First off, let's get rid of the nowadays usual "transistors and tubes are converging" cop out. It just ain't so to the partisan perception of the veteran audiophile (is there any other kind by now, one wonders). The all-Pass combo couldn't be mistaken for the Nagra-driven hybrid, if only for the absence of the minute hallmarks which are phasey distortions to some and three-dimensional delights to me. It did however provide the timing, transparency and texture which are the alliterated arch stones of advanced audio. Add to this a sense of disciplined power, of an infinitely flexible grip which somehow melded itself to the Tannoys' massive Alnico magnets without the least suggestion of overdamping and you have all the ingredients of the proverbial amazing journey. I resent, I deeply resent the bilious aspersions which ascribe pipe and slippers to the original Nagra gestalt. I don't smoke and use sebagos as domestic footwear. Still, there is no denying that the Pass pairing made for a singularly involving experience while almost paradoxically exorcizing any symptom of fatigue. This may well be due to the fact that satisfactory listening levels on 17th century fare were the lowest I've ever enjoyed, evidently lying below the noise floor of even the best engineered tube amplification.

The report card by this time is turning into a stultifying collection of draws. So much for this kind of score keeping then. It is surely more meaningful to note that all the active preamp-driven combinations listed were equally transparent to the CDC source; and that both tube bloom and transistor glare were quite simply nonexistent. My final combination implies something of an acquired taste. No bass head will be investing in a custom 2A3 SET with its cetacean internal impedance, stunted power delivery and inbred reluctance to choogle. Which is why I use my 2A3 with the full six-tube line version of the PL-P. The addition of so much glass, with an end count of 10 tubes, 11 including the rectifier, supplies some gratifying cone control while preserving the airy soundstage and vocal miracles which are the ultimate goal of DHT appreciation. As a matter of fact, this combination drifts quite happily into R&B territory, with the bass gaining in funk what it lacks in slam and raunchy hollers (baaad girl!) jumping to the fore. Substituting the PL-P with the more economical (in more ways than one) but more intense HPA replicated prior results with a commendable consistency. The jive factor increased measurably on Time and Place while the all important staging and inflection cues of the less earthy madrigals were retained, with uttermost refinement taking a close second place to higher relief.

Score cards discarded, what we finally have is a solid-state preamp which proved itself a perfect foil from both the electrical and musical points of view, for an improbably varied range of power amplifiers. More, it effortlessly matched ideal combinations of components in a very rarefied, not to say idiosyncratic, league. All comments on its price ratio value are best left to a comparison of the stickers I have listed. On a parting note I must disclose that this was the first time I wrote up a component which I didn't pay for. Flaunting my 6moons credits, I cadged the HPA off Audio Reference, the estimable importer of Pass Labs products in Italy. Italian importers however are not really into long term loaners so after a decent interval, I had to relinquish it. Would I buy it? Like a shot if I was made of money, which I am not. Still, the F5 was born to keep and when downsizing time comes as come it must to all of us, the HPA will be riding with it into my hifi sunset.

Pass Labs website