Krell FPB 400CX vs PASS LABS X-350.5

Tvad - my bad... at the risk of sounding like a kiss ass, I agree with your last statement

Do you all think the smaller Pass Labs XA-30.5 would be enough for the Nines. My room is 14' x 24'?

Would that be a better choice than the X-350.5??

I think you should contact Reno HiFi and arrange an in-home trial and bypass
the speculation.

I also think John Devore has already mentioned what amps he believes would
work well.

In my system and room (93dB speakers), the XA-30.5 was very close, but
wouldn't quite get the job done in the volume department. If you audition the
XA-30.5, you'll know how the XA-.5 series sound on the Nines, and then you
can move up to more power if necessary.

IMO, any of the XA-.5 series Pass amps are better choices than the X-350.5
because of their more refined sound.

Well I actually had both amps side by side in my system for a while and the Pass X350.5 is better in every aspect than the FPB400CX.

The X350.5 should be compared to the Krell EVO402 and then they are very close. I had the EVO402 as well and it does sound very similar to the Pass X350.5 but at 1.5 times the price.

For price / performance ratio the Pass is the best.

The FPB700CX is much better than the 400CX and would come close to the Pass X350.5. The 700Cx might even have a little more bass slam.

Peter

I did a head to head audition between the X-250.5, the X-350.5 and the XA-30.5.

The smaller 30 watt class A XA-30.5 smoked both of the X models, and has more than enough power for my DeVore Nines in a large room.