CES & THE Show 2012 • Hot Product

Pass Labs used a tried-and-true method to design its new Xs-series amps: listening. The amps were designed via a three-year process in which the company relied on a group of listeners to help it identify the direction in sonic terms, arriving at double-stacked chassis -- the power supply and current source in one box and the input and main output stage in the other.

Both the Xs 150 ($65,000/pair) and Xs 300 (directly above, $85,000/pair) use new-old-stock JFETs and MOSFETs to produce 150 and 300 watts respectively -- along with a 100kHz bandwidth.