Pass labs xa25 amp and BW 804 d3?

B&W says 50 wpc minimum, the amp is 25 wpc. So, I rather doubt it will play anything but softly before clipping.
Though I know Pass has a rugged build, why push it?
B

I figured as much. Think I'm going to go with the new parasound A21+. Any thoughts?

While the XA25 is rated at 25 watts into 8 ohms and 50 watts into 4 ohms, John Atkinson's measurements that were reported in Stereophile indicated that it is capable of providing 80 and 130 watts into those impedances, respectively.  A lot of that disparity is apparently due to the Pass specs being based on distortion percentages that are extremely tight and are much lower than the ones JA bases his results on, and presumably some of that difference reflects the amp's capability after entering class AB mode rather than class A.

The speakers are rated at 89 db/2.83 volts/1 meter, with impedances of 8 ohms nominal and 3 ohms minimum.

FWIW, my XA25 has no trouble cleanly generating 105 db peaks at my 12 foot listening distance, with 6 ohm speakers rated at 97.5 db/1 watt/1 meter.  However 89 db speakers will require approximately seven times as much power as 97.5 db speakers to generate a given volume.

My guess as to the bottom line is that the answer will depend on the dynamic range of the recordings you listen to, with classical symphonic recordings that have been engineered with minimal or no dynamic compression being among the most challenging kinds of recordings in that respect, as well as your preferred listening volume, room size, and listening distance.

Regards,
-- Al 

The Parasound Halo A21 is a good amp especially for the money. Highly recommended!