3
Introduction:
Pass Laboratories, specifi cally Nelson Pass and his co-designer, Wayne Colburn have
a long history of imagining and successfully bringing to the discriminating consumer
some of the fi nest phono stage pre-amplifi ers ever offered. Each new incarnation of
the Pass Laboratories phono preamps has pushed their personal limits as to what level
of acoustic bliss is realistically achievable from “Streaming Analog”©.
Since 1997 the guiding credo for these phono pre-amps remains the vision that
music must fl ow effortlessly from LP surface to listeners ear. With each evolution of
product that effortless fl ow should issue forth with greater detail and clarity while
never forgetting or sacrifi cing the soul of the music and the artistic intent. The Pass
Laboratories XP-27 does not disappoint.
The XP-27 was brought to market both by copious measurements and extensive
listening through a multitude of tone arm and cartridge combinations. Listening
was given precedent over the numbers but never at the expense of measured
performance. The result is a dynamic, lush and smooth sound with dramatic detail
and spectacular layering. Those listeners familiar with Pass Laboratories previous
phono pre-amps will be struck by the clear delineation of bass notes in the XP-27 and
the greater sense of music in a real physical space.
Like some great musicians we get requests! You spoke and we listened… so that
you can listen better. Now the XP-27 a product designed at the intersections of
excellence, adaptability and convenience.
The twin chassis XP-27 eclipses the already exceptional performance of the well-
reviewed and well-received XP-15, XP-25 & XP-17: delivering enhanced RIAA
performance at a fraction of the previous distortion. With the XP-27 you are going to
discover a whole new dimension of dynamics, inner detail and spectral richness on
your favorite LP’s.
The XP-27 brings all control and cartridge loading functions to the front panel and
presents them in a clear easy to understand layout. The XP-27 boasts two separate
and selectable inputs, ample adjustable gain along with generous resistive and
capacitive loading choices.
Those listeners and archivists with the desire or need to sample music from two tone-
arms or turntables will be able to do so instantly with a single XP-27, thus simplifying
their complement of analog equipment and removing one more variable from their
listening chain.
The addition of a user selectable high pass (low cut) fi lter makes possible the playing
of recordings with excessive subsonic information and of a user selectable mute
control makes possible the cuing of records and needle drop in absolute silence.
The XP-27 is an uncommonly fi ne match with very low output moving coil cartridges
which would normally require a transformer fi rst stage.