PassX-250 vs PassX-350

Bhouser, I was being mean. Actually, I agree with your premise. That is to say, lead speakers should not be matched with golden amps. The catch is, gold can be paid for, or just found, if your lucky and/or knowledgable.

My X600 amps are pushing <1ohm, so there really is a reason for their use. The speakers were not $1500 new.

Muralman1 - NO offense taken.

"gold can be paid for, or just found, if your lucky and/or knowledgable" is definitely the main point here.

I was quoting MSRP when making this price relationship between speakers & amp, and in the case of my Aerius, I DID pay full MSRP for them a few years ago, at which point they were the best pieces of equipment IMS.

With all of my recent upgrades, I have come to the conclusion that the Aerius are now the 'weak link' IMS. I decided to stop buying stuff trying to improve the inherent characteristics that the speakers will always have and just change the speakers.

...Cut the head off the bear and he can't bite you anymore, as they say...

Don't get me wrong: I love the Martins and had serious reservations leaving the ML camp. The other speaker upgrade options I seriously considered were the ML Ascents like Krelldog has or the Odysseys.

BTW - I didn't pay anywhere near 7k for the Ravens, either - I am a true GoNNer now - I eat, live and breathe USED audio deals. The Talon dealer in Dallas (AVMaverick) sold me his near-perfect demo pair with the new CMRC crossovers, and could not have been better or easier to deal with.

Bhouser, Muralman1, I may have lost some of the details in paraphrasing what I was told so I thought I'd post the response verbatim. Sorry for any mix-up.
"In circuit design the X150 and X250 are very
similar. They both use some localized feedback around the output stage which bumps up their damping factor dramatically compared to the larger amps (X350, X600 and X1000). This higher damping factor contributes to exceptional bottom end, although the zero negative feedback characteristic of the larger amps adds to their lushness and overall neutrality. There are tradeoffs, always. However, all the X series amps are extremely dynamic, with very listenable top ends that are not forward or bright, and are very quick and responsive to musical transients."

Sonic signature similar but you gain X% in dynamics, bass slam, details. The BAT preamps drive any amp without a hitch. I used to own the VK-30SE with my X-250.

Happy Listening.

Great info Nutella- Thanks for the clear definition.

..."all the X series amps are extremely dynamic, with very listenable top ends that are not forward or bright, and are very quick and responsive to musical transients."

I could NOT agree with this statement more, especially when I mated my X-250 with the Talons yesterday - the speed, dynamics and transients really stand out now.