Gumption & gentility. That was the XA25's take on Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility. The G force of gumption kept simple material from devolving into pap and gave vigorous matters proper stamina. Remaining calm and collected when howitzers hit often troubles simple amplifiers like otherwise happy SET. Even without obvious distortion they signal distress. Be it dynamic compression, confusion during dense passages, runaway bass or shrill treble, we hear that they'd rather be elsewhere. Here the XA25 eclipsed its modest paper power. My purposes never sensed it crossing into labor. Though speakers will exist that elude its comfortable grasp—it's why Pass have so very many bigger amps in their arsenal—mine weren't that even in standard stereo 2.0 mode.
I think that the XA25's direct-coupled… uh, directness coupled to premium tone, general reflexes and impedance-doubling power tracking hit an admirable balance between muscle and melody, moxie and mellifluousness. Upstairs I found this mix virtually ideal. Downstairs the speakers' native reverb injection slanted things toward softer bloomier turf though far from objectionably so. This was just a matter of degrees so nowhere near overdose. In a perfect world, on these speakers I'd get just a bit more dynamic verve and bass damping; if it didn't impact midband glories. Big 'if'? Switching back to the Kinki ticked off the bass and crest-factor bobs but lost some tonal lusciousness. Rather than a free pass, that's hifi reality; especially when we don't start from zero but jump into a carefully cultivated constellation of hardware. Were that to include these Albedo Audio Aptica Accuton transmission lines, the XA25 would squarely match better than our monos. Like eye glasses and general meds, to actually fit any hifi prescription mandates proper diagnostics to ask what causes a given set of symptoms.
Back on the IQ, against an earlier Enleum trial the XA25's handling of these ivory-colored open-backed midranges was clearly better. This delta exceeded the more 'homeopathic' offset of the small high-passed upstairs monitors with mandatory sub. In my book then, this smallest Pass slotted quite well into my unofficial 'Enleum with more power' job vacancy. I don't feel the same about our XA-30.8. That's still darker, heavier and as a result, slower. If I must choose, these days I rather err on the side of agility than serenity. Here I heard the smaller Pass amp as younger, fresher so more my speed. It's also lighter, smaller and cheaper. That's a nice hand of ace advantages. Five years down the road, I'm possibly even fonder of those cards than I was the first time 'round.
Which leaves me where, exactly?
A lunar novelty: an award's reissue five years later. I kept the original caption to only up the date. It's popular to claim that progress moves ever faster. At the rate new iPhones issue, you'd think five years an eternity which gaps shiny desirability and rusty landfill. Not here. Unlike myself, the XA25 hasn't aged a day. It's still got that certain 'it' which at the time minted the 'unique sonics' byline. Granted, that was as nondescript as the weasel words musicality and compatibility. So let's conclude by defining what I mean by them in April 2023.
Think Dustin Hoffman's Little Big Man. You're either little or big. You can't be both. Logic forbids it. Yet the XA25 combines aspects of big and little amps. From the latter it borrows tonal pungency. The former loan it stability and ease. From the little league come good reflexes that haven't gone posh and poncy like prizefighters dozing in silk pyjamas and satin sheets. From the big league come solid physicality and rhythmic swagger. If we look for precedents, I might point at an 845 SET whose white-hot triodes exude similar tonal effulgence, whose high voltages similar gumption. After I lived with that assessment for a few days, I thought that like me (cough), it'll mature rather well, fully grey silver-fox style.
To put the 'unique sonics' into a final nutshell then, I really shall call the XA25 a close solid-state approximation of a premium 845 SET like a Turkish Absolare. That fills out my original byline with more specificity. What was old is new again, what was good then still is. Progress implied by the passage of time can be mere gift wrap. What's inside hasn't changed. If you've got it just right the first time, that's exactly how it ought to be. Why fix what ain't broke?
