Main system for CD playback though I'll occasionally stream for background music. Speakers are vertically bi-amped (I guess that makes the Pass’s ‘stereoblocks’), fully balanced end to end.
My background: professional musician for +55yrs. Engineer: speaker, audio furniture, and guitar designer/builder. Been messing around with hifi (read: spending money foolishly) for +50yrs.
I have another system in my studio that is tube-based (Primaluna integrated) with custom turntable, modded Oppo 105, and original JBL L100s in a near field setup. Very vintage feel and just plain fun to listen to!
The speakers being dipolar, they send as much energy rearward as forward. The panels are absorptive but not really big enough/deep enough to do any real absorbing so they act more as diffusers to cut the initial reflection from the back wave. Sound-wise, this helps tighten the image (slightly, think: kill the echo). I would get greater benefit with more aggressive diffusion back there, I'm sure, I just haven't go around to making anything yet.
There’s something about the Pass amps and these speakers. I’ve tried a bunch of other amps (tubes and SS) but always come back to this pairing. I’ve tried many different front ends as well (and this is likely to change - probably DAC first and then add vinyl) but this set up pretty decent for now.
