Pass Laboratories XA60 Bedienungsanleitung

XA60 Owner’s Manual

passTM

XA60 Owner’s Manual

May 18, 2006

XA60 Owner’s Manual

Analog designer Nelson Pass has over the years produced some

truly great solid-state amplifiers, each unique in it’s own way. Not

surprisingly, the Pass Laboratories™ XA60 monoblock amplifier

is no exception. The XA60’s sleek industrial design is a stunning

understatement of artistic form integrated with state of the art

function.

Since their introduction in 1997, the X amplifier series using the

patented Supersymmetry™ circuit topology have been the mainstay

of amplifier offerings from Pass Laboratories™. These amplifiers

are heavily biased Class A/B designs with only two gain stages and

an absolutely minimal component count in the signal path. In spite

of this simplicity and thanks to the unique characteristic of the X

topology, these amplifiers achieve very high power with outstanding

subjective and objective performance.

With the introduction of the XA60 Pass Laboratories™ significantly

raises the performance standard of excellence by introducing an

entirely new series of power amplifiers. The new “XA” series of

amplifiers feature a refined and elegantly simple, very highly biased,

pure Class A mode of operation. This is a new and unique circuit

topology that we descriptively characterize as being Single-ended

Class A. This new topology combines the very best characteristics of

Pass Laboratories™ “X” series amplifiers and the highly rated “Pass

Laboratories Aleph™”. The XA series is the marriage of a highly

refined Aleph™ output stage with the patented Supersymmetry™

“X” front end.

The emphasis of the XA series is to accentuate performance and

sonic refinement over power. The XA series has the characteristic

warm midrange and sweet top end of the Aleph™ product

conjoined with the extreme dynamic range and definitive bass

control of the X series amplifiers.

The XA60 is packaged in an artistically refined variant of the massive

chassis previously reserved for the 150 watt X-150.5 two channel

stereo amplifier, but running more than twice the Class A bias

current of our A/B amplifiers.

The Pass Laboratories™ XA60 will deliver 60 watts rms into 8

ohms of impedance. This is the amplifiers class A limit, driving

the XA60 harder or reducing the impedance of the load will not

convey any additional power. Driving into a short will not convey

any additional power. These are not design oversights or flaws in

the XA60, but rather a condition of the very highly biased Class A

operation. However; as an interesting point of reference, 60 watts

driving a 87dB/1W/1m speaker will deliver well in excess of 100 dB

Introduction

XA60 Owner’s Manual

(very loud) average acoustic signal in a 100 cubic meter room, peaks

will be somewhat higher.

The XA60 has a massive toroidal transformer coupled to a high

current DC reservoir. Recognizing that the XA60’s ability to resolve

microdynamics is best experienced with clean power, the extreme

low-level resolution of the XA-series benefits from a specially

designed power supply that significantly reduces and rejects power

line borne noise.

The XA amps open the sonic soundstage to the very limits of the

recording format. Through the XA60 complex musical passages

reveal themselves in the most dramatic manner. With the XA60 you

will hear everything within the upper octaves, which includes any

recording, source or loudspeaker issues. Keep this in mind when

choosing complementary equipment, remembering that recordings

and the other components in the signal chain will strongly dictate

soundstage width and imaging and likely be the limiting factors in

your listening environment. The room itself will also add its acoustic

signature, and should be considered an audio component.

Speaker selection should be strictly a matter of personal taste.

The XA60 is unconditionally stable into any load presented by a

loudspeaker, but will provide less power into other than 8 ohms. The

XA60 accommodates both single ended (RCA) and balanced inputs

(XLR). Input impedance’s are 11 kohm unbalanced and 22 kohm

balanced to permit integration with the widest possible range of

upstream components.

You can position this amplifier anywhere you wish, but it must have

ventilation. We do not recommend placing it in enclosed cabinets

or small closets without means for air to circulate freely. Stacking

these power amplifiers directly upon each other or upon other

audio components is not recommended for the same reason. This

amplifier idles at approximately 300 watts, the equivalent of an

incandescent reading light. At idle most of that energy is dissipated

across the heat sinks, so the heat generated by each XA60 is

equivalent to an incandescent reading light. To dissipate this heat the

product should have about 6 inches clearance to the top and sides for

adequate air circulation.

Let’s talk about power requirements. The amplifier draws about 2.5

amps (continuous rms) at 120 volts out of the wall during operation,

and this reflects mostly the idle current that we run through the

output stage. When not actually intending to play music the XA60

should be left in standby mode. In standby mode it draws only a few

watts of power, that necessary to keep the capacitors charged.

Requirements

XA60 Owner’s Manual

We have provided a standard IEC power cord that fits into the

standard 15 amp IEC receptacle at the rear of the amplifier chassis.

Two XA60’s may be run on a single 15-amp circuit in conjunction

with other audio components. This amplifier is equipped for

operation with an earth ground provided by the users AC outlet.

Never defeat this ground connection. The signal ground of this

amplifier is connected to earth through a power thermistor, which

provides a safety ground but provides protection from irritating

ground loops.

As a safety issue we suggest that the power cord should be the last

cable installed on your power-amplifier. You may, if you wish,

substitute a 15-amp aftermarket power cord for the one we have

supplied. Only use power cords, which meet all local safety standards

and carry acceptance marks from the local regulatory authority. The

power cord should be attached to the amplifier prior to plugging

into house power. Place the rear-mounted switch in the off (down)

position before plugging in this amplifier.

The amplifier’s voltage and current rating are indicated on the

rear panel. It will be either 240 volts, 220 volts, 120 volts or 100

volts, all units protected by a type 3-AG slow blow fuse of the

appropriate ampacity. The operational voltage is not user changeable.

Transformers are input voltage specific and their change is not a

trivial matter.

The frequency rating of the AC line source is 50 to 60 Hz in all

cases. Please verify that the amplifiers indicated voltage requirements

are consistent with the supplied voltage and current at your location.

Looking at the rear panel you will see the IEC AC power cord

receptacle, a power switch, type 3-AG fuse holder, two pairs of

output connectors which allow for speaker bi-wiring, a single pair of

5 way connectors for remote turn-on, a single RCA input connector

and a single XLR balanced input connector.

Make sure that the rear panel power switch is off (down). Plug

the AC cord into the back of the amplifier, and then into the wall.

Then turn the power switch on (up). The lights in your house may

blink when the power supply charges the capacitors. (Note: The

power switch is never to be used as a “safety device” or “emergency

disconnect” for this product. This device will not provide

comprehensive personal shock protection in the event of a reversed

hot / neutral, lack of grounding or other improper wiring of the

supplied mains voltage.)

Setup

XA60 Owner’s Manual

On the front panel, the “Standby” LED indicator should be glowing

blue, indicating that AC power is available and the capacitor banks

are charged. The “Power” LED should not be on. If the “Power”

LED is on, don’t get excited, just use the front panel stand-by switch

to go to stand-by mode, with the “Standby” LED on and the “Power

“ LED off.

OK, so the amplifier is sitting there in stand-by mode with just the

single blue LED lit. No speaker connected yet. You can go ahead

and connect the source and speakers. Make sure you are in standby

mode to protect your speakers from transients. The prudent installer

will unplug the XA60’s power cord from the mains while attaching

speaker cables.

To avoid the possibility of short circuits always connect speaker

cables to the speakers prior to connecting to the amplifier. The

output binding posts will accept either bare wire or spades.

(Regulatory agencies in many countries have banned binding posts

that will accept a banana plug, forcing us to abandon this option.)

Make sure that your speaker wires only attach to the outputs of the

amplifier, not to each other and never to the amplifier case.

Some powered subwoofers require an audio signal ground reference

and their makers may suggest that a black speaker terminal is

where this voltage reference might be found. On complementary

designs, which would be typical of all power amps produced by Pass

Laboratories™, this is an incorrect and unsafe assumption. On all

Pass Laboratories™ power amplifiers a reference of 0 volts will be

found only at pin 1 of the XLR input or at the shell of the RCA

input.

Reference connections for these devices require special consideration

when used with our product. If you have such a device, and wish

to use it with our product, please contact our Foresthill, California

factory for specific instructions.... you have been warned.

The amplifier may be driven single-end or balanced, your choice.

Single-ended input will always occur through the RCA connector

and balanced input will always occur through the XLR connector. If

driving the amplifier single-ended leave the supplied jumper in place

between pins 1 & 3 on the input XLR. On the XLR connectors pin

1 is ground, pin two is positive input and pin 3 is inverted (negative)

input. Pin numbers are marked on the XLR. If you re-install the

jumper incorrectly or leave it lying about, the amplifier will not work

properly. You must choose either XLR or RCA inputs it is not

advised to try and run both concurrently.

XA60 Owner’s Manual

Now that the source component is connected, make sure there is no

signal coming from it, probably by turning the volume all the way

down.

With the speakers connected, make sure the power cord is attached

and plugged into mains power; toggle the front panel switch to activate

the amplifier. The “Power” LED will come on.

Do everybody a favor and try not to have shorted output cables. It

happens accidentally all the time, and the amplifier is designed to

survive, but why tempt fate. If you accidentally cause the fuse to

open, it must be replaced with a like rated fuse before the amplifier will

operate. Please remove the amplifiers power cord from the wall outlet

before replacing this fuse. The fault, which caused the “open”, will

need to be corrected prior to replacing this fuse.

Of course it’s always possible that something may go wrong. If so,

don’t get excited. It’s really aggravating when a product doesn’t work,

we understand, but it will get fixed. We go to a lot of trouble to make

products reliable, and the failure rate of our product is very low. This

is small comfort to the few, but take it easy and give us a call if you

have problems.

People are interested in how long it takes for these amplifiers to break

in. Depending on the resolution of the rest of your audio chain,

you may or may not notice any break in of the XA60 beyond the

first 50 hours of operation. You will likely notice the difference in

sonic character between cold and normal operating temperature, so

we recommend letting these amplifiers warm up before any serious

listening.

It takes about an hour for them to completely warm up, and this is

where we adjust them first. Then we adjust them again and again over

a couple of days, keeping the bias and offset in the sweet spot. Our

environment is about 23 degrees Centigrade, room temperature, and

the heat sinks will rise to about 25 degrees C. above that, for a heat

sink temperature of about 48 degrees C. This is where they habitually

operate at their sonic best.

In your setup the heatsink temperature may vary a bit due to the

normal regional variance in line voltage and ventilation, but it is not

You are ready to play music

XLR input connector showing proper placement

of jumper pin for use with single-ended (RCA)

input.

Note: On X150.5 XLRs are upside down.

XA60 Owner’s Manual

a big deal. You should be able to put your hands on the heat sinks

without discomfort for 10 seconds or so.

The amplifier has a thermal cutout that will disconnect AC power if

the temperature exceeds 75 degrees Centigrade. This thermal cutout

should never occur in real life.

You may remotely operate the stand-by mode by applying 12

volts DC to the single pair of 5 way connectors on the rear of the

amplifier. The positive of the 12 volts DC goes to the red connector,

negative to the black. This connection has an actual operating range

of about 9 volts to 15 volts. This switching feature will override

the front panel button, only when the front panel button is in the

standby position and the rear panel switch is in the “on” position.

The XA60 is optimized for 8-ohm speaker loads. Having said that;

we are not aware of any speaker on the market that presents an

unusual or difficult load for these amplifiers.

The XA amplifiers do not care particularly about the reactivity of

the load. Reactive loads typically will have slightly less distortion at

a given voltage/current level than resistive loads. The XA circuit

was designed to be quite happy driving electrostatic speakers and any

other esoteric loads we know of.

We have a general recommendation about interconnects, and speaker

cables; which is that they should cost less than the amplifier, and

contain at least some conductive material. We have tried a lot of

products and most work well, but as a practical matter we cannot

make blanket recommendations.

The amplifier is not sensitive to source interconnects. It is also not

sensitive to radio frequency pickup, which allows some flexibility

in choosing source interconnects without shields, though shields

are always in good taste. For long runs balanced cables are highly

recommended for their inherent rejection of common mode noise.

We prefer speaker cables that are short and stout, oxygen free

copper and silver are the suggested materials. If you find any really

exceptional cable made of gold, please gift us a couple hundred

meters length.

Fortunately this amplifier is not sensitive to the capacitive/inductive

character of some of the specialty speaker cables, so feel free to

experiment.

Speaker Interface

Interconnects and Speaker

Cables

More things to know

XA60 Owner’s Manual

We have found that about 90 per cent of bad sounding cables are

really bad sounding connections, and we recommend that attention

be paid to cleanliness of electrical contact surfaces and proper

connector fit.

Speaker cables should be firmly tightened down at the speaker

output terminals, but not with a wrench. Output terminals will not

withstand the levels of torque that may be easily applied by wrench.

Hand tightening without excessive force is plenty. Cleaning contact

surfaces with one of the commercially available electronic contact

cleaners should be part of your annual system maintenance.

The XA60 has a single large power transformer, under actual

conditions in the amplifier, it supplies but a fraction of its rated

power. This very conservative rating contributes to exceptional

voltage regulation figures and low noise figures at the loudspeaker.

The XA60 has a significant number of power supply filter capacitors.

These caps are used to create the unregulated output stage rails, RC

filtering is used to passively remove ripple from the supply rails.

All the power transistors in the product are hyper-matched parts,

with gate voltages matched to 0.5% and all devices taken from the

same manufacturing lot codes (made on the same wafer).

So how long will this hardware last? It is our experience that, barring

abuse or the odd failure of a component, the first things to go will

be the power supply capacitors, and from experience, they will last

15 to 30 years. Fortunately they die gracefully and are easily replaced

by a good technician. After that, the longevity will depend upon the

number of operating thermal cycles, but we can say that we have

had amplifiers operating in the field in excess of 20 years with no

particular mortality, and we don’t have good information beyond

that. More to the point, you should not worry about it. This is a

conservatively built industrial design, not a frail tube circuit run on

the brink of catastrophic failure. If it breaks, we will simply get it

fixed, so sleep well.

Fun Hardware Facts

XA60 Owner’s Manual

All figures obtained after 1 hour warm-up, with regulated 120 VAC

power line. See manual notes about AC power line regulation.

Gain 26 dB

Freq. Response -3 dB at 1.5 Hz, -3 dB at 100 kHz

Power Output 60 watts max @ 1% THD,

1 kHz, 8 ohms

Maximum Output Voltage plus, minus approx. 40 volts

Maximum Output Current plus, minus approx. 5 amps

Input Impedance 22 kohm balanced

11 kohm unbalanced

Damping factor 30 ref @ 8 ohms nominal

Slew rate plus, minus 50 V/uS

Output Noise 300 uV unweighted 20-20 kHz

Balanced CMRR approx. -60 dB @ 1 kHz

DC offset < 100 mv

Power Consumption approx. 300 watts

Temperature 25 degrees C. above ambient at idle

Dimensions 19 “ W x 7” H x 20” D

Shipping Weight 68 lbs.

For more information please contact:

Pass Laboratories Inc.

P.O. Box 219,

24449 Foresthill Rd.,

Foresthill, CA 95631

Tel: 530.367.3690

Fax: 530.369.2193

www.passlabs.com

XA60 Specifications

“Pass”, “pass”, “Pass Labs”, “Pass Laboratories”, Supersymmetery”,

“Aleph”, and “Zen” and are all registered trademarks of Pass

Laboratories, Inc., and all rights thereto are protected by law.

XA60 Owner’s Manual

Please check with the factory-authorized distributor in the country you are

purchasing this product for specific warranty information.

All Pass Laboratories products purchased from an authorized Pass Labora-

tories dealer in North America are covered by a transferable, limited 3-year

warranty. This warrantee includes all parts and labor charges incurred at the

repair facility in addition to return shipping to the domestic customer, exclu-

sive of subsequent damages. Damage due to physical abuse is specifically

not covered under this warranty.

For this warranty to apply the customer is responsible for returning the

product unmodified to the factory within the warranty period. The customer

assumes all responsibility for shipping and insurance to the factory or a fac-

tory specified repair facility. The conditions and stipulations of this Pass

Laboratories warranty only applies to units sold new in North America.

Non-North America customers should consult with their original Pass Labs

dealer or distributor for warrantee repair instruction prior to contacting the

factory or shipping product for repair.

Non-North American product must be returned to the country of origin for

warrantee service. Foreign distributors are only required to offer warranty

service on Pass Laboratories product that they have imported.

Please note: Conditions of warranty service and customer rights for product

purchased outside the United States may vary depending upon the distribu-

tor and local laws. Please check with your local distributor for specific rights

and details.

Any modifications to Pass Laboratories products that have not received

written factory approval nullify all claims and void the warrantee. Should a

modified product be returned to the factory for repair the owner will be re-

quired to pay all necessary charges for the repair in addition to those charges

required to return the product to it’s original configuration.

In the case of safety issues, no product shall be returned to the customer

without those safety issues being corrected to the most recent accepted

standards.

Removal or alteration of original Pass Labs serial numbers voids the factory

warranty. Product with altered or missing serial numbers will be suspected

as counterfeit product.

Pass Laboratories will not repair or in any way indemnify any counterfeit or

cloned product.

Pass Laboratories does not offer products in voltages intended for inter-

national markets either to authorized Pass Labs dealers or to third parties

located in the United States or Canada.

Warranty Information

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Andere Pass Laboratories Verstärker Handbücher

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories Pass Aleph 60 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories Aleph 1 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories X1000 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories Aleph 2 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories Aleph 1.2 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories X1 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories XA100.5 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories INT-150 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories XA25 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories XP-10 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories X2.2 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories Pass X250 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories X250.5 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories INT-25 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories XP-12 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories XA60.5 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories Pass X5 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories XP-10 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories X600.5 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories XP-10 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories Volksamp Aleph 30 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories Aleph 0 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories XP-25 Bedienungsanleitung

Pass Laboratories

Pass Laboratories XP22 Bedienungsanleitung

Beliebte Verstärker Handbücher anderer Marken

ASTRO

ASTRO HVO V40 P Bedienungsanleitung

Marantz

Marantz SUPERSCOPE BLA-545 Montageanleitung

NAD

NAD CI980 Bedienungsanleitung

Technics

Technics SE-CH770 Bedienungsanleitung

Harman Kardon

Harman Kardon HK6300 Bedienungsanleitung

NAD

NAD T975 Bedienungsanleitung

McIntosh

McIntosh MA6850 Bedienungsanleitung

Electro-Harmonix

Electro-Harmonix ENGLISH MUFF’N Bedienungsanleitung

Viatron

Viatron Autrix Bedienungsanleitung

GME

GME GA9800 Bedienungsanleitung

Atlas

Atlas CP700 Bedienungsanleitung

Roland

Roland KC-1000 Bedienungsanleitung

Pyle

Pyle PFMRA350BW Bedienungsanleitung

Advantage

Advantage S-250 Bedienungsanleitung

IRT Electronics

IRT Electronics DVA-3007 Bedienungsanleitung

Dimavery

Dimavery BA-100 Series Bedienungsanleitung

Sony

Sony XM-S400D Bedienungsanleitung

Schertler

Schertler ROY X Bedienungsanleitung