Upgrade from Pass Labs XA30.8 to X250.8. Worth it?


I am getting ready to make some upgrades to the system. I currently running a DAC into a BAT51SE, then a Pass Labs XA30.8, then finally into Decware DM947 speakers (don't worry if you've never heard of them; not the last word in speakers, but have been doing a solid job for about 5 years now.)

I am contemplating moving up the Pass Labs amplifier line, and the X250.8 looks attractive. I would like to hear more bass authority and definition, but I don't really want to sacrifice the mids and highs of the 30.8. 

I would love to hear some of your impressions of the X250.8, especially if you are able to make some direct comparisons to the XA30.8. I've spoken with both Mark at Reno Hifi, and Kent English of Pass Labs; both are wonderful and informative people. What I am interested in now is the opinions and experiences of end users of either of these amps. 

Thanks! 
willrich47
@tjassoc thanks man! The comparison is helpful. There are so many opinions out there, some informed, some not, it’s difficult to know for sure without hearing. At this stage I think it best to aggregate the opinions I am getting to make that informed threshold decision: whether to order the amp for the in-home trial.

Although not the exact amps I am asking about, your comparison does carry a lot of weight. 

I’ve heard great things about the 200.5’s too. I assume they bested your 30.5? ;-)
Wbud,

thanks for the advice. I thought Mark at RenoHifi’s unsolicited reference to that review was interesting as well:

“Terry London's review says that the X-250.8 and XA-60.8 sound "the same."   I don't agree that they sound the same, but they are certainly very close in sound.  The X-250.8 has more power and is more economical, so for almost everyone, the X-250.8 would be the way to go.  The XA-60.8's are at least $3000 more than the X-250.8.”
Will - regarding the 200.5's compared to the 30.5's, I asked the same question to Kent English and he chuckled and said, at one time - the 200.5's were the best amplifier we knew how to build so yes they are significantly better than our introduction XA line 30.5 amplifier. Of course, he was correct.
Summarized, the 200.5's do everything very well.
Different people are sensitive to different things. I remember consulting with an audiophile here on Audiogon when considering the Lamm 1.2 monoblocks. After hearing them on an almost identical system to our own, I realized the are slightly bass heavy. After reading more on the recommendation, I learned the person recommending the 1.2's was a bass player.
The same is true for video - something that may be very objectionable to one individual (black levels to me) might not even be an issue to another individual.
For me, creating the illusion of a live performance in our listening area is everything. Because our set up is not in a large room / hall, I prefer small acoustic venue performances. Our system is pretty convincing. Here, the 200.5's have a natural acoustic that recreates the performers, the acoustic venue and their own performance convincingly with little, if any weaknesses.
I also listened to Spectral amplifiers (when I listened to the Lamm 1.2's) and the Spectral were a little dry - that is they didn't have the same natural acoustic of a real performance the 200.5's did.
Similar but being super critical, were Dan D'Agostino's Momentum monos. They're the closest (I've ever heard) to the Pass 200.5's but were just a slight bit shy of the natural acoustic of a real performance. Does this matter, well - at this level and cost of equipment - to me - yes. (I've read the Momentum's bass betters the 200.8's but the bass wasn't as critical to me)
All this is just my opinion and what I prefer. You may have different tastes. Ultimately, for me - it's all about re-creating a live performance in our listening area. Our system does that amazingly well, we've tested it with our son playing his sax in our listening room and then playing some David Sanborn (not an audiophile recording). The acoustics are almost indistunishable - almost! Now, if our son could play like David Sanborn . . . 
I live not far from the Tekton Design home office. I went in today to have a listen to the Double Impact speakers. At first listen, these were incredibly detailed speakers that had most of the improvements I was hoping for in an amplifier upgrade. 

I think my next purchase will be from Tekton. I’ll revisit the amplifier question a bit later.