Pass Labs A/B amps vs Class A amp and Actual Power

I just bought a new speaker which is a very demanding load - 87dB, 4 ohms, sealed enclosure. I first heard it with the XA30.5. It sounded OK. My XA100.5 made it sound much better, but still a bit closed-in during complex passages. I traded in the XA100.5 for the XA160.5 and what an improvement! Open, nuanced, dynamic and effortless. I don't understand it, but the control is better, scale and staging are better and ultimately, I'm more involved with the music.

I would buy the largest XA.5 amp you can afford. If it is not large enough, try the X350.5. Contact Reno HiFi for an in-home audition.

Unsound, there are detailed measurements in the review by Stereophile and further explanation in the Soundstage review. The Stereophile measurements on the XA30.5 estimate a maximum 150 watts into 8 ohms, and 200 watts into 4 ohms after converting into AB. So, this little guy in 4 ohms provides the first 60 watts in class A, and the last 140 watts in class AB.

Peter, your description parallels what I hear. I believe many people underpower their speakers. The XA200.5 sounds incredible at high volumes. There is no strain whatsoever. It is relaxed, effortless, perfectly dilineated, and majestic. I think that recorded music has an intrinsic optimal volume, but now it sounds so good even when blatantly too loud. If I play Mahler 8 or Gotterdammerung for the neighborhood, the needles on the front will flinch slightly at 400 watts into 90db speakers at 4 ohms. The other thing that is remarkable is how good it sounds at very low volumes, even the bass. Whether at a whisper or a roar, the Pass maintains a firm grip on all the drivers.

Rtn1, I don't have access to those measurements. Am I correct in assuming that those measurements are suggesting 150 Watts per channel into 8 Ohms and 200 watts per channel into 4 Ohms? Do those measurements specify that the first 60 Watts into 4 Ohms are in Class A, or are you assuming that they are?
Again, though of a different design, Nelson Pass's Class A/AB Threshold amps provided the first 20% of out-put into 8 Ohms in Class A and the balance in Class AB, into 4 Ohms the Class A output dropped to 10% and the Class AB doubled it's output. In his Class A Threshold amps the provided 100% of their rated output in Class A into 8 Ohms, into 4 Ohms they provided 50% of their output in Class A as the balance of power output doubled into Class AB.

Is the "Class A" in an amp that switches to A/B at some point the same as pure Class A?

Brian, good question. There have been discussions here as to whether there is in fact such a thing as Class A/AB or for that matter even Class AB. Some here claim that there is either only Class A or Class B, but not combinations there in. It might be just that some amplifiers have part of their out-put having attributes of Class A. I don't have any where near the technical expertise to determine what is what. I will say that more often than not, those amplifiers that claim to have more Class A output, do sound better to me.