Stereophile Interviews Nelson Pass!

[MylesBAstor]

[stellavox]

Thanks Myles - Nelson is one of my audio HEROES - especially for his unselfish sharing of information to the DIY community

Charles

[don]

Great article, I have always loved his philosophy and special genius.

[Bodhi]

Thanks for posting the link Myles. That was a fascinating interview with the master himself. NP is refreshingly modest and realistic. His approach to circuit design is kind of quirky and unconventional, but guided by the steady hand of a genius as Don said. As the man said, he is a perfectionist, but secure in the knowledge that he wont achieve that. I'm not surprised to hear him espouse a preference for transistors which sound like tubes, as his amps do sound tube-like to me. I like the way he balances subjective listening with objective measurements, whilst avoiding straying into the objectivists camp - clearly leaning toward subjective sound as the final yardstick of a good sounding design. Interesting guy!

My favorite Pass Labs amp...the x350.8

[MylesBAstor]

Just for some perspective on measurements and sound quality. A piece that I did going on 20 years ago in which Nelson was one of the participants.

http://www.herronaudio.com/images/Measurements.pdf

[don]

Well Myles that was a long article ( hand book ) you certainly had a lot of time on your hands back then, all of the audio gurus in one two part article WOW!

[cpp]

Just for some perspective on measurements and sound quality. A piece that I did going on 20 years ago in which Nelson was one of the participants.

http://www.herronaudio.com/images/Measurements.pdf

I like NP closing comments on measurements in that article "
" Me, I don’t care that much; in fact, I find the subject kind of boring. We build ampli-fiers that sound good and measure reason-ably well and don’t break."

[1morerecord2clean]

As I understand it, PL is marketed through a few hand picked dealers. I purchased my 150.8 one year ago from Mark @ Reno HiFi. I have been told he and Nelson are related. If you mention the brand at audio stores the staff cringes because they can't get the line. How can you beat a try at home experience with return and credit priveledge? Built like tanks, heavy as them too, powerful sounding and as sweet as a box of chocolates. Mark at Reno called the .8 amp series the triode that doesn't exist. That's just how it sounds. It was love at first listen for me. Take a look at what Paul Seydor said about the 150.8 in this month's TAS. Measurements are important but far from everything. I liken the fascination with them to concert goers who sit in their seats with their noses buried in program notes while the music plays on without the listener.