Agaton Sax
Active member
"You build the cars, I'll sell them. We'll call it Rolls Royce." Henry Rolls to Charles Royce, nineteen voetsek.
Nelson Pass was born in 1951. He received a B in Physics in 1974. He then joined Oscar Heil's ESS where he did not design any amps but learned a lot from those that did. He and a friend Rene Besne then formed Treshold in 1974. They then ....
Hang on, wait a minute. Let us just digest this. 1. Pass was 23 when he did this! At 23, I was figuring out how to build a pea shooter to get the attention of the girl in the first row. Hang on a minute more: "Schalk nou moet jy mooi luister hoor!" Pass was not an engineer, but a physics major. Dan Dagostino is not an engineer. He was the West Coast Rep for Dayton Wright and learned his craft as a tech in the Marines, Army or Navy. William Zane Johnson of Audio Research was not an engineer and neither was Conrad or Johnson. This is because Schalk was once miserable because 2 forum members lambasted him for not being an engineer.
Ooh boy, I am going to be unpopular: Engineers can design audio circuitry. But engineers are taught from day 0 to follow rules. Thank goodness, otherwise, the world would be in deep trouble. You only advance the art by not following rules, by bending them. One of the most brilliant surgeons I know always starts running with just the heading of an article and running with the idea. Like a rival once said " His reference in medicine is the Woman's Value" A free magazine once handed out at supermarkets.
Anyway, Besne and Pass formed Threshold. Pass did the circuit design and Besne did the styling. And what amps they were! I frequently say Krell broke open the non-US world for monster amps but it was Threshold. The high powered beautiful designs that stood the test of time. I recently walked into Leo Bischof's beautiful Esoteric Audio emporium. My eyes popped at what he had there, but sitting on the floor was a stunning old Threshold combo. Even after all these years and with all the high-end around they stood out. I only ever owned one Threshold Stasis power amp. It drove the bass panels of Magnepan Tympanis with Audio Research valves higher up. But The ARC did what the ARCs of the era did: It blew up-spectacularly. So for a while, the Threshold went full range. It was not what I wanted but now, 35 years later, I have never heard such an open sound, such fall through purity. But my cj Premier pre-amp blew that Treshhold that it would never work again. The memory lingers.
Photo from carousel.sg
I may be lying now because I am old and it is long ago: Threshold was sold to the same idiots that killed the first generation PS Audio. They fired Besne. And this is why Pass is in my book is a god. He, and his wife, left Threshold, the company they founded, because his friend was fired. That you cannot buy or become. The loyalty of friendship.
Pass, with Besne formed Pass Labs and later partner, Joe Summat (who was with Krell in the interim) joined. The rest, as they say, is history. "I'll design the amps and you style them".
Nelson Pass was born in 1951. He received a B in Physics in 1974. He then joined Oscar Heil's ESS where he did not design any amps but learned a lot from those that did. He and a friend Rene Besne then formed Treshold in 1974. They then ....
Hang on, wait a minute. Let us just digest this. 1. Pass was 23 when he did this! At 23, I was figuring out how to build a pea shooter to get the attention of the girl in the first row. Hang on a minute more: "Schalk nou moet jy mooi luister hoor!" Pass was not an engineer, but a physics major. Dan Dagostino is not an engineer. He was the West Coast Rep for Dayton Wright and learned his craft as a tech in the Marines, Army or Navy. William Zane Johnson of Audio Research was not an engineer and neither was Conrad or Johnson. This is because Schalk was once miserable because 2 forum members lambasted him for not being an engineer.
Ooh boy, I am going to be unpopular: Engineers can design audio circuitry. But engineers are taught from day 0 to follow rules. Thank goodness, otherwise, the world would be in deep trouble. You only advance the art by not following rules, by bending them. One of the most brilliant surgeons I know always starts running with just the heading of an article and running with the idea. Like a rival once said " His reference in medicine is the Woman's Value" A free magazine once handed out at supermarkets.
Anyway, Besne and Pass formed Threshold. Pass did the circuit design and Besne did the styling. And what amps they were! I frequently say Krell broke open the non-US world for monster amps but it was Threshold. The high powered beautiful designs that stood the test of time. I recently walked into Leo Bischof's beautiful Esoteric Audio emporium. My eyes popped at what he had there, but sitting on the floor was a stunning old Threshold combo. Even after all these years and with all the high-end around they stood out. I only ever owned one Threshold Stasis power amp. It drove the bass panels of Magnepan Tympanis with Audio Research valves higher up. But The ARC did what the ARCs of the era did: It blew up-spectacularly. So for a while, the Threshold went full range. It was not what I wanted but now, 35 years later, I have never heard such an open sound, such fall through purity. But my cj Premier pre-amp blew that Treshhold that it would never work again. The memory lingers.
Photo from carousel.sg
I may be lying now because I am old and it is long ago: Threshold was sold to the same idiots that killed the first generation PS Audio. They fired Besne. And this is why Pass is in my book is a god. He, and his wife, left Threshold, the company they founded, because his friend was fired. That you cannot buy or become. The loyalty of friendship.
Pass, with Besne formed Pass Labs and later partner, Joe Summat (who was with Krell in the interim) joined. The rest, as they say, is history. "I'll design the amps and you style them".
Last edited:
