All
Pass Labs
Website:https://www.passlabs.com/
Est. year: 1991
Location: USA
Pass Labs, formally Pass Laboratories, is a US builder of solid-state amplifiers founded in 1991 by designer Nelson Pass in Auburn, California. The company is known for Class A power amplifiers and for its patented SuperSymmetry circuit, and it sells preamplifiers, phono stages, integrated amplifiers and a headphone amplifier to the audiophile market. Its first product, the Aleph 0, was a 70-watt mono amplifier that shipped in 1992 and set the tone for the work that followed.
Range & what it's known for
The catalogue is organised in families. The XA series combines the X and Aleph topologies in Class A designs, the XS series sits at the top, and the X series continues the line that began in 1998 with the X1000, the first amplifier to use the SuperSymmetric topology. Integrated amplifiers carry the INT name, preamplifiers and phono stages the XP and XS labels, and the HPA-1, introduced in 2015, is a Class A headphone amplifier now offered as the HPA-1c. SuperSymmetry is a balanced circuit designed to cancel distortion and noise generated within the amplifier itself, and it remains the basis of the current amplifier designs. Earlier Aleph models were pure Class A amplifiers built around MOSFET devices.
Who owns it and where it's made
Pass Labs is a private company. Nelson Pass started it in his home workshop, and as production grew it moved in 1997 to a dedicated facility in Foresthill, California. The design team has been stable for decades - Wayne Colburn joined in 1994 and handles preamplifiers and phono stages, while Desmond Harrington arrived in 1996 and became President in 2007. In 2004 Nelson Pass also founded First Watt, a separate amplifier company for small, experimental designs.
The lineup in this catalog
The listed Pass Labs models are amplifiers and preamps, ranging from about USD 5,000 to beyond USD 50,000.
Who it's for
A Pass Labs amplifier makes sense where American solid-state Class A operation is the priority and the owner can plan around the heat and size that come with it. The simplest entry is one of the INT integrateds. The next step is separates, an XP preamplifier with an X or XA power amplifier, and the XS series is the top of the ladder. Listeners on headphones can start with the HPA-1c.
Range & what it's known for
The catalogue is organised in families. The XA series combines the X and Aleph topologies in Class A designs, the XS series sits at the top, and the X series continues the line that began in 1998 with the X1000, the first amplifier to use the SuperSymmetric topology. Integrated amplifiers carry the INT name, preamplifiers and phono stages the XP and XS labels, and the HPA-1, introduced in 2015, is a Class A headphone amplifier now offered as the HPA-1c. SuperSymmetry is a balanced circuit designed to cancel distortion and noise generated within the amplifier itself, and it remains the basis of the current amplifier designs. Earlier Aleph models were pure Class A amplifiers built around MOSFET devices.
Who owns it and where it's made
Pass Labs is a private company. Nelson Pass started it in his home workshop, and as production grew it moved in 1997 to a dedicated facility in Foresthill, California. The design team has been stable for decades - Wayne Colburn joined in 1994 and handles preamplifiers and phono stages, while Desmond Harrington arrived in 1996 and became President in 2007. In 2004 Nelson Pass also founded First Watt, a separate amplifier company for small, experimental designs.
The lineup in this catalog
The listed Pass Labs models are amplifiers and preamps, ranging from about USD 5,000 to beyond USD 50,000.
Who it's for
A Pass Labs amplifier makes sense where American solid-state Class A operation is the priority and the owner can plan around the heat and size that come with it. The simplest entry is one of the INT integrateds. The next step is separates, an XP preamplifier with an X or XA power amplifier, and the XS series is the top of the ladder. Listeners on headphones can start with the HPA-1c.
