The Sound
Contents
To get right to the point, it’s pretty extraordinary to hear how two amps in roughly the same class, sound so different. It’s not really about accents in this case: the character of the Pass Labs is just different from the ASR Emitter 1. It’s also not about right or wrong here: it’s just totally different. Really a matter of taste (and matching).
Precision
Now in high-end, it’s pretty hard to say that one amplifier goes for precision and the other for more flow and perception. All solidly built amplifiers deliver experience and precision. And are by nature – if all goes well – fairly neutrally tuned. However, it is where the emphasis lies.
With the ASR, we feel that the whole thing is delivered very correctly and with great calmness and precision. Certainly not analytical by the way! There is the necessary flow and richness audible. But we do feel that the midrange is slightly more accented than with the Pass Labs which gives a little more glow – coloration?
To give a car metaphor: do you go for Audi, Mercedes or BMW? All good cars that offer an excellent, luxurious experience, but with different accents.
Colleague Martijn is really in love with the precision and correctness of the ASR Emitter 1. Especially classical music sounds very well on this amplifier. The strings of a violin, keystrokes on a piano, ambiance of the hall … everything falls into place. Very impressive!
Your author has not yet figured out what he preferes. It varies rather per track and genre. Where Massive Attack stands very firm in front of us with the ASR Emitter, your author prefers the Pass-combi with Gazpacho or Anathema. The extra richness in the mid-bass is just very nice in this case. But is Eelke Kleijn is playing, the stereo image surrounds us more with the ASR; something we did not expect! It is really just a matter of leapfrogging.
Agnostic
What is very nice with the ASR Emitter 1 is that a mains filter is not necessary. In fact, it is not recommended. Just plug it into the wall and go! That saves a considerable investment! Although you do need an extra shelf in the rack with the ASR trio…. If we include everything, the Pass system sets us back 21,000 Euro without cables, but with the Titan V5. Without the Isotek Titan we will have to pay around 16,000 Euro.
The ASR Emitter with battery power comes to 13,100 Euro with the headphone option. If we include some options – think balanced inputs – then we can end up around 14,000 Euro. So they are pretty close in terms of investment. But the ASR is and remains a few thousand Euros cheaper. With that in mind, the ASR Emitter simply performs very well; after all, we are talking about nuances and taste … not about better or worse.
