Krell FPB 300cx vs Pass X250.5

Your experiences with the two amps may well come down to their input impedances vs your current preamp.

I demo'd a Pass X0.2 preamp that I was considering purchase of. No doubt it's a fine piece, however not with Levinson amps. Impedance mismatch BIG TIME.

Keep this in mind.

Best,

Paul ;-)

Tpk123, it's been a few years already since I last compared a Krell vs a Pass Labs X-series amp, but even than, for my ears I found the Pass Labs to be a more musical/natural sounding piece. It had all the dynamics/slam of the Krell plus the above stated virtues. However, the new Pass Labs X-.5 series amps are not just slight improvements over the first X-series but a shift towards the sound of real music. They have much of the warmth/sweetness of the XA-series amps but the dynamics and power of the X-series. So to be fair I have not heard the latest generation Krell amps, but unless they have dramatically improved, my hunch would be the Pass Labs X-.5 series would still be the better sounding amps. I replaced a great sounding amp[Edge NL-10] with a Pass Labs X-350.5 because it just sounded more real and musical in my system. However, as you know personnal taste and system synergy always comes into play, so a home audtion using your ears is always necessary. Hope this helps.

When I compared the X-250 (not the .5) to the Edge NL-10 I found the Edge to be slightly faster sounding, slightly more dynamic and slightly cleaner sounding. I thought that the X-250 sounded better on a few instruments like brushes on a snare drum (more realistic). I preferred the Edge at that time, but not at $4500 more then the X-250. I could have bought a real nice preamp for that extra expense. I always found the Krell to have better bass then the Pass (slightly) but could live with the Pass. The X-250 had a slightly sweeter mid range sound then the Krell but the Krell sounded slightly more extended in the top end. Granted I heard them both with a real nice tube preamp which I preferred with the Krell and IMO the Pass works just as good with SS and tube preamps. The newest Krells 450 & 750 mono blocks are something special in the mids, they have moved away from the typical Krell sound with these amps and I am not sure if they have made the same changes to their other amps.

It comes down to pesonal preference as each amp has its own signature sound and how an amp mates to your speakes is the key to great sound.

Happy Listening.