Lordrootman 2-28-2020
Now I’m thinking about XA 30.8
since eventually I may move to focal Electra 1038 when my 4 months twins grow little bit
I want separates and I really want to keep my Michi P5 Preamp gain is complicated with first Watts J2
The Focal Electra 1038be is of course a very different animal than your Klipsch speakers, and I doubt that an amplifier choice can be found within a given price range that would be optimal for both. And specifically I suspect for a variety of reasons that the XA30.8 would be a much better choice for the Focal speakers than the First Watt models you have been considering.
And in that regard I recall from some years ago that a member who no longer posts here but for whom I have great respect very successfully paired an XA30.5 with a comparable Focal model.
However, as has been said the 26 db gain of the XA30.8 could very well be problematical given the gain of your preamp and the sensitivity of the Klipsch.
So here’s an approach to consider, if you believe that changing to the Focals is a real possibility in the foreseeable future. If you purchase the XA30.8 (or some other amp providing comparable gain or more), and you find that the gain is unacceptably high for use with your preamp and the Klipsch speakers, insert a pair of Rothwell attenuators at the inputs of the amp. They are offered in both balanced and unbalanced form, and with a choice of 10, 15, or 20 db of attenuation.
Some members have reported here that Rothwell attenuators seemed to compromise dynamics in their systems, while others (including me) have used them with no evident side-effects. I suspect that impedance considerations have contributed to at least some of the disparity in those findings. And if so the 50K/100K unbalanced/balanced input impedances of the XA30.8 and the 470 ohm/100 ohm unbalanced/balanced output impedances of the preamp would seem encouraging in that respect. But in any event you would presumably just be using the attenuators temporarily.
Finally, I would recommend against any make of inline attenuator other than the Rothwells, as the others I am familiar with have unreasonably low impedances for most consumer (non-pro) applications.
Good luck. Regards,
-- Al