I agree with what Pass Labs told you, though I think the XA160.8 has no disadvantages with the X250.8, as it is 3X more expensive...a more comparable comparison would be the X350.8 and the XA60.8...there seems to not be agreement on whether the X350.8 sounds better, rather than different from the X250.8...and later X250.5's were a little different than earlier ones, you can tell which is which by the changes on the rear panel...