Yamaha A-S3000 or Pass INT-250?

There are so many amplifiers in this budget range. Any reason why you narrowed down to these 2 amplifiers ? Harbeths sound very good with tube amplifiers as well. It is a good idea to hang around at the harbeth forums and talk about your sound preferences. At this level, it is all about preferences. Both these amplifiers are highly competent.
 
If you can - try the luxman 509 series - I heard Harbeth shl5+ couple of years ago with another model (I believe it was the 507), and found the synergy to be very good.
Cheers,
Sid
 
I am not very aware of harbeth speakers hence not able to comment on whats better but I assume you have done your research on amplifier synergy with your amp and looking forward to your choice !
 
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I liked the clean sound of Pass.
And the melodramatic sound of Yamaha.


At this level, it is all about preferences.

So, like most choices in life, it boils down to knowing oneself (in this case, one’s sound and music preferences) and then making a choice than one Is more likely to enjoy for a longer time. Others’ opinions, unless stated with their reasons and preferences, wouldn’t help - for some, they can end up confusing. So I appreciate your insistence on knowing their reasons for their recommendations. It’d help others provide more helpful answers if they have an idea of what you listen to, what you owned in the past and what you felt about how it sounded, what are you seeking with the upgrade... and so on.
 
I liked the clean sound of Pass.
And the melodramatic sound of Yamaha.
Am pretty sure you do not want more recommendations... :) in case you have not already read it, interesting thread here
From the Above I would prefer the Pass and play around with cables/vibration control for the "melodrama" since my personal philosophy is to get the amp as neutral as possible , within your own guideline of what neutral should be and let the speaker add the melodrama and try the rest via tweaks
 
Am pretty sure you do not want more recommendations... :) in case you have not already read it, interesting thread here
From the Above I would prefer the Pass and play around with cables/vibration control for the "melodrama" since my personal philosophy is to get the amp as neutral as possible , within your own guideline of what neutral should be and let the speaker add the melodrama and try the rest via tweaks

Are you equating ‘clean’ with ‘neutral’? Because we also say ‘clean’ when we mean ‘resolving’.

Also, in general, wouldn’t your philosophy rule out almost all tube amps?
 
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Are you equating ‘clean’ with ‘neutral’? Because we also say ‘clean’ when we mean ‘resolving’.

Also, in general, wouldn’t your philosophy rule out almost all tube amps?

Dont want to derail this thread but semantics can be confusing and I meant sounding as real as possible since thats something Pass labs with its nelson pass heritage is expected to do. I would guess humblebee meant neutral and no no-nonsense sound when he said clean ?

Neutral itself is a debatable topic since everyone and their uncle like their own flavor of neutral , irrespective of what it really is ( and very few know) and tubes can be neutral and SS can be coloured as well so would no rule either out.
 
Friends, thanks for your replies.
I have a very modest system and i was making a very big jump.
I realised this and now i plan to have a system thats costs around $3000.
It would have been too much and would have spoiled my music experience.

Try jumping from DR 2 to DR 6.
 
Friends, thanks for your replies.
I have a very modest system and i was making a very big jump.
I realised this and now i plan to have a system thats costs around $3000.
It would have been too much and would have spoiled my music experience.

Try jumping from DR 2 to DR 6.
Are you located in the US ?
 
My recommendation would certainly be Yamaha A-S3000. Why? Because it sounds very detailed, huge soundstage that sounds very 3D, plenty of power=lots of headroom, built to exacting audiophile standards, lots of point to point hardwiring inside with copper shielding all around. And since there's a new successor, you can get it at a very good discount (someone already mentioned this earlier). Particular amp has a very different sound compared to the "house sound" of cheaper yamahas.
Not sure if this is available with dealers in India.

I have not heard the Pass Labs amp, so cannot comment of it.
 
With my limited experience with Pass Lab and Yamaha , my vote goes for Pass Lab without any hesitation . I have heard Pass Lab 150 with the mid-sized thin-wall design Spendor and it was a fantastic match . The pass lab has the uncanny ability to show all the insight and very detailed without the usual on-to-the-face detailed sound . Only to realize a void when changing with the different amplifier . My experience with Yamaha was with the model which is one level down from AS3000 . I could not tell the same to it .
 
I have not heard the yamaha, but had pass int 60 in my setup for more than 6 months ( loaned frm a frnd) paired with focal electra 1007BE. As many others I was also in the same impression on what the 60 WPC got to do with the focals, but immediately it put a smile on my face when I connected it . Though the amp took almost an hour to completely warm up after switching on. I never heard such dynamics out of focals when connected with other amps, it was like a heavenly match. The sound was smooth, yet defined and delicate rendering of the frequencies at all ranges makes all day listening a pleassure. And the most impressive part is the dynamics at low volume, even with volume knob just at 2 points nothing was missed and the same when I pushed all the way to 12'o clock position. Definitely I will prefer Pass any day.
 
Yamaha! Because Pass (for all its reputation) is a very boring amp. I have heard their top of the line class A pre-power. It is a clean sounding "audiophile" amp. No energy, lacks vitality, slow and smooth. If thats what you want, there are many options. If you want something more honest and realistic, Yamaha, Quad QMP, ATC would all do a good job.

By the way, Nelson Pass is a genius but Pass amps are built by Wayne Colburn who knows what to sell and how to sell. The first watt amps that Pass builds are seriously good, but they top out at 25 watts. Wont be the best choice for 40.2
 
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