Pass 250.8 does get warm, no doubt, but I would never call it HOT...to me, hot means you couldnt touch it without burning yourself....incandescent lightbulbs get hot....both of these items indeed radiate heat, own them all, but have never found they make a room "uncomfortable", and I live in Florida....owning the 250.8, I have never seen it leave Class A, per the meter, even at loud levels...my speakers are rated @ 90 db efficiency....I imagine the idle temp and "max" temperature of the unit are pretty much identical, as that is the design of the bias and heatsinks....
Heat from amps?
Looking through the forum threads on amplifiers I’ve read posts stating how the Pass Labs x250.8 gets warm enough for the occupants in the room to take notice, along with comments of being thankful for having an air conditioned room. In degrees, how much are we talking about at what levels of volume? I’d like to take all things into consideration while comparing power amplifiers. I have not been playing my Bryston 4B3 demo at loud volumes for long periods of time, but, as of yet, and the heat sinks have only gotten warm to the touch.
update : Keith English at Pass Labs had me call the dealer who I,ports Harbeth. "The 250.8 is too powerful, the XA25.8 is what we recommend." When asked about the XA30.8 I was told there is little difference compared to the XA25.8," and they reiterated the recommendation of the XA25.8 which has more than capable for handling my Harbeth 30.2 XDs. I thought dealers like to up sell? I'm worried about the handling of the bass on the XA25.8.
update : Keith English at Pass Labs had me call the dealer who I,ports Harbeth. "The 250.8 is too powerful, the XA25.8 is what we recommend." When asked about the XA30.8 I was told there is little difference compared to the XA25.8," and they reiterated the recommendation of the XA25.8 which has more than capable for handling my Harbeth 30.2 XDs. I thought dealers like to up sell? I'm worried about the handling of the bass on the XA25.8.
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Jim Bob the coda gear sounds better then the pass gear which tends to sound a little too warm The coda amps sound warm but are a touch more neutral then Pass Labs amps The coda is configurable so you can choose yrour total power and amount of class a power that you need Also thecoda amps run warm but don’t heat up the room At any time you can send the amp in to coda and they can re bias the amp The reviewer Terry London found the 6k coda .8 poweramp came shockingly close to a 14k pair of pass mono amps https://hometheaterreview.com/coda-technologies-continuum-no-8-stereo-amplifier/ Dave and troy Audio intellect nj CODA DEALERS |
I too have the X250.8 powering a pair to Thiel CS2.3 which are about 87dB efficiency. I agree with @jw944tst. It doesn't get HOT but does get warm to the touch. In summer my room (12ft X 19ft X 8ft) does get warm at night when listening for a few hrs. but not running the AC. I live in the NYC area with warm, humid summer nights. Moving back to Colorado this month where the dry air cools down much more at night and I doubt I willt notice it very much. Probably depends on where you live. The amp is pure heaven though, well worth the extra warmth it produces in the summer |
Amp heating the room seems to have a great deal to do with how large the room size is and how hot the amps run. Tube amps generally seem to run hotter than ss. However, another variable is how much heat radiates off the amp. I have a large ss amp that has a lot of radiating surface, so while the amp doesn't get too hot to the touch, the amp's large radiating surface lets off enough heat in my very small room that the room heats up considerably after just a few hours. With tube amps, IME the number and type of tubes effect heat propagation..the more power tubes will usually mean more heat. I always laugh at tube amp manufacturer's who are selling their 'flagship' product that features 10-30 power tubes, all biased hot, that are selling these products in warmer climes. Poor buyer better have great AC and a huge room to accommodate them....plus he better get used to listening in his underwear, ha! |
Aside from the heat consideration, you must keep in mind that the XA25 and X250.8 are different in their design (single ended vs. balanced) and will have considerable differences in their sound. I seriously doubt that the 250.8 would be "too powerful" for your Harbeths at 85 dB sensitivity. Regarding the sonic differences, I have been told by the folks at Pass that the 250.8 is more extended on the top and bottom end but doesn't quite achieve the rich midrange that the XA25 delivers. |
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