Why is an XA30.5 a bad match for Revel Ultima Salon II speakers?

@bombaywalla , you wrote " [s]o, the DEQX is sidelined due your philosophy of minimizing the signal chain? nothing wrong with DEQX - just that you are a minimalist w.r.t. audio gear, right?"  

Yes, ... correct.  The DEQX solves many problems. That said, in my case, and IMO, ARC gear is very synergistic when used with other ARC components.  IOW, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, ... if I got that right.  The DEQX detracts from the considerable ARC component synergistic effect, ... IMO.  

Btw, I checked the specs on the Revel Studio II.  Unlike its bigger brother, its sensitivity is close to 89 db.  See here: http://www.stereophile.com/content/revel-ultima-studio2-loudspeaker-measurements#xX3PQVeOHrCwDxHS.97

Notably, I used to own Paradigm S8s (version 2) which also had a rated sensitivity of 89 db.  My amp drove the S8s (version 2) to ear splitting levels.  And btw, the S8s (v2 and v3) have pretty wicked capacitive phase angles and low impedance plots in the bass region.  

Perhaps, I could get a similar loudness result with the Studios???  More importantly, I wonder if the Studios even sound better than my S8s.  So much hype and brand snobbery in our hobby.  Also, the Studios tip the scales at 140 pounds each.  The S8s are a slimmer 100 pounds each. Ouch!

You also suggested getting the next ARC amp model up the food chain. That would be the Ref 250 SE.  Too expensive; too much heat; not enough space.  

Thanks again.

I had Revel Studio 2s, and originally drove them in a fairly large room
with a ARC VSI60 and on most material, it sounded fine......but
when dynamics showed themselves, it ran out of gas quickly.......
so I can emphatically say 60 watts of tubes aren't enough into that
4ohm load, with mediocre efficiency......I then went to Pass X350.5
and never had an issue..........but I eventually swapped the Studios
for Magnepan 3.7s, which are also 4 ohm with mediocre efficiency,
and they wanted even more than the X350.5, so I went to Bryston 7BSST2s with great results 900W into 4ohm......I now still have those speakers with Bryston 28BSST2's, nearly 2KW into 4 ohm and the Maggies just sing........I would never consider Revel again against these speakers, but I liked them while I had them........

Stewart,what do you do for bass?

I have Revel Ultima Studios and the more quality power I feed into them the better they sound. So I imagine it would be even more so for the Salon's

I'm using Vincent SP998 Mono Blocks and they sound sublime.  300W into 8 ohms, 50W Class A. 600W into 4 ohms. They have the best grip on bass I have ever heard. Beautifuly musical sounding they make the Revel's come alive. They just cruise effortlessly. You would have to spend truckloads more to get this performance.

thanks stewart0722, initforthemusic - you guys just consolidated the point I was making.