pass labs xa30 to valve amplifier.

XA30.5 is excellent. As mentioned above the Atmasphere might not be what you are looking for. They are not bloomy. Also, in my case a fine tube preamp will do the trick. Pass can sound more valvy than most tube amps. To get more bloom you might sacrifice detail. Be careful as you might be going sideways at best.

This is an excellent thread and the tubed vs solid state discussion in some ways has been replaced with the amp/preamp characteristics that you most value. As many posters mentioned, you can get different sounds depending on the tubed/solid state components you choose. The speaker you have plays a big part in determining what the best match might be. Poster Koestner talked about having 4 ohm, 92 sensitivity speakers and thinking about a solid state amp. When you have a lot of drivers and are 4ohm, I have found that you need a good amount of juice to get the speakers to really light up. There are powerful ss and tube amps. I have had three of the amps in the Pass XA series and have written about my experiences with them. The XA30.5 just did not have enough juice to push my speakers and though a wonderful amp, in my situation, I needed more power. Keep in mind that with any decent speaker, you will notice changes when you play with the amp choice, the preamp choice(or lack of), as well as the source that you use. The will all effect the sound.

Thank you for the advice. I appreciate your honest views. Thats been in the back of my mind too- going downwards or sideways. something i want to avoid, of course. in fact a dealer who i contacted regarding an almarro 318b, hinted the same, so am considering options carefully. it would be great if one dealer carried a range of likely candidtates, but this is not the case so comparisons are difficult to make. i was considering a valve/tube preamp too to add to me pass. if anyone has suggestions and views, id really like to know.

and thank you to everyone with their contributions. it has given me a good start in a subject i did not know much about.

may i take the liberty of drifting. my speakers are also 4 ohm and 91dB sensitivity.Audio Physic Scorpio ii. the XA30.5 is excellent but sometimes i feel PERHAPS i need more power. i would rather consider changing the speaker. so what is a great speaker for this amp. a speaker that can play all genres.

my zingalis go really loud. they are 92 db and 8 ohm. i really cant imagine anyone playing louder, unless they have a very large room. i play all kinds of music from soft female vocals, electronic,jazz instrumental,pop, quality hard rock ( queens early hard rock years still one of my favourites, not to say their later stuff was not good, just different) to european dance and alot inbetween. surprisingly , the zingalis replay dance music incredibly well with the pass.