LTA Ultralinear vs Pass Labs XA25

@shahram

I bought a Pass XA-25 a couple of weeks ago to drive Spendor D9s. The Pass replaces a 100W Rogue ST-100, and in my system it bests the Rogue in almost all aspects. It is much more transparent and dynamic and has no problems driving the Spendor D9s. My room is 13 x 19 with vaulted ceilings.

@knik 

What type of music do you mostly listen to, and at what levels?

i have D9s in an almost similar size room driven by a big Pass 250.8 (purchased for my previous less efficient speakers) and love the sound but have been tempted to get something smaller.   I listen to mostly folk and rock at avg 80 dbC and the Pass bias needle has never moved.  I was wondering about a 30.8 and had never considered the XA-25.  I do use a balanced dac and preamp though so going single ended would be a pain for me.   That sounds like any interesting pair though and makes me think I can likely get away with much less power since the Spendors are efficient and very easy to drive.

@benrosser
Thanks for the feedback!

@knik
Thanks for the feedback as well. Very interesting because I was considering the Rogue ST-100 as well. And Primaluna EVO 400 for that matter. What would you say the Rogue does better than the Pass XA-25? Maybe the top end?

@ddafoe

I have owned both the XA-25 and 30.8.  I much preferred the 30.8.  I did not like the XA-25 and found it fatiguing to listen to for any extended time period even with a tube preamp. My speakers were the Sonus Faber Elipsa SE's.  YMMV