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pass XA 60.5 vs Pass X250.5

I am just getting familiar with the XA 30.5 amp in a active system for mid and high frequency reproduction. What would fellow Pass labs owners think to be the best option for 110Hz down, the XA60.5 or the X250.5. The speaker recommended 120W into 2 drivers,i.e. as its sold there are 2x60 watt amps one for each bass driver. I think the XA series is more expensive but in terms of sonic performance do you'll envisage that there is a significant difference between these two amps for my application.
Thanks
ecka
ecka OP
41 posts
 
Thank you for the responses so far. The speaker is the Orion which is a Siegfried Linkwitz design is fully active i.e. each frequency band has to have it's own amplifier. The design is an open baffle dipole with 2 bass drivers, one facing forward and the other in reverse but wired in tandem. Currently each of these drivers is powered by it's own 60 watt amplifier. The specs of the driver are as follows ( please pardon all these numbers as I don't really know which ones you'll need to give me your opinion on this issue)
Electrical Data

Nominal impedance Zn 8 ohm

Minimum impedance Zmin 4.9 ohm

Maximum impedance Zo 53.3 ohm

T-S Parameters

Resonance Frequency fs 18.9 Hz

Mechanical Q factor Qms 2.63

Electrical Q factor Qes 0.18


Sensitivity (2.83V/1m) 88.4 dB

In stock form with it's ATI amplifier, it is a excellent sounding speaker. However when I substituted the Pass XA 30.5 for the mid and high drivers it elevated the performance of the speaker to another level. My issue is to therefore get the lower end to be of comparable quality, hence the question.

Thanks again for the input
Post removed 
spatine
84 posts
 
I suggest you call Pass Labs and ask them the same question. The thing is upper and mid frequency drivers don't take much power. It's the bass driver that wants a lot of juice. They might tell to do away with your XA30.5, but then they might not. As to the bass driver, I tend to agree with Tvad. However matching the timing and everything else between the higher and lower frequency signal might be an issue. Just call Pass. Since you already invest in the XA30.5, you might have to stay with Pass for the driving the woofer, say the X250.5 as several people have favored.

On the flip side, the combine cost between XA30.5 and X250.5 is about the same as XA60.5. So if Tvad is correct, you might want to sell your XA30.5 and just purchase the XA60.5 only for now. I did look at Siegfried Linkwitz website, and the suggested power for Orion woofer is only 60 w/channel. That is a very small demand for a woofer. What I'm get at is that your woofer is an easy one, despite the 8-ohm impedance and a good to excellent sensitivity of 84.8 dB.
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