Have Luxman 509x. Considering Pass Labs INT-250 or Dan D’Agostino Progression Integrated

Thanks Erik. I know everyone hears differently. Any more specifics about your experience with PASS you can provide? Thanks. 

mijostyn: Thanks for info and sorry about the lightening. That sucks!

@eclumsden I’m running Pass Labs with Wilson Sabrina. No issues and no complaints. Current amps are X260.8 mono blocks. Prior to these a single XA30.8 was driving the Sabrinas. Yes the X260.8 have more common control of the speakers but even the XA30.8 was excellent. 
Pass sound is slightly on the warmer side, very natural and never analytical. As long as everything else is up to the task, you should be fine with the Int250. 

OP:

I got to hear a lot of different Pass amps at a show, and at a local audiophile’s home. I’ve also gotten to discuss Pass amps with more objective owners than some fanboys.

I find Pass lean, and scratchy. I don’t like listening to it for long. From the owners I got to talk to, they didn’t agree with my scratchy comments, but did say that the bass balance was very speaker dependent. Seems to perform better with old school, big woofer, big cabinet type of designs.

We know from Nelson Pass’ writing that he’s got strong opinions about the types of good distortion, as well as how to handle a woofer, which many listeners completely agree with. I may respect the man and admire the physical beauty of his products but I’m afraid his gear is 100% not for me.

Best,

Erik

To add a little, in the 1980's, 1990s there was a big trend of pairing B&W with Audio Research.  The Pass gear strikes me as sounding similar in tonal balance, one I never really could hear as neutral or engaging.

Clearly, CLEARLY, many audiophiles would have disagreed with my tastes then, as they do with my tastes with Pass today.  That's fine, cause you should spend money to please yourself not the crowd.

OP:  As an owner of a Luxman 507ux, and an admirer of D'Agostino I've been thinking about your dilemma. 

Honestly I find the Luxman and D'Agostino to be VERY similar.  So much so that it seems a shame to make that move, in either direction. 

I think if you really want "more and better" sounding you should instead consider going to the Luxman separates OR perhaps an Ayre.  I recommend the Ayre not becuase I actually think it's better but because it's significantly different sounding.  I recommend the separates because the additional current in the top end amps can really make a difference.