This Pathos is so much more than a hybrid. Photo courtesy of Michael Lavorgna's Twittering Machines.
Michael Lavorgna of Twittering Machines loves the Pathos InPol Heritage MkII
"Imagine a luxury ocean liner competing in America’s Cup. And winning."
The biggest cliché about hybrid amps, one that we at Upscale are guilty of using all the time, is that they are "the best of both worlds." This suggests that hybrids take a little from tube world and a little from solid-state world to create a seamless mix of metaphors. While that may be true of some hybrid circuits, the Pathos InPol Heritage MkII transcends this oversimplified Centaur view.
First, Pathos InPol circuits are not really hybrids. At least not in the way many of us think of them; i.e. a tube stage "handing over" the signal to a solid-state stage. Instead, InPol works almost like a pantograph, using "levers" to increase tube current so that you are, effectively listening directly to the small-signal vacuum tubes through your speakers. The Pathos sound is not "the best of both worlds" but an idealized, perfected tube world. "It's as if musical notes have been atomized and sprayed into the air of the room with a see-through effect that is almost baffling," says Upscale Audio's Kevin Deal.
Twittering Machines Concurs
Michael Lavorgna of Twittering Machines has had the Pathos Heritage in his famous barn for some time, and he begins his recently published review: "Imagine a luxury ocean liner competing in America’s Cup. And winning."
Further into the review he expands on the idea: "A finely nuanced and delicate dancer, light on its footers, capable of resolving the finest fine-grained detail with a SET-like delicacy that belies its size."
One of our favorite quotes about the Pathos sound, however, comes from closer to home. Chris Landfield, sales associate, owns Pathos in his personal system and describes it "like the best crème brulée you've ever had," a metaphor that brilliantly conveys this system's shattering dynamics combined with warm, rich texture.
It's time to experience the emotions elicited by Pathos and see how this beautiful Italian amplifier is so much more than the "best of both worlds."