Pub. Note: This was originally published about 11 years ago, but with our upcoming review of the replacement model, we thought it would make sense to make this easier to find, as we compare it to the new XS Pre 2.

Of the thousands of tracks auditioned during the Pass XS Preamplifier’s stay here, Lou Reed’s “Vanishing Act” sums it up perfectly. As he sings/speaks, “It must be nice to disappear…” the words to describe the XS Pre appear. It just disappears, calling no attention to itself, perhaps the toughest thing for an audio component to do.

Just like buying a car, test driving a premium audio component is usually a shorter first date than you’d like. In the end, it requires a certain leap of faith, and if you blow it, it’s going to cost you dearly. Much as I love Pass products, if you decide that the $38,000 XS Pre isn’t for you, there will be a stiff penalty, should you turn it over for something else. Like any other five figure hi-fi component, putting this two-chassis beauty back on the secondary market after a few months of use will be an expensive proposition unless you have an incredibly forgiving dealer, used to you doing this kind of thing on a regular.

The good news is that the above mentioned scenario probably won’t happen. I’d even go out on a limb to bet about 100 to 1 odds that it won’t. I’ve been using the XS Pre for over a year now, and I’ll do my best at describing it so that you won’t make a misstep.

First, and most importantly, where the Pass XS and XA series amplifiers have an ever so slight tip towards the warm side (which I happen to prefer) of what I’d call neutral tonality, the XS Pre is as close to having a straight up, 12 o’clock, right in the center neutral tonal rendition as I’ve ever experienced. The only other preamplifier I’d put in this category is the Boulder 3010, and to a slightly lesser extent my other reference, the Robert Koda K-10. Either of these preamplifiers cost as much as a gently owned BMW M3, and each is phenomenal performers.

Special and then some

Today there are a lot of incredibly competent preamplifiers, many costing less than the XS Pre and a few costing even more. Now and again, a component is so overwhelmingly good, that it’s an express elevator ride to audio heaven. My Conrad Johnson GAT2 is one of those preamplifiers too, but it’s got vacuum tubes, and only sports single ended RCA inputs and outputs so that it won’t be everyone’s idea of heaven.

The world’s finest preamplifiers that I enjoy impart little to no signature of their own to the music, yet they offer a bigger, broader, weightier presentation than a system is capable of without a preamplifier involved. This is a unique bit of magic that don’t completely understand because, in a perfect world, you would think that just going straight from your DAC or phonostage (provided it had a level control) would bring you closer to the music than running everything through another box and set of cables.

Good as the dCS Rossini DAC and Clock combination is on its own, running a pair of Cardas Clear interconnects directly from the dCS pair to the XS300 amplifiers sounds smaller, less focused and pale in comparison to putting the XS Pre in my reference system. How can this be? Especially considering Mr. Pass (the creator of the First Watt amplifiers – champions of the “less is more” approach to circuit design. Inserting the XS Pre in the signal path is not subtle. Again, this preamplifier does not change the tonal character or balance a molecule, yet everything enlarges. Dynamic range increases to the point where transients explode from the speakers where they merely had punch before, and the soundfield created by the system becomes much larger in all three dimensions. The sonic presentation goes from big and satisfying without the XS Pre to being engulfed in a tornado of sound. This effect was observed with every power amplifier connected, from a modest Conrad Johnson MV60SE up to the mighty XS300 monoblocks, so this can’t be a mere “impedance matching” kind of thing.

We’ve had the opportunity to use the XS Preamplifier together with the matching XS300 monoblock amplifiers to excellent result, paired with the XS Phono, making for an unbeatable combination of dynamics, tonality, and ease of use. There truly is nothing I can find fault with this trio. Ok, it’s all pretty heavy. That’s it. Fortunately, the XS Pre only weighs 80 pounds, and it is distributed between two chassis, the power supply, and the actual preamplifier circuitry. The two are connected by the same massive umbilical cords used in the XS Phono and the XS 150/300 power amplifiers. Terminated with Neutrik connectors, these are beefy cables indeed. 100,000µƒ of power supply capacitance per channel only hints at the power reserves available.

Nelson Pass and his crew have repeatedly said that they build components that they like, above all else. While many know the man with the name that adorns the faceplates as “the man” at Pass Labs, he is the power amp man. Wayne Colburn has designed all the Pass Labs preamplifiers and was given a clean slate (and pretty much a blank check) to design a companion preamplifier for the XS monoblock amplifiers. Rather than bore you with a long list of common audiophile clichés, he has succeeded on every level.

Incredibly versatile

Lovely as the XS Pre is with a full compliment of Pass components, it is equally engaging with every other power amplifier we’ve had here at TONE in the last year or so – single ended or balanced. The XS Pre circuitry is fully balanced, but it features balanced XLR and single ended RCA inputs and outputs.

As a review tool, the XS Pre is without peer. It is effortless in its delivery and consistent in sound quality, providing a similar sonic picture with balanced or single ended connections. Even if you don’t review hifi gear, this kind of flexibility offers a much wider range of options as your system and tastes change. With the XS Pre offering such a neutral rendition, it is a perfect system anchor, letting you mix, match and experiment elsewhere.

Because the XS Pre doesn’t manipulate or alter the tonal character of the music it delivers, the usual list of tracks to describe bass, treble, and imaging are almost irrelevant. Laurie Anderson once said, “Paradise is exactly like where you are right now, only much, much better.” That’s the XS Pre. It’s much, much better. Add the concept of never having to retube, along with the headache that a new set of tubes can cause, makes it a component you can just leave powered up and forget about it. Matter of fact, there is no power switch.

Setup is straightforward, provided you have two extra rack spaces and can separate the two boxes a bit, to keep every possible bit of noise at bay. Once powered up, the XS Pre took about four days to come all the way out of the fog from being fresh out of the box. As with any component, there is a slight bit of stiffness at initial turn on, but it dissipates quickly.

The front panel has a large volume control and a display friendly to read from across the room. Pass provides a simple, efficient aluminum remote that matches the casework of their other products, and this too is easy to use. The volume control has a wide range of operation, so even the most sensitive power amplifiers will have ample volume control range.

A keeper

Ultra high performance has a price, and there are a lot of great preamplifiers in the $10,000 – $20,000 range; even Pass makes one. (The XP-30) After living with a number of them, the XS Pre delivers an experience that you can’t get for $20k. That’s its justification. If you are looking for the last step up and a final justification, it’s worth every penny asked. This may be tough to swallow for some of you in the audience, but you can’t have a Ferrari 458 for $50k either. Like the Ferrari, the XS Pre will take your breath away if you have the room, system, and software to support it. And I’m guessing if you have 38 large, you do.

The Pass XS Pre does its job so effortlessly and so well if it doesn’t hit you on the head with the first track you play, just take it out of your system for about 90 sec. It’s like someone put the valet key in your Dodge Challenger Hellcat and the horsepower is gone. This is one of the purest hifi experiences I’ve had in over 15 years of reviewing components. Long term, I have even more enthusiasm for the XS Pre – every day it convinces me how special it is.

The Pass XS Pre Preamplifier

$38,000

www.passlabs.com

Peripherals

Analog Source            AVID Acutus Ref SP/SME V/Lyra Atlas, Grand Prix Audio Monaco 2.0/Tri-planar/Lyra Etna, Brinkmann Bardo/10.1arm/Koetsu Jade Platinum

Digital Source             dCS Rossini DAC and Clock, Gryphon Kalliope

Phonostage                  Pass XS Phono

Power Amplifier         Pass XS 300 monos, Pass XA200.8

Speakers                      GamuT RS5i, Focal Sopra no.3 w/2-REL 212, MartinLogan Neolith

Cable                           Tellurium Q Silver Diamond, Cardas Clear

If you aren’t old enough to know about John Curl, suffice it to say that he was responsible for more than a handful of legendary designs and one of the world’s greatest phonostages, the Vendetta Research—a product still held in great esteem by many audiophiles. Don’t believe me? Try and find a used one. I still regret selling mine from the early 90s; it’s like that vintage sports car you always wish you still had. And Curl hasn’t stopped to rest on his accolades, instead continuing to work on interesting designs, many of them available as Parasound products.

Thanks to his association with Parasound, Curl’s designs take advantage of Parasound’s economies of scale. His latest attempt, the JC 3, doesn’t cost as much as it might if it were, say, a boutique product. At $2,350, the JC 3 is by no means an entry-level phonostage. Contrary to the size suggested by the photographs, the actual unit is larger than you might expect and takes up a full shelf on an audio rack.

Opening the case reveals two aluminum boxes, each marked “Single Channel Phono Stage.” The JC 3 does not utilize hand picked FET’s like the original Vendetta, relying instead on op amps.  Those pooh – poohing this approach need look no further than the excellent ASR phono stages for vindication.  Richard Schram of Parasound put it in perspective, “We’ve used the IC’s with other devices in a unique way that Curl developed to maximize their performance, operating more class A with less noise, both measured and subjective.  A Vendetta today would cost over $8,000 if it could be built at all – there are no FET’s made today that are as quiet as the ones used in the original.”

While aural memory is tough to maintain for minutes let alone hours, quietness is the one thing I remember about the Vendetta. (At the time, I was using the legendary Audio Research SP-10 mk.2 preamplifier, which had one of the best phonostages of its day. With vinyl on the way out the door, it seemed pretty wacky to spend almost $2,000 on a phonostage. Yet it made a major difference in my system’s presentation.)

With only three loading options, all from the rear panel, the JC 3 easily integrates into any system. There’s a pair of RCA jacks for a single input and a pair of RCA and XLRs for the output. The front panel sports a power button and a mono button, which will thrill those with more than a few mono records in their collection.

The Sound

Today, $2,000 won’t buy a pair of shoes in some places, so with that thought in mind, the JC 3 is already remarkable. It shares the ultra-quiet presentation of its older sibling as well as an expansive soundscape. And yes, the JC 3’s tidy layout and shielded amplification modules significantly contribute to the final result.

I didn’t start serious listening tests until about 100 hours of signal had passed through the unit. Once the break-in period concluded, I was immediately impressed. Having logged countless hours with the AVID Volvere SP/Triplanar/Denon DL-103R combination (which just happens to sound its best when loaded at 100 ohms) with numerous phono preamplifiers, I had this combination burned in my head. I admit: The Denon is one of those rare cartridges that performs way better than its modest $379 price tag suggests, and when good synergy is achieved, makes for a spectacular sonic marriage.

Another combination with which I had excellent luck was the Shelter 501II mounted on an SME 309 arm, and fitted to the AVID Diva II SP. Thanks to the 47k/high gain setting, the JC 3 also made an excellent showing with my older Grado Statement moving iron cartridge. The latter requires 47k loading, but only has an output of .5mv, like a moving coil cartridge. It’s slightly on the warm side of the tonality scale, but possesses great inner detail, a characteristic that perfectly mated with the JC 3’s speed and low noise.

Since the Denon cartridge is always well suited to classic rock, I loaded up on it like any 70s-loving, meat-eating male should. The drums and plucky acoustic guitars in Dire Straits’ Communiqué literally leapt out of the speakers in a way that I’ve never experienced with a phono preamplifier at this price. Indeed, the Nagra BPS is the only other $2,500 phono preamplifier I’ve experienced with such a level of refinement. Yet its presentation doesn’t possess the JC 3’s size and weight.

The JC 3’s lack of grain also became apparent after a few long listening sessions, and was on par with that of higher-priced phono preamplifiers. On some of my favorite acoustic-based tracks, I noticed an unexpected tonal purity. Groove Note’s The Jung Trio, rapidly becoming a warhorse in the TONEstudio, offers exquisite renditions of violin and piano—deeming it essential for critical listening sessions. The JC 3 passed the test easily, keeping the instruments well separated and sounding as they should.

A quick comparison to two slightly more expensive phono preamplifiers with vacuum tubes under the hood proceeded as I expected, with the ARC PH6 and Red Wine Audio Ginevra (both reviewed in Issue 37) claiming a bit more image depth and palpability. Neither was as dynamic or quiet, yet the battery-powered Ginevra came very close.  The JC3 also had a deeper, more powerful presentation in the lower register. The bass line in Run-D.M.C.’s “Can You Rock it Like This” from King of Rock showed off more grunt than the two tube preamps could muster, offering up the kind of bass I actually felt through the JC 3.

While the JC 3 has “on board power conditioning” that will no doubt aid many users, it nonetheless benefited from an upgraded power cord (a Shunyata Python CX) and being plugged into the Running Springs Dmitri. The effect was palpable, as if going from stock tubes to matched NOS models in a tube preamplifier. So, if you invested in a high-quality power line conditioner, don’t hesitate to plug the JC 3 into it.

Singular in Purpose

The JC 3 offers high performance within a slightly narrow range of parameters. For this writer, that’s a good thing. Another product at this level that comes to mind is the excellent Ayre QB-9 DAC—hardly all things to all people but, for those requiring only a USB input, a superlative DAC for the price. The JC 3 takes a similar approach. Provided you have a cartridge that works well with 100 or 47k loading, the JC3 should check off all of the boxes on your must-have list. Even at the $2,500 level, I’d rather have one input and excellent sound than multiple inputs and functionality with average sound. Your requirements, of course, may be different.

The JC 3 will make a $1,500 turntable/cartridge combination sound much better than it has a right to, yet will keep pace with your favorite $10,000 turntable package— making it a component with which you can really grow. Having both RCA and XLR outputs should help this phonostage survive multiple system upgrades, no matter what direction you choose for your linestage.

If you are already heavily invested in something that requires 500–1000 ohm loading, move on. But if you are willing to first invest in the JC 3 and then find a 100 ohm cartridge that you love, the JC 3 could be the last phono preamplifier that you need—unless you are buying a megabucks analog front end.

High build quality with simple but solid casework from a company you can trust and superlative sound make for excellence in our book. Hence, I am happy to give the Parasound JC 3 a TONEAudio Exceptional Value Award for 2011. Priced under $2,500, the unit is nothing short of a miracle.

Note: Watch for our follow-up article in the coming weeks. One of our staffers still has their Vendetta, and it’s on its way to my office. It will be interesting to compare and contrast the new and the old, with all other variables eliminated.

Parasound JC 3 Phono Preamplifier

MSRP: $2,350

Manufacturer’s info: http://www.parasound.com/halo/jc3.php

Peripherals

Analog source                        AVID Volvere SP turntable w/Triplanar VII arm;  Shelter 501II and Denon 103 cartridges

Preamplifier                          Burmester 011

Power Amplifier                   Burmester 911 mk. 3

Speakers                                 GamuT S9

Cable                                    Shunyata Aurora I/C and Stratos SP

Power                                  Running Springs Dmitri, Maxim and Elgar power conditioners, RSA and Shunyata Power cords

Accessories                        SRA Ohio Class XL platform (under Burmester 911s), Furutech DeMag and Loricraft record cleaning system