Mcintosh 601's vs Classe CA-M600's

Yes, they put out a lot of heat. I read that the xa200.5 put out nearly 1400 watts of heat at rest. Yowser! The 2301's don't put out quite that much.

Have you ever compared the xa's to something like the Bryston 28SST2's or Classe CA-M600's?

Mike

The JC-1's are absolutely in the same class as the amps you mention. Don't let their price tag fool you.

Yes I am a current JC-1 owner, and have owned amps from Mark Levinson, Classe, Linn, Pass Labs, Ayre, and a few more I can't think of at the moment.

They are outstanding amplifiers, period.

Is heat from these Class A amps an issue? Can you see them heating up a room worse than my tube amps (Mc 2301's)?

Mike,

Haven't compared those exact models you named to my XA's but have heard other amps in those lines and the Pass was much more to my liking.

I had a Mac MC2000 (4 KT88's per side) and it put out a lot more heat than my Pass. I would bet your 2301's put out more heat than Pass. Yes, the XA200's "draw" 1400 watts from the wall but the actual temp of the heat sinks is about 50 degrees above room temp (same for the 100 or 200 watt ones). Again, that's at the tip of heat sink. When I measure the top of the amp it's around 110 degrees. I just measured one of my 300b tubes at a little more than 200 degrees. Thankfully I only have 2 of them. I would imagine your KT88 are similar and you have 16 (?) of them.

The Pass amps do not put out any heat when they are on "in standby". When you switch to operate they start to heat up. To my ears they sound good in just a few minutes and continue to improve for 30 mins to an hour. No need to leave them on all the time.

I heard the xa160.5's today and was BLOWN AWAY. I hate to say it, but I preferred them to the xa200.5's.