Inside the Mind and History of a Hifi Engineer Genius 

Nelson Pass is a national treasure. Many years from now these candid videos will be revisited by the masses. As an archive it will be seen as a testimony to the true greats of Two-Channel-Audio.

Nice job!

The greatest single amplifier engineer in history. I ate ramen for months to buy my first pass labs amp, and I don’t regret it (or the ramen recipes) to this day. Thank you, maestro.

Nelson is not only a pioneer bringing us tremendous products, he's a wonderful person too and answers all his own emails.

Nelson Pass in the house! You are rolling with the big boys now which is good to see. Your recent video with Steve was very good and I am sure your channel will continue to fly. Great video, thanks for sharing.

Nelson Pass is amazing! He gives back over and over in so many ways!

I recently purchased the Pass- Labs INT 250- It’s mind blowing It’s True when I’m listening to the Amp on the lowest volume possible number 1 The sound is amazing Thanks very much Nelson

Years ago when the only mail was snail mail, I sent Nelson a letter to ask several questions about one of his DIY amp designs. He answered my letter and explained everything in detail. I built the amp and used it for several years until I was fortunate enough to be able to buy a newer First Watt design. This man is a legend, and certainly one of my heroes.

One of the top designers in the industry and a heck of a guy Nelson Pass is. I'd love to meet him at a show or something one day. Nice job Jay.

You are getting an impressive list of Audio pioneers interviewed lately. Wow.

Awesome! What an honor to be able to sit through that. Thanks Jay....and Nelson.

I think Nelson has a cameo on the 'We are Emotiva' commercial.

I really enjoyed this interview. It's a little easter egg for the future.

I could literally sit and talk components and their behaviours all day with Mr Pass!

Nelson is a great Audio designer.... Nice show of respect for legend John Curl.... Really enjoyed the interview.

Thanks for putting this vid together Jay, so excellent - I really liked that you let Nelson elaborate - it's so interesting and at times amusing hearing everything he has to say as he delves into the details of his experiences.

Jay, Thank you for this fabulous interview! For all the interviews of nelson pass out there in the wild you managed to get some more stories and nuggets we weren't aware of. Wish some of the diy audio was covered more with regard to new things coming. I sometimes follow diy audio and it was interesting watching folks reverse engineer Nelsons first watt f7 with all the little sprinkles of help nelson provides. What other amp designer does this?! I just learned about his upcoming f8 first watt amp. Should be interesting. Hopefully nelson will officially put out another first watt design for builders to build. Perhaps during your next interview you could talk about the burning amp that is held in San Francisco each year. Many smart people get together bringing stuff they have built along with nelson talking and showing off new products. Though his right hand wizard assistant there at pass labs Wayne, did a presentation on a diy kit whammy class a headphone amp/preamp. Terrifc btw😀 mention that since your into headphones. Another potential interview worth considering is Wayne at pass labs. He is responsible for building preamplifiers. I bet he has all sorts of stories from being with nelson since the threshold days. I remember one where nelson has a porche that was having a problem and Nelsons porche dealers couldn't figure it out. In walks Wayne there at the dealer and points out the problem! Thanks Jay and hope to see me. What would really be intersting would be to get nelson and Dan dagistino together in a interview and just let them go. The stories would just flow! Thanks. Hope to see more videos of Adrian and you guys from audio excellence!

Thank you Jay and thank you Nelson! Fascinating genius and humble man. I built Pass Amp Camp. The little thing sounds great and it was fun. I do aspire to get one of Nelson‘s masterpieces one day.

Last year I bought Pass Int 250 to kick out Burmester Preamp 011 and Amp 956.This top Integrated is amazing in any specs. Off course is not cheap,but in my personal experience ( 40 years ),I believe that there are not any comparison till 30 K Euro. Great Nelson 🌟🎶

Nelson is a great Guy and Audio designer..

Fantastic, great to see both together.

What a nice interview of a guru Jay this is you when you are 60 Korean style 😂

Awesome interview....Nelson is one of the great minds and extremely interesting and funny guy. I really enjoyed Steve Guttenburg's interviews with him too....Nice job...good questions.

Nelson Pass being a fan of Jazzanova and Thievery Corp. goes to show that it‘s a small world indeed. Two of my favorites as well, especially the former. Would love to chat with him about music. Cool interview. Well done J!

I have listened to this a few times and I keep learning more. Thank you both.

Great interview. I like the way you let Nelson talk without interruption. I think Terry Gross of WHYI’s Fresh Air show is one of the best living interviewers. She sometimes interviews musicians. Give her a listen if you haven’t already as a fantastic role model.

That was awesome guys. I watched the whole thing.

great interview...great stories...

what a nice guy Mr. Nelson Pass!

Great great great Nelson......extraordinary creative and design flair and absolutely extraordinary person......

Thanks for the video!! 🔈🔉🔊

Great interview... interesting dude...Thank you for this series!!!

Awesome interview Jay! Papa Pass is such a legend and such a very nice guy. Thanks so much. BTW I've built the ACA. (amp camp amp) I Love it. Thanks!

I bought one of the amps he designed, As Com GFA 555. In my opinion, it is a powerful amp with crystal clear sound. It brings life to my B&W speakers. However, I wonder why Nelson didn't add speaker Protection Circuit in the amplifier?

Hey Jay what an introduction lol you’re not ugly at all😊 happy to watch a new vid!

"Thievery Corporation" was Nelsons favorite duo

It obvious after seeing accurate metered amp' output measurments on music you're listening to, but it took this smart guy to design amps while knowing that most of us listen to the first watt or less most of the time (when not in party mode) providing our speakers are not very inefficient & matched with a very low current, high output impedence amplifiers) Everyone who ive seen presented with the output wattage measurement on oscillascope or combo meter, are bowled over in surprise of what vollume they hear at even point'3 of a watt, a whole watt can hurt ears on many common efficient speakers. I've long-time wanted to hear one of this guy's '1st watt" amps & especially his "Beast With A Thousand J-Fets" ...he's a hifi legend

Nelson Pass (The Wizard)- LEGEND

Nelson Pass simply an amazing guy despite the fact he just classified me as a cheap diy but happy music lover

as you say jay awsome video nelson pass genius .wish i could a could afford his equipment .great video thanks j great conversation .😊😊😊

How can this has only 7k views

Back in the 80s I thought Pass was his stage name.

Thank you for the video!

Should have pushed him on the F8 he mentioned Jay. Could have got a scoop.

Hi Jay, I saw you on Steve’s show yesterday. Not sure if this is the right place to ask you. I’m neither an audiophile or sound engineer but I like listening to light Jazz music. I recently purchased a wireless speaker for a small bedroom and have a basic question on how an audio signal is processed. When connecting an Audio out (analog signal) from a TV to the AUX on a wireless speaker (WiFi & Bluetooth) does the analog input signal get convert to digital first before feeding it to the DAC inside the wireless speaker or does the analog signal bypass the DAC and drives the speaker directly? The reason I post this question is the sound through the analog AUX input is not as clear as the WiFi digital signal connection. My TV does have an optical out (Toshlink) but I haven’t used it yet. Thanks!

28:18 wow!

Mr Eric and now Mr Nelson...? Ouahhhhou!!! Μπραβο !!!

Great interview, also it would be interesting to get people like him to listen to systems w you and after compare notes to put in perspective opinions on speakers and amplification. This is a bit what you do in the videos at audio excellence, only that there you are constrained by the marketing the manufacturers that are sold there. Would be really interesting to really compare Chinese and DIY with major manufacturers and also for example put in perspective how much of a difference cables, dacs, phonostages , etc. make. Is it 2 or 10 or 20 percent??

Is Nelson referring to ESS in Sacramento? Dr. Oskar Heil? I had a pair of ESS AMT Towers. Very early models before the "netting" of the Diaphragm.

Nelson... please consider the offshoot of eurorack synthesis, as a potentially fun diversion for you. I’m certain you could come up with useful and innovative modules. Than you!

Love how you made your bed! 😂

Mr. Pass = Yoda

I recently bought a Denafrips Ares 2 and used it for a month then sold it. Reason was brightness and sibilance. I am not going to consider the Doge as you say it is brighter than the Denafrips. I am considering the Audio Mirror Tubadour DAC which is R2R and tube. Did you mention which chip the Doge uses? Thanks!

As Mr. Spock said, “Instruments only measure what they were designed to measure.”

I'll review the next one please send it to Aus Nelson ?

the more I realize that I am one of the very few people possibly in my area that appreciates audio as an audio file and how small the actual Community is, you start to realize just how insignificant the number of people who are actually into audio actually are/ sure there are a lot of people who buy headphones or whatsoever maybe even the upgrade their car stereo so they can use the Bluetooth functionality or apple carplay but when it comes to actual sound definition and Clarity that really isn't too big of an issue for most people I am a DieHard audiophile and not just the one that likes facts but seriously enjoys audio and the reproduction music and the live production of it as well. I wish I could say more people cared about some of the passing the history that came with audio but unfortunately that just isn't the case.

Older speakers have never impressed me. Many years ago I gave into the hype and purchased a pair of JBL 4333s, 4345s, and 4355s from Kenrick Sound. The bass was muddy and flabby, the midrange was boxy, and the horn resonated with piano keys. When I A&B’d them with a modern pair of loudspeakers, it was night and day. I spent $10,000 on the JBL 4333s and $16,000 on the JBL 4345s, and $15,000 on the JBL 4355s. Good thing there’s a huge Vietnamese JBL community near me to buy them for around the same price I purchased them for. To me, JBL cultists and their “holy grail” sound is a bunch of bs.

Very smart guy

Great stuff! How about Glenn Croft if you can get him to talk?

Hi Papa Nelson 👋

Nelson Pass in his basement lair. Jay in his bedroom? Someday Jay will look back at this interview and cringe a bit. Not to worry Jay. We all are enjoying your growth in this business. Keep moving forward!!

You know the person you're interviewing is at least somewhat famous when they have their own wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Pass

Which 70s Sansui copied his circuit I wonder.. 9500 or later?

Maybe if Nelson did do tube amps it could be called Pass Gas.

Do Nelson's amps beat those made by Yamaha, Denon, Sony...?

I wonder how many people will pick up on the meaning of the glass top on the JBL speaker? Ha!

I built the camp amp. It sounded like transistors. Which means it sounded sterile thin and tinmy and bad to me. Silicon = sand = sand in the ears. Who wants that.

Audioholics channel just did a video on how to choose a quality Amp and said that a Denon beat the specs of a Pass Labs Amp, needless to say I've canceled my subscription to their channel.

Nelson pass = the new Jesus

Someone is nervous.

An unmade bed in the background? Really?

Shame the hifi guy didn't plug a good mic into his laptop

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