Sophia II's and Pass Labs etc

Peterayer, you do believe XA-60.5 amps would have enough power to successfully drive Eggleston Andra II loudspeakers? My instincts tell me no, and comments from other Andra II owners suggest not, but I'd be interested in your opinion.

Hello Tvad,
That's hard to say. My gut says that the XA60.5 will be enough to drive the Andra II (89dB and 6ohm nom. load?) if the music is not too dynamic or too loud and the room is not too large. But that is a lot of "ifs". My Rosa is not as efficient as your Andra II and my XA100.5 seem like plenty, so they would be amazing with your more efficient Andra IIs. But then again, your room is probably bigger than mine as mine could not support the Andra's woofer. The Eggelstons love power and some Audiogoners use the X600.5 to drive the Andras. I have a small(15'x16'x7.5') room and my "gut" has been plenty wrong in the past. Do you have any way to audition them in your system before committing? There is always the XA100.5 or even the XA160.5, but the latter is getting quite expensive.

No, I have no way of auditioning Andra II, and I'd be purchasing them used rather than new.

I intend to keep the XA-60.5, so I'll be looking for other speaker alternatives with higher sensitivity specs. Daedalus models are under consideration.

Sorry Tvad,
I misunderstood you. I thought you owned the Andra II and were considering which Pass XA.5 to buy. Sorry for the confusion.

I have directly compared the XA30.5 to the XA100.5 on my Sophia II's. The XA30.5 sometimes runs out of steam, whereas the XA100.5s do not. The XA100.5s are better in every way than the XA30.5, it's not just a power thing. You get fuller, more stable imaging, better delineation, more articulation across the entire frequency and a much larger soundfield horizontally, vertically and dimensionally.

All that being said, I chose the XA30.5 for my Sophia IIs as my SS amp ( I use both tubes and SS amplification for the speakers depending on my mood ). At 1/3rd the price of XA100.5 mono blocks, the XA30.5 delivers maybe 85% of the sonics. I also found the XA30.5 to be a little sweeter with more "character" than the larger and more neutral monos. This sweetness created a more INVOLVING presentation, for me, with the Wilsons which certainly benefit from amplification that fully fleshes out harmonics. Th XA30.5 is also almost as transparent and textured as the XA100.5s, so detail freaks need not fret.

These amps heat up small rooms quite quickly, FYI. The monos produce about 3x as much heat as the stereo XA30.5 and suck just as much energy too.

Boils down to budget and what you're willing to spend to get that last ounce of performance. The XA30.5 is a great match with the Sophia IIs, and the XA100.5 are even better. I liked the price and involving performance of the XA30.5, so that's what I chose. The Sophia's are relatively efficient, so the extra wattage of the XA100.5s aren't needed for higher SPL, but mainly for CONTROL which equates to a better performing system (speakers and amps).

Give Pass Labs a call, Kent is extrodinarly helpful and quite frank about his opinions. For my situation, he heartily recommended the XA30.5 and discouraged the XA60.5s. When asked about the XA100.5s for my set up, he said it would be a bit better, but the XA30.5 really makes the best sense unless you just have to spend $15k +.

Hope this helps. I started a thread "Wilson Sophia2s demand better than AYRE V5xe, so" where I make comments about the XA30.5, FYI...

Oh, and I listened to the XP-20 which is a remarkable preamp, but it's not the most transparent or 3D, depth producing preamp compared to the best out there. I thought my Ayre K1xe was more transparent and textured than the XP-20. I liked the "sonic signature" of the Pass amps better than pre, and when put together, ALMOST too much of a good thing, but that's just me and I'm picky, so listen for yourself...