Nelson Pass on his favorite amps, playing with distortion, and his 21 inch subwoofer

The El-Pipe-O subwoofer, www.firstwatt.c...
More El Pipe-O www.diyaudio.c...
If you have questions for Nelson email, [e-mail]
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[@pitragroovemaster1262]

I like Mr. Pass and his ideas, a simple man who doesn't sell snake oil; in his immense modesty he is a great genius for the audiophile community. Long live Nelson.

[@faludabutt8253]

First watt is Pass’s personal passion

[@uwuweewee]

This is quite an ironic statement.

[@NickP333]

I love these interviews with Nelson. What a great wealth of knowledge. Thanks, Steve!

[@uwuweewee]

What did he teach you?

[@marioenc04]

Nelson represents, at least to me, the true master. He is humble, he is a genius, truly a master !

[@kevincrowley6975]

These interviews with Nelson are refreshing. Nelson's blend of art and engineering is brilliant and it's wonderful to learn about the camaraderie that made /makes it all happen. I love the detail and candor of Nelson's responses.

[@lynnpoole7830]

I could listen to you guys for hours. Much appreciated!

[@miguelbarrio]

I can’t tell you how many times I have watched the Nelson Pass interviews... Amazing. Thx Steve!

[@karim1968]

Are you the gentleman from Argentina? The one with the horn speakers?

[@miguelbarrio]

M Karim I am!

[@karim1968]

@@miguelbarrio oh wow, what an inspiring interview that was. Please enjoy your system, it is wonderful, thank you for replying

[@jarodreddig63]

I could listen to Nelson and Steve talk for days! It’s all gold!!!

[@1999zrx1100]

Once again you nailed it Steve. Fascinating to hear such a nice guy talk about audio in such an informative way. Loved it 😎

[@SamuelBarrPhotography]

Great interview Steve! Been a fan of Mr. Pass since his days building amps for Adcom and Nakamichi.

[@mmdusa]

Thank you Mr Pass for your time and your infinite wisdom. You are a treasure. Thank you Steve for this interview. We would love it if you could tour Pass Labs and record a video of that amazing shop.

[@christopherspiro9857]

Smart and elegant man. I love his insight and his wisdom on HiFi. I also noticed his clean and beautiful stereo system setup. One day I’ll be owning one of his amps. Thanks!

[@bolsesolheim7469]

I was the First Threshold importer in Europe in the late 70ties! Nelson is fantastically likeable !Dr Solheim Norway and Marbella!

[@anthonyyoung626]

I own a Threshold S/300 Nelson designed in the 1980s and it is a joy to listen to. Thank you Steve and Nelson!

[@prestondufauchard5919]

Love listening to Nelson Pass. Thanks Steve. Not sure he answered the question about which speakers pair well with his amplifiers. But not sure his distributors want to hear the response either. Nelson is pure class. 👍🏾

[@daverombouts2116]

Thank you for your Sr2 speakers mister Nelson Pass love them❤

[@Buddythunder1]

Thoughtful, intelligent and considered people are interesting to listen to on any topic. As it happens, Nelson is talking about audio. Kick ass.

[@Unpreeeedictable]

Great timing on this interview as I just entered the world of PASS by purchasing an XA30.5! Steve, thanks for these terrific segments and Mr. Pass, thanks for being generous with your time.

[@danashay]

Bravo. Very nicely done. Where would we be without you two? Many thanks!

[@brahand]

Together with Richard Vandersteen and Ralph Karsten (Atma-Sphere) I find Nelson Pass to be one of the very few in high end audio to really can present and explain his idea how to think to build and produce a really remarkarble gear. I remember reading an article (or a review) of the first Aleph amp (in TAS or Stereophile) 30 or 40 years ago and thought ”this must be THE way of building THE amp. The same could be said listeting the Richard Vandersteen when he talks about how to build a correct and non-fatiging loudspeaker or Ralph explayning his OTL Tube amps. 3 really important Hi End men. Pardon my spelling. I am from Sweden.

[@stephencosta6814]

What a beautiful interview what a legend Nelson pass will go down in history one of the best amplifier designers in the world had a great pleasure Steve of knowing him meeting him talking with him happy I've seen this video

[@garyalexander5686]

As someone who built the DIY version of the First Watt M2 amp I can verify that Nelson is very particular as to parts selection. The sound of the amp is warm, tubelike and involving. For me, it makes the debate of tubes vs solid state a pointless exercise. That I was able to have this level of performance at about 1/4 of the commercial price for the same amp is even better. Nelson Pass really, really knows his stuff.

[@Audiofreak71]

Priceless interview, Thank you for this Steve.

[@missmygamergirl445]

Steve I feel like these are historical tapes in the making.

[@keeferdog5617]

Just demoed a F7 for a week at my home in my rig..... It’s AWESOME!!!

[@Grizzly1644]

Love my Firstwatt F7. It makes my music sound amazing. Thankyou Nelson.

[@thomshere]

Awesome interview! Thanks to both of you two of MY audio hero's!

[@gtrguyinaz]

Steve, just watched this for the first time and Nelson is one of the greats… As I have told you, my original love amp was GAS Ampzilla, it was so much better than the rest in the late 70s.. We can count on 1 hand designers like these 2…

[@turbo5483]

I wish you had Nelson show us his home system...

[@dougg1075]

Elegant looking system back there.

[@markpelletier4505]

A true genius is one that can explain their ideas in a way that most people can understand. Nelson Pass is a true genius. Great interview series. Thanks Steve.

[@brianmoore581]

The fact that Nelson Pass plays the drums, even poorly, makes me like him even more, because I also play the drums, probably worse, but to know the sound of real drums is important in designing audio gear, at least in my mind. If the drums don't sound good on any given component, I don't want it. That's the second thing I concentrate on when listening to any new component, right behind the human voice.

[@paddle_shift]

I have only heard Nelson Pass 3 or 4 times, but I don't think I ever heard him discuss the products that he made with Threshold in the 80s. I had a FET 1 and a S/500 back in those days and really enjoyed them. Maybe I was one of the very few that are nostalgic about that equipment. Oh well.

[@ТолянКвашнин]

Nelson Pass!!! Желаю вам , творческих успехов ,здоровья,счастья

[@railgap]

Can we talk about how much of his ideas and developments Mr. Pass just gives away for DIYers who want to make their own high quality gear? While everyone else in the industry treats their innovations in circuit topology or component selection as Skunk Works secrets.

[@Palorte]

Great to see an interview with Papa Nelson!, the ever so elusive genius, very nice to see you both. it's been a long time! I've met Mr. Pass about 28 or 30 years ago in a show can't remember which one . . maybe a Chicago CES . .? (when audio shows were a part of the Consumer Electronics Show), we never met with you Steve, but we have a few friends in common.

[@jeronunkoffunk9437]

Awesome video and opportunity to see a legendary and yet humble master of the art and science of whom I've just recently became aware!

[@rb032682]

cool stuff. Loved the discussion about harmonics and the phase of the harmonics and how that affects a listener's perception of the sound field.

[@rb032682]

"nothing about it to offend anybody", great statement

[@512bb]

Nelson truly is one of the most special people in the audio industry, a true gentleman in every respect.

[@miguelbarrio]

Kleinhorns? Amazing. These are incredible speakers... Coupled with the El-Pipe-O it must have been incredible.

[@Leicaphile27]

Great interview...really enjoyed this one!

[@eugeneswanepoel877]

Brilliant interview, thank you!

[@lawrencet83]

I knew Nelson back in 1980 when my father became a dealer for Threshold in San Francisco. His factory was in Auburn and I would drive up there and pick up his amps to demo with Snell A speakers. The 80's were the golden age of audiofile.

[@45billyva]

I was a Threshold dealer back in late 70's early 80's .. I had a chance to meet Mr. Pass at the winter CES show in Las Vegas, talked to him briefly as he was surrounded and I remember someone asking him about the LED meters on the Stasis Two and when the LED meters were spiking did that mean the Amp was clipping.. his response was hysterical.. Does it sound like it is clipping? well no it does not.. Right was his answer .. I throw pillows in front of mine he replied. next time around I will take them off .. I always thought the Stasis Two amplifier was a beautifully styled amp. They were replaced by the S500 Which was the brushed aluminum (still hand milled) face without the meters. I remember him with dark hair and beard lol..

[@noiseinthebasement8139]

Liked the interview, Steve. Thanks!

[@vbros7]

You're a very lucky man Steve, that you can count people like Nelson Pass and Herb Reichert as your friends...

[@mdu6]

Interesting - in the early 60s - my father had build a speaker enclosure made from a 5 feet concrete tube for his 15" Tannoy - brings back memories !

[@ronniefranks4351]

Absolutely wonderful. Thanks to both of you!

[@m_DT]

Look at that record collection reflected in the TV screen!

[@dilbyjones]

I don’t see our generation equaling these things. Wonderful catalog of American Ingenuity no blow hard gets close to these works of Technical Art.

[@peterr.7429]

Just wonderful, well done

[@archiemacdonald553]

love the interviews with this hunble great man i always wanted to buy his amps but life got in the way .my friend had his power amp pre amp forgot the models many years ago .with the lin isobarecks tough speakers to drive .the sound just blew me away .happy new year steve .might win the 649 in the new year and buy a whole bunch of his top goodies.😊😊😊

[@simeonbanner6204]

Imagine the golden generation like this being mentors to the younger instead of the useless, celebrity obsessed personalities we have now. In the U.K. you had areas like Birmingham and Manchester where small companies were making bespoke bicycle components and engineering.

[@poormanselectronicsbench2021]

6:20 One of Frank Zappa's biggest laments, was that, his orchestral compositions were not rehearsed well enough before performances, so he wasn't usually satisfied with the results. Frank was also a conductor of his works at times, so, he had a direct "ear" of what he wanted to be accomplished. He always had a direct composer's hand in his own Rock/Jazz/Blues workings, as can clearly be sen by his hand signaling or even body motions in many a live performance. One of his favorites was, to change the beat of the song he wanted to be performed to "Reggae" by putting his hand to the side of head and gesturing a twisting motion with it, like turning a knob. One concert he messed with his band and changed every song to a Reggae beat.

[@violin-schwerin]

Great stuff! How about a Glenn Croft interview?

[@davidhaddox]

Sea Ranch! OMG im keeping my eyes peeled for Mr Pass. We are close.

[@vcp93]

And the winner of the "Joke Assassination du Jour" award goes to...

[@carmenandthedevil2804]

Enjoy listening to this bloke. I remember back in the 70's/80's when critics were saying that his Class A designs were always harsh or bright. Never found that myself. Great designer.

[@johnnorris9066]

Great interview Steve. What a great interviewee. How do know a drummer is at your door? The knocking speeds up. boom tish!

[@skrem23]

How do you get that same drummer to leave after he knocks on your door? Pay him for the pizza.

[@jonathansturm4163]

How do you know whether the stage is level? The drummer dribbles out of both sides of his mouth.

[@nicholascremato]

It's a shame we can't find the 21 inch woofers anymore.

[@leekumiega6576]

Sorry to tell you MCM Electronics went out of business a few years ago ,Newark electronics was a sister company that now sells some MCM products but not many ,I used them a lot and miss them .

[@alfonsocapone4745]

Glad to have any kind of response

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Alfonso Capone thanks

[@pauldemara7633]

Wow, such interesting tidbits on engineering design and people's tastes.

[@absnimes5623]

Thanks Mr PASS !

[@gnostalgick9353]

I'm using a First Watt M2, very nice sound

[@joshua43214]

I have one also. Very nice indeed.

[@thomashowe5256]

Hi Steve, great video. I have never had the pleasure of hearing a Pass Labs amplifier; there are no dealers nearby in the northwest. Nelson referred to a Pass Labs “house sound”; do you agree that their amps have a signature sound of their own? Could you describe that sound?

[@interamerichanic]

Cue us into the speakers in Nelson's system behind him, please?

[@johnstone7697]

Those are Pass SR-1's www.passlabs.com/amplifier/sr-1

[@rw3915]

Whaaaat? No mention of the Aleph Class A amps as being a favorite? The X1.2s I have are glorious.

[@luisranger2bn1]

My question to Nelson Pass is why descontinue pass aleph series amp specially aleph 3 and 5 both are spectacular amplifiers

[@marksmithers9779]

Great stuff!

[@carmenandthedevil2804]

When HP was reviewing gear, he would use Carnegie Hall as his reference, having been to a lot of concerts there and he also had Vinyl that was recorded there.

[@nowhereman-cf3fy]

What is the purpose of the Nelson Pass upgrade for the Adcom GFA555 ? Does it make it more powerful?

[@robertomusitano4238]

Great interview

[@jn3750]

Damn Steve, please show us Nelson's toys. He's my hero, too.

[@finished6267]

the klienhorns are legendary!

[@Audiojunkabus]

a word of caution, the larger the woofer cone the harder it is for proper alignment to be maintained. The defect rate is definitely higher on larger coned woofers due to misalignment. (often returned as "blown" or "frozen")

[@jturziano]

Steve, Question related to a Pass Designed Forte 1A class A amp I've owned from new (1991). The amp sounds fine but fast forward 33 years and I've noticed the amp doesn't run hot anymore and the little red power led tends to take longer to go out after I turn the amp off. Does the amp need service?

[@perlundqvist2105]

A question for you next interview could be to ask what kind of current/power purification is actually taking place inside the power amplifiers, like the XA100.5 I have for example. What is actually happening to the AC just before it goes into the DC stage? That would be really interesting to understand!

[@arthur9472]

The AC mains are rectified and then ripple filtered with large caps for the rails, and then coupling caps pass the AC signal to the DC gain stages. In a nutshell.

[@wahidtrynaheghugh260]

Look at the reflection in the tv of the massive bookcase full of vinyl lp’s

[@catified2081]

Good eye

[@davidlai399]

Sea Ranch is a beautiful place

[@jsotogt]

anyone knows what speakers are in the background, thanks!

[@benjroof]

What a nice person. Just like John Curl and Tom Colangelo

[@Tedrins]

Is Steve McCormack well known in the industry? I own one of his amps. The Pass Labs were always known for very high quality builds.

[@railgap]

Steve who? Naw man, (sidles sideways to hide his Mod Squad gear from view) dunno who you're talking about...

[@phelanator5784]

Hi Steve just purchased a Adcom GFA 555 I am sure you are familiar with it as is Nelson Pass. I would like to know what preamp you would recommend that I use with this amplifier? Thank you.

[@robertbashaw5619]

Couldn’t you have made the interview longer?

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Robert Bashaw three more interviews to go, one each Saturday.

[@arte2arquiteto]

3:12 A resonant frequency burp!

[@user-ig7nq7pc7k]

FANTASTIC!

[@dimitrikoh3385]

What's the speakers and the other audio gear in the background?

[@ThePgkessler]

Humble Genius, a true menshe!

[@TheCharlesAtoz]

Oddly I feel what’s missing is a reaction to how these systems sound. Even if the YT compression interferes. Steve, why not give a real time impression?

[@421CentralIowa]

I think you just have to be there in person to get an accurate understanding. I seek out reviews like that where people have attempted to record their amp and speakers to show the differences, but at the end of the day I'm still listening to their video through my dac, amp, and headphones when I"m using youtube. A lot of times you're hearing a lot of quirks of their particular room as well, so it just doesn't work accurately. It frustrates me sometimes not being able to find a sound sample even though I know it's not accurate. I do think it's interesting when peoples' youtube videos of their systems sound better (well, or more preferable) to me than the source track.

[@OperationPhantom]

Fascinating insights. Wonderful listening. One small hiccup: did Steve burp after Nelson said 15Hz (3:12)???

[@rb032682]

@Operation - LOL! I think that was Steve having an involuntary, indistinct vocalization triggered by the thought of a system which can peak at 15Hz.

[@alfonsocapone4745]

Wishes for the best to all

[@eightrodway]

Okay, what speakers are those?

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

John Toste They are Pass Labs speakers, no longer made

[@eightrodway]

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac Thank you.

[@johnsweda2999]

@@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac do you know the model number what drivers they use

[@ZenModLabs]

@@johnsweda2999 PL SR1 ; enough info on passlabs.com

[@LeafManProphecies]

should i swap my klipsch rp 8000 for kef q950? since klipsch sound bright and harsh in my room

[@zogzog1063]

Quality of parts: Benedict Audio and LFD made this a point of pride too. PS I am currently running an X150.8.

[@Rick--A-F]

Anyone know what speakers those lovely looking speakers are behind him?

[@spunkthecombo]

They are Pass Labs SR-1 Loudspeakers www.passlabs.com/legacy_products/sr-1/

[@chrismaynard6016]

Crikey, it's Peter Qvortrups brother ??

[@trainsplanes6517]

nelson, why no tubes?

[@lynnpoole7830]

Some tube amps don't sound ''tube like''. Rogue for instance. And some SS amps sound ''tube like'' such as Nelsons amps to a greater or lesser degree depending on the amp. I think Nelson gets the sound but without the tubes. Any way that's my take on your question. Peace.

[@ronniefranks4351]

I love tubes and I love Pass Labs. I’m sure if Nelson designed a tube amp it would be a real treat! P.S. I still listen to an Aleph 3 and will never give it up. . .

[@robertsegal4833]

Question for Steve or Nelson: I have the Aleph 0 monoblocks and the First Watt J2. Which of these, if either, are best to drive my pair of restored Quad ESLs which have added the protection circuit (eliminating the concern of arcing the panels with too much power). Thanks.

[@SteveGuttenbergAudiophiliac]

Robert Segal I’d say the monos are more likely but since you have both, try both!

[@robertsegal4833]

Steve Guttenberg Audiophiliac Thank you Steve. Great interview with NP! I’m also using the Rogue CM to drive the Quads. In an amp shootout years ago by Chesky and others with the Quads, it came in second place after the ASR Emitter which is not a prevalent amp on the US side of the shore.

[@salvadorrodenas3071]

Fabulous Aleph 0, take care of it, them. Old glories never die. I own two super class-a amps designed in 1989 and available till 2000, a pair of 100 watts each Sony TA-NR1s. I will keep them for the eternity by my side😍.

[@Nephilim-81]

Hey Steve! Any chance you’ll sell me your Pass Labs HPA-1 ? 😅

[@botman5583]

Nelson Pass è un "mostro sacro" dell'alta fedeltà! Un po' come Mark Levinson. Voglio un ampli progettato da lui!

[@qddk9545]

Der er sikkert mange der kan forstå det pis du skriver!!