By Nelson Pass is the Enzo Ferrari of audiophile power amps. He is also the G.O.A.T. when it comes to amplifier designers, as well as an overall wonderful person personally and (full disclosure) a client from Day One here at FurureAudiophile.com. Before the Palisades Fires destroyed pretty much every element of my life (home, family, marriage and beyond), I was powering my reference Bowers & Wilkins 802 D4 loudspeakers with a small Pass Labs XA-25 Class-A power amp. This little amp-that-could sounded inspired and never ran out of power. Thankfully, I was well-insured on the business side for my AV gear, and able to parlay my Pass Labs XA-25 into something little swankier. OK, I lied: a LOT swankier – a pair of Pass Labs XA 160.8 monoblocks. This is the review after a long wait.
Does anyone need 160 watts of Class-A power to drive a modern speaker? “Need” is a funny word, isn’t it? The 25 watts of Class-A power from the Pass Labs XA-25 made me a very happy man. 160 watts of Nelson Pass Class-A power has made me a much happier man. There are massive drawbacks to the Pass Labs XA 160.8s, and we will explore them, as driving an Lamborghini Aventador around Los Angeles is a pain in the ass more times than not but, my friends, when you get that rare chance to hear the engine roar as you redline it through a few gears, you know why you made such an investment. Joy. Joy is why.
What Makes the Pass Labs XA 160.8 Power Amp So Special?
- Nelson Pass doesn’t come out with new amps unless there is a damn good reason for it. This means that you get the absolute best design that he is capable of in that moment. Nelson, like Dan D’Agostino, Tom Colangelo, John Curl, and many other of the best audiophile amp designers, is not big into compromises and, at these prices, you shouldn’t expect compromises either. You should expect pure, unadulterated excellence, and these amps deliver on that. Long-term value is included in the proposition, too.
- There is no “house sound” to the Pass Labs XA 160.8 monoblock amps. And that is exactly what I want from a top-of-the-line audiophile amplifier for my speakers. If I want to hear an amp, it will be when somebody like Jimi Hendrix or Eddie Van Halen or Tom Morrello is playing through one. I do not want, need or desire to have my audiophile amp have a sound. The sound is on the recording, and I want to hear that, thus I want to hear what Nelson delivers.
- Janet Jackson sang about control, but she had no idea how good the control would be on the XA 160.8s. Miss Jackson (if you are nasty) was a client of Christopher Hansen Ltd. back when I moved out to Los Angeles over 30 years ago. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Andrew Dice Clay (who doesn’t love The Dice Man…?) and Jackson all were clients who owned gigantic THIEL CS5 speakers. Jim Thiel’s speakers were time-aligned, which some audiophiles loved but, for the love of Jesus H. Christ on a pogo stick, they needed a lot of power to drive effectively. Ultra-low impedances made the best amps at the best stereo store in America at the time (bridged Mark Levinson No. 26 monos, thus four amps). These had nowhere near enough power or current for these piggish speakers. Today, Nelson’s XA 160.8 amps could drive them up and down the street if for some reason you still owned and loved a pair. My Bowers & Wilkins 802 D4s are a joke for the Pass Labs XA 160.8s. At 90 dB efficiency, the Pass Labs XA 160.8s just laugh at the challenge of driving them. It was just too easy.
- I am not done talking about control… The V12 amounts of power that Nelson and his team deliver come through in ways that have nothing to do with brute force. The Pass Labs XA 160.8s present an openness that I’ve simply never heard from any amp at any price in any venue, and I’ve owned some of the best and experienced every top audiophile product the world knows. That is how good these mono amps are.
- The devil is in the details? There is an angel in the details of the Pass Labs XA 160.8s. You can hear details in recordings that you simply can’t hear on lesser amps. The music is simply lost without this level of audiophile extremism. I will get into these specific details in my listening section below.
- The industrial design of the Pass Labs XA 160.8 is pure sex appeal. My friend, Dan D, makes some kickass-looking power amps that follow a steampunk design theme, and those are so cool. Nelson’s amps land somewhere between Cello Performance II and Dan D’s amps and pay a little tribute to McIntosh with the big, blue porthole-like meters. They are sexy AF.
Why Should You Care About the Pass Labs XA 160.8 Mono Power Amps?
Pass Labs XA 160.8 mono amps are not going to be the first amps that any audiophile buys, but they very reasonably could be the last amp purchase. These are amps for somebody who is going for the ultimate in sound reproduction at home. These are amps for people who want to hear every detail and every sonic nuance on their favorite recordings without added flavor or a house sound. The Pass Labs Xa 160.8s are for people who seek that visceral, in-the-studio experience at home in ways that leave you wondering “how did I never hear that” from a song that you love that you’ve heard 1,000 times before. Do you have to pay to be this cool? Oh boy, you do, but selling blood (don’t dismiss the free doughnuts in this deal) is totally worth it. One of my kidneys got me one of the two monoblocks, which feels like a fair value proposition to me.
Some Things You Might Not Like About the Pass Labs XA 160.8 Power Amps
- Class-A amps create more heat than any other amp design that I’ve owned or even know of. You’ve been warned, as these amps are designed to be placed out in open space, which is antithetical to how I’ve designed my systems since the mid-2000s. Today, post-fires and living on my own in a deluxe apartment in the sky here in Marina del Rey, I have had to give up on my Middle Atlantic racks and custom face places and all of the CI (custom installation) hang-ups that I loved so much for so long. I just got a pair of gorgeous SolidSteel (white with polished chrome hardware) amp stands for my XA 160.8s. They are worthy of the spotlight in my new system, as they are, respectfully, rock stars in the world of audiophile amps. With that said, they get pretty warm to the touch in ways that pretty much all other amps simply don’t.
- Your power bill likely will go up a little if you own Pass Labs XA 160.8s. The way Class-A amps work is the most inefficient way possible. As my mentor Mark Levinson once explained to me back in the 1990s, Class-A amps draw all the power that they want from the wall like a faucet turned all the way on. Then the amp outputs its rated power from there, as if a three-star Michelin chef was making a fine reduction/sauce. I believe it is in the Prince composition (performed by Sheila E) “The Glamorous Life,” where he wrote about, “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it (lingerie)” If you have to ask just how much your electric bill will go up, then you need to be looking at some Orchard Audio monoblock GaN amps and, trust me, friends, there ain’t nothing wrong with Leo Ayzenshtat’s innovative designs, as I own a set for $2,900 a pair, and they have a lot in common with the Pass Class-A amps for one-tenth of the price, but they don’t use as much power or create any heat either. They just don’t do what Pass Labs XA 160.8s do – nor should they been expected to do so.
- The Pass Labs XA 160.8s are insanely heavy. I am a wimp with a disc out (thanks to a pinched nerve) in my back right now. There’s no chance on God’s green Earth that I am lifting these monstrous power amps. It is your dealer’s job to carefully move them around. My amps didn’t show up via the FedEx delivery guy like my Pass Labs XP-32 stereo preamp. These mono amps came on a pallet from a freight logistics company. Here’s a little suggestion – prepay for the “white glove” delivery, which often isn’t too expensive as an add-on. It is worth every penny.
- The needle on the gauges is likely never going to move as you stare at a pair of Pass Labs XA 160.8s. At the recent audiophile show in Tampa, Floridia, I asked Kent English, North American sales director of Pass Labs, as to why this is, and the answer was that I simply never (ever) use more than 160 watts of power. Not even for a second. Duly noted.
Listening to the Pass Labs XA 160.8 Mono Power Amps
My current reference system includes a Bluesound Node Icon streamer (read the review), a Bricasti M1 Series II reference DAC, a Pass Labs XP-32 three-chassis stereo preamp, Bowers & Wilkins 802 D4 loudspeakers and an SVS SB-4000 subwoofer, all with Wireworld Cables.
You know that second when you realize you are hearing something special? That happened on “Then Came You” by The Spinners with Dionne Warwick (Qobuz). The openness and air in the first notes of the song was simply jaw-dropping. The flanged-out guitar with distortion on it was even more astonishingly three-dimensional. The Philly Sound strings sounded lush and amazing. In the main verses, you can hear the vocal harmonies in ways that make other systems with lesser power seem flat. With the Pass Labs XA 160.8s in my system, it was like converting my 2.1-channel system to surround sound without all of the extra headaches and cost. I now have a level of depth that leaves everyone from kids to older music lovers to professional mixing engineers saying “Wow, man … Wow.”
One of the songs that we never got to at my recent Harvard event was “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson from Thriller (Qobuz). In the first verse, you might not have noticed, but there are subtle chimes way, way back in the mix. On the radio or on lesser two channel systems, the percussive details and delicate sonic nuances like these chimes get lost or sonically glossed over. Not with the Pass Labs XA 160.8s in the loop. Every detail is so well-resolved that your mind starts to race as to what song that you know and love will you listen to next? This is why we invest so much time, money and passion in this hobby. Do you get your money’s worth when buying insanely expensive amps like the XA 160.8s? In many ways, you do if your sonic goal is to hear just what Quincy Jones wanted you to hear.
Moving to bigger-sounding tracks, “The Best is Yet to Come” from Michael Bublé (Qobuz) is a reinvented standard that sounds so silky smooth that, until I heard it, I didn’t know that I could make my music system sound this good in a condo. The opening snaps have a vibrancy that is fully three-dimensional but, even more impressive, the piano is one of the most realistic and believable sounds that I’ve ever gotten from my system. At about 0:22, the dynamic window is smashed open by the most lush-sounding big band that you’ve ever heard in your room. With the Pass Labs XA160.8s in my loop, power was never a concern, but the control, depth and space are just insanely good-sounding. I’ve played this track for anybody and everybody who’s wanted to hear my system.
The closer that I used at the Harvard event and at McIntosh’s House of Sound in Manhattan and for anyone who visits me is Beyoncé’s cover of The Beatles’ “Blackbird.” This is the most incredible, modern recording that I’ve heard in years. The layering with a ton of overdubs sounded so detailed and “organized,” if you will allow that term, as the Pass Labs XA 160.8s were so in control of each layer of music. The bass on the track had depth and power, but it was Lady B’s voice and the Lennon/McCartney composition that really shined.
I wanted to test something with deeper bass and more dynamics that was a great-sounding track. Peter Gabriel’s latest studio recording i/o is just that, and the song “The Court” is an excellent example of the bass control that the Pass Labs XA 160.8s can deliver. “Tight, resolute, visceral” just starts to describe the way the bass sounded in my less-than-acoustically perfect (currently untreated) room. There wasn’t one moment of muddiness in the deepest bass with the Pass Labs XA 160.8s in the loop.
Will the Pass Labs XA 160.8 Amps Hold Their Value?
The Pass Labs XA 160.8 is a low-production volume amp and there just aren’t that many that come up on the used market, which helps to keep resale value high. Owning a Nelson-era amp makes the Pass Labs XA 160.8s a little collectable, too, which also adds to an amp’s value. The sound doesn’t hurt, either, as these are magically good audiophile power amps. Shipping will be a nightmare, considering the weight of these amps, but who is going to sell them? While the Pass Labs XA 160.8 monoblock amps are a big investment, they are likely a somewhat safe investment at the same time.
What is the Competition for the Pass Labs XA 160.8 Mono Amps?
Last year, I was able to review the McIntosh MC 1.25 KW (read the review) mono power amps at $27,000 a pair. These are not Class-A amps, but they are a fine example of very refined, ultra-high-powered audiophile monoblock amps. I love their overall power and what they did for a pair of Bowers & Wilkins 800 Series (D4) speakers but, I am sorry, they just don’t have the same lack of sound, and the openness, bass control and detail that I heard in the Pass Labs XA160.8s. Their meters move more often to the music, which is a perk as McIntosh made popular the amp gauge in the long-long-ago.
Bricasti is one of the most underrated companies playing in the audiophile business. The Bricasti M30 (read Michael Zisserson’s review here) at $30,000 a pair is a total world-beater. The ex-Lexicon designers not only made the new world’s best pro audio reverb, but they are making audiophile components that are expensive and compete with the absolute best, cost-no-object gear in the world. Sonically, this is closest that I heard to the Pass Labs amps, as the M30s have a comparable level of space, detail and control to what got me to cut a check for the XA 160.8s.
First Watt is Pass’ “kitchen table project” and this is where the value gets crazy, as First Watt products cost a lot less but still have the same pedigree. At the recent Tampa Audiophile show, the Pass team had some new First Watt SIT-5 $11,000 a pair, 35 watts (in Class A) monoblocks that just went into production. Pass designed First Watt monoblock power amps that were sounding very good with the same (lack of) sonic flavor as you get with the fancy XA 160.8s, but for a tiny fraction of the money, which will appeal to less than the one percenters lucky enough to own $30,000 stereo amps.
Final Thoughts on the Pass Labs XA 160.8 Mono Power Amps …
Few audio components that I’ve experienced, let alone owned, are capable of getting you as close to the recording as the Pass Labs XA 160.8s. In so many ways, these amps are capable of making you wonder if you had actually missed something on a track from, say, Dark Side of the Moon that you’ve heard 10,000 times before but on less capable, less detailed, less open-sounding power amps. The Pass Labs XA 160.8s give you a more accurate pathway to the master recording that feels more real – more authentic.
In over 35 years in the ultra-high-end audio business, I have been beyond blessed to have owned many and experienced nearly every great amplifier out there – both then and now. I can tell you without hesitation that the Pass Labs XA 160.8 is as good an amplifier that I’ve ever heard at any price.How much more the sound improves will be small when the price difference will be large as you try to find a better power amp.
Rest assured that there isn’t a speaker in the modern world that the Pass Labs can’t drive. The industrial design is pure sex appeal. Pass’ legacy only adds to why the Pass Labs XA 160.8 amp is one of the best amps that money can buy, period. I never dreamed that it would be possible for me to invest in such an incredible option for my audiophile amplifier, but I reallocated budget that I got from The Hartford, post the January 2025 Palisades Fire. My hand cramped up a little bit when I went to sign the check, but I’ve never for a second regretted the decision to buy such a fantastic power amplifier. Simply put, you can’t easily find a better audiophile amplifier more capable of letting you hear what is on the recording than the Pass Labs XA 160.8.
