Pass Labs:What to expect fm XA60.5 to XA100.5

The man is on of the greats, and owning most any amp he has had a hand in is a pretty good thing. Loved his short-lived 25 watt, Aleph J which should be great with most any 89-90db or higher and smooth impedanced speaker, maybe as good as the XA30.5 with my speakers and very easy to drive with a tube preamp (240kohm input impedance).

Nice comments Pubul57 and onemug. I believe you need the appropriate power to match the needs of a given speaker. I`ve personally have never been convinced by the arguement for gratuitous power i.e. one can never have too much power.

I`ve experienced enough examples where a lower power amplifier of equal built quality but simpler design and fewer parts(less complex) just sounds better(as long as the speaker is suitably efficient).

I agree with Onemug. Somehow, the XA200.5 sounds sweet, delicate, and holographic in addition to all the other things we associate with ample power. I suspect most other solid state amps sound hard and flat as a result of their more complex design.

Sounds like there may be no sonic price to be paid as you move up the Pass like, just the cash price (when you need the power).

In terms of the more power means more complex circuit with more stuff going on, so less good sound, that was certainly born our with the original Pass Amps, where the Aleph 3 was considered the best sounding, although very low on watts.

I'm going to be moving from an Aleph 5 to XA60.5 (I think) soon - I have Maggie 3.6s, so very hard to drive and damping factor means a lot in my case. I'm tempted to actively bi-amp and use Spectral or NuForce on low end. (Crossover is 225 Hz on Maggie 3.6), that is the only reason I'm not sure if I'm getting the XA60.5s. So, even if I'm still underpowered, it should be a massive difference from the Aleph 5, the XA60.5s have sooo many more Volts and Amps.

Overall I think I agree that a smaller Amp - *if* you have met your dynamic requirement - will sound better. In my case Maggie 3.6s seem to take any amount of power and still want more, so I am considering X350.5s too, and that might actually sound better in my case. Really take control of the bass panel...

Okay - this is my main comment. Add a Supratek or Joule-Electra pre-amp. With the rest of your system as it is, you'll be shocked by what happens! And then you will really have a system that plays with the big-boys :). I think it will be completely different than what you hear now.