American Pass Labs XP-30 pre-amplifier split power supply three-piece brand new genuine warranty
Pass Labs XP30 preamplifier + split power supply three-piece set
Hi-End audio industry has always advocated“Simple is beautiful&The design philosophy of rdquo;, of course, some people will say: simple design is just to get good results easily, and complicated design can get higher specifications and performance. But in fact, many Hi-End brands we have seen are“Simple is beautiful” Interpretation. Pass Labs in the United States has been adhering to this design philosophy since its inception, and it has played it to the fullest, which can be said to be advocating“Simple and beautiful” A model. Even with the design of XP, X, XA series power amplifiers in recent years, the appearance remains simple and tough as always.
Of course what is said here“simple”It is not the same as crude. The simplicity of the Hi-End two-channel audio is mainly reflected in the functions. For example, the functions that have a negative impact on improving the sound quality can be simple and simple, so that you can focus on the design of the audio circuit. Larger space deals with the arrangement of circuits to minimize interference between circuits. On the level of circuit design, simplified design can also bring many benefits. For example, the amplifying circuit adopts DC design and the audio path does not use capacitive components, which can avoid the sound pollution caused by capacitors; also for example, the negative feedback of the circuit. Design, some brands have low line distortion rate due to factors such as reasonable working point setting, component arrangement and precise component selection, so they boldly adopt a non-negative feedback structure. This type of design usually can obtain the response speed, analytical power and The tone is also more open and transparent; another approach is to build a power supply system at a high cost, with low internal resistance, multiple independent multi-stage voltage stabilization, high-speed response and other technologies, so as to make the signal amplifier circuit work. This can also reduce signal distortion and better dynamic and timbre performance.
Flexible split design
The new flagship front-end XP-30 adopts a three-part design. The three-box structure has one more chassis than the previous flagship front-end, two-part XP-20. Of course, the purpose is not to bring a cumbersome design, but to build the best working platform for the signal amplification circuit. Like the former flagship XP-20 and XP-30, they are also designed with separate power supply. Pass Labs installs the power supply part and the control circuit part in a separate case. The front-end audio signal amplification circuit is designed with a separate case for the left and right channels. This is of course possible. Try to avoid the interference of electromagnetic waves and vibrations of the power system on the signal amplifier circuit as much as possible, and also make the left and right channels independent, and the circuit layout has more space to ponder how to arrange it. Of course, it is an ideal infrastructure for the pursuit of beautiful sound.
Pass Labs considers not so simple. For the design of an independent chassis for each channel, many Hi-End brands have already done so. There are two special features of XP-30. One is the design of each channel by Pass Labs. There are two sets of front-end outputs, one is Master and the other is Slave. The difference is that the two outputs can be adjusted to different gain levels. This design can meet the needs of users to drive speakers with different post-amp Bi-amp modes. When it meets the requirements of more precise output adjustment, it can control the frequency response distribution more flexibly. This design is really a boon for users who use low-power amplifiers to push the treble and high-power amplifiers to push the bass. Another special feature of XP-30 is the power supply/control circuit chassis, which is designed to connect and control up to 6 preamplifier channels. In other words, if you have a pair of speakers, 3-wire input connection is allowed. Yes, you can form a 3-channel stereo system by connecting 6-channel pre-masters, and then connect 6 mono post-amplifiers to play crazy Tri-amp connections. With such a strong scalability, Pass Labs''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s ability is not comparable to that of several Hi-End brands.
High-performance amplifier circuit design
After stacking a set of three-part design XP-30, the visual effect is quite spectacular. Of course, it is the correct way to place them separately when conditions permit. It not only involves factors such as vibration avoidance and sound adjustment, but also Minimize electromagnetic/noise interference and other issues. Of course, the two signal amplifying main cabinets should be carried by racks of the same material, and the mat material and the method of mat should be kept the same, so as to ensure the consistency of the two channels to a large extent. The three chassis of the XP-30 have the same size, and the appearance treatment is derived from the same set of craftsmanship. The simple design style, the large beveled panel treatment, and the use of all-aluminum materials bring masculine temperament. The golden section line of the power control chassis is an arc-shaped groove. From the left are buttons for mute, menu, and two input gears, followed by a small but very clear and easy-to-read display, and on the right is a The big knob, you don’t need to think about it to know that it is used to control the volume. Pass Labs''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s easy-to-use design is still very consistent with his family''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s insistence“Simple is beautiful” The design philosophy, and of course, advance with the times but not rigidly implant the convenience brought by modern technology. Pass Labs is very aware of the so-called“simple” It does not mean that the input source can only be selected with the band switch, let alone the use of traditional carbon film resistive potentiometers. There are inherently many unstable and unreliable components in these structures, which are difficult to satisfy Pass Labs. The standard of high stability, high reliability and high sound performance. Therefore, XP-30''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s signal input switching adopts communication-grade precision relays to make the signal reach the input buffer circuit in the shortest path, and the volume is controlled by IC chip, with 100-level adjustment accuracy, so it can guarantee the consistency of the two channels to a large extent. And durability.
The XP-30''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s power supply and control chassis are connected to the signal amplifier main chassis with a flat multi-pin interface, which not only transmits power but also transmits control signals such as input switching and volume. And all the input/output terminals related to the audio signal are on the signal amplifier main box, and the back panel of each channel box can be seen full of output/input terminals. XLR/RCA high-level input has 7 groups and front-level output. There are two groups of master/slave options. Compared with many other brands that only have 1-2 sets of XLR inputs, XP-30 is equipped with XLR/RCA for each set of inputs/outputs, which shows the factory''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''s pursuit of extreme adaptability. Due to the split design, the circuit layout and component arrangement in each chassis can be handled more reasonably. The power supply and control cabinet are powered by two low-noise Plitron toroidal transformers recognized as high-quality in the industry, and the filter capacitor array is powered by eight 50V10000ΜF is composed of large electrolysis, such a high-spec power supply system is much higher than that of many combined power amplifiers, and meeting the needs of the previous stage seems to be a breeze. There is also a dual-channel independent precision low-noise, low-resistance rectifier and voltage regulator circuit in the chassis, which outputs stable and pure power to the signal amplifier host. The factory emphasizes that all component selection and circuit design follow high response speed and low noise performance, which marks the design standard of Pass Labs.
The control machine is equipped with a micro-processing chip, which sends out operation instructions such as switching input sources and volume adjustment. In fact, all audio signals do not need to go through the control machine, but can be completed in the signal amplification box. Therefore, we see that each signal amplifier host has an independent signal switching relay array and an independent volume control chip to ensure that the audio signal is not interfered and works in a short path. The signal amplifier circuit used in XP-30 is an ultra-high-speed broadband gain amplifier module modified from XP-20. However, due to the more generous space in the case, the circuit layout can be more stretched. Actual tests have proved that the design of the independent case has been improved. The ideal signal-to-noise ratio, wider dynamic range, higher channel separation and lower output impedance meet the needs of long-distance signal line transmission.
●Gain: 10, 16, 24dB/attenuation–90dB
●Volume control: 100 levels, 1dB/level
●Frequency response: 20Hz–20kHz±0.05 dB
●Distortion rate:<0.1% THD（1kHz, usually）,<0.001% THD
（@ 1V rms）,<0.01% THD @ 14V rms
●Output impedance: main balance 120Ω（total）, 60Ω（Each phase）；
From balance: 200Ω（total）,100Ω（Each phase）；
Main RCA120Ω, from RCA120Ω
●Input impedance: 42kΩ
● CMRR: -65dB, 1kHz
●Crosstalk: -100dB（1kHz）
●Signal to noise ratio: -110dB（5V）
●Residual noise:<20uV（20Hz– 20kHz joint weighting, maximum）
●Power consumption: 45W（Two channels）, 15W（Per channel）
●Volume（WDH）: 430×305×100mm（One）
●Transportation weight: 33.6kg