pass labs xa30 to valve amplifier.

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.

I have difficulty with 92db / 8ohm speakers running out of juice with the 30.5 which runs to 130 watts at redline, per Stereophile measured data.

If power is the only issue, and I'd really keep an eye on the bias meter, perhaps going upline to the 60.5 would do the trick.


http://www.stereophile.com/content/pass-labs-xa305-power-amplifier-measurements

The discussion about how loud it plays is one issue but the larger question is how it plays in the low to normal volume levels. That is where we live with the sound for the most part and different matches between amps and loudspeakers produce different results.

Pettyfeversk, your experience is with a multi-driver speaker and perhaps a 10" or more woofer? I'm thinking there is something about multi-driver speakers that makes a difference in the simple sensitivity/watts equation we normally make - seems that for some reason you do need more power and current than driving a 2-way with 7" "woofer" - even when the speakers have the same rated sensitivity. Anyone know if that is true? That just my experience, so I don't know if it is technically valid. My Merlins which are 89db played as loud as I could possibly stand and sounded wonder at lower volume with the 30 watts provided by the XA30.5. Also had the Music Reference RM9 SE (162 watts) for comparison - the Pass did not seem underpowered.