieter passages, but never spoiled the performance because it was kept separate from the music in a distinct field of the huge soundstage. Even though I said that it was tough to select a distinct trait of the XP-15 that made it so great, if I had to choose it would possibly be its organic flavor -- however, since food analogies might not fully describe a piece of audio equipment, I'll rephrase that and just say that its excellent transient response, natural portrayal of instrument textures, expansive yet appropriately scaled soundstage, tight and deep bass response, modern tube-like midrange qualities, glistening highs, solid bass, and excellent separation of instruments and sounds -- did I leave anything out? -- all without ever drawing attention to the gear that was performing the task, and fairly priced, made this component one that I will mourn when it is finally returned to Pass Laboratories.
And
I Conclude
Specifications
Company Information
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For
the majority of the review I used the aforementioned Lyra Helikon with an
output of 0.5 mV with the XP-15's gain set at 66 dB. I tried not to drive
myself (too) crazy by obsessing over impedance settings, but used the
fairly standard 47 kOhms for the first few weeks the Pass was in the
system, ignoring the manual's recommendation that I start with the 100 Ohm
setting. Ultimately I relented, because 100 Ohms was not only more
revealing, but and had greater extension at the frequency extremes. Not
only that, it made real instruments sound more like real instruments. But
no matter what setting I tried, it was difficult to "ruin" the
sound with this phono preamp installed as long as I stayed within the
settings that were recommended for most MC cartridges with its output. I
tried my using my standby van den Hul MC-One Special cartridge for a
while, with its output of slightly higher 0.65 mv, and it seemed to
appreciated the XP-15 being set to 47k Ohm a bit more than the 100 Ohm
setting, but like most pieces of equipment with variable settings I found
that listening to music much more enjoyable than obsessing about such
things. Now that I've bored you with these set-up notes, I'll rave further
about the XP-15's magnificent sound.
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