Pass Labs:What to expect fm XA60.5 to XA100.5

Elmerpoh,

Given your 91dB and 4 ohm min impedance and the fact that you listen fairly close to your speakers, I would think that the XA100.5 would be plenty of power and the X350.5 might be overkill without as much Class A magic.

I would enjoy the XA60.5 until your dealer gets the new amps in. Then, just audition each one in your own system and decide which you like better. I think it will be the XA100.5 over the X350.5. Remember, they need to be on for a few hundred hours to break in, at least mine did. Then, just enjoy the pure, glorious sound.

Tvad,

Could you please elaborate on your last post? You seem to suggest that all one needs to do is calculate SPL in a room and match the amp to speakers on paper and all will be fine.

The XA100.5 looks as though it has plenty of power to drive my Mini II's. Dealers even said as much. I have a small room and don't listen too loudly. The bias needle moved only slightly and not too often. However, switching to the bigger XA160.5 gave me better sound. I still have the same sized room, don't listen any louder, the needle almost never moves now, but dynamics, scale, staging and control of the lower frequencies are all better. The music is more involving and enjoyable.

Sure it costs more, uses more electricity and generates more heat, but the results are well worth the upgrade cost to me.

Now, the sonic signature of the X.5 is surely different from that of the XA.5 and the OP should hear the difference before committing.

"I was always told all speakers like wattages, the higher the better."

I do think all speakers need enough watts to perform well, the quantity varies with the speaker, room, music, and loudenss preferences. I also know folks like VTL will suggest you need 1,000 watts to really allow speakers to blossom. That being said, I think there is always (almost always?)a loss in quality as watts go up for a specific circuit design, but that can be a fair tradeoff if your speakers need the power, and some speakers do need alot of power, or more importantly current to drive low and dipping impedances. I think that on speakers like mine (Merlin VSM)the XA30.5 (which I did own)will sound better than the XA100.5. But I have know doubt the XA100.5 will sound alot better driving Thiel or B&Ws - they need the power and the current. So the question isn't really which is the better amp, but which is the best amp/speaker combo, and I'm not sure why the XA100 would drive your speakers any better than the XA60s (but they might).

07-13-10: Pubul57
"I was always told all speakers like wattages, the higher the better."

I do think all speakers need enough watts to perform well, the quantity varies with the speaker, room, music, and loudenss preferences. I also know folks like VTL will suggest you need 1,000 watts to really allow speakers to blossom. That being said, I think there is always (almost always?)a loss in quality as watts go up for a specific circuit design, but that can be a fair tradeoff if your speakers need the power, and some speakers do need alot of power, or more importantly current to drive low and dipping impedances. I think that on speakers like mine (Merlin VSM)the XA30.5 (which I did own)will sound better than the XA100.5. But I have know doubt the XA100.5 will sound alot better driving Thiel or B&Ws - they need the power and the current. So the question isn't really which is the better amp, but which is the best amp/speaker combo, and I'm not sure why the XA100 would drive your speakers any better than the XA60s (but they might).

Hi Pubul,

My main dilemma is: Given everything the same(i.e. speaker,room,listening volume, genre of music i listen to, source,etc) except upgrading from XA60.5 to bigger wattage power of XA100.5(higher damping factor of 200,higher output voltage and current too) or X350.5(higher output voltage and current), Should I expect improvement on dynamism, speed/explosive transient to draw closer the gap between Class A or A/B with the Class D that I previously owned.

From what I read from Peterayer's reply, it seem higher wattage model of the XA.5 models does indeed have better overall presentation of sound in the same given speaker(though I am not using the Mini II).

Wonder will there be actually a plateau of overall presentation on sonics quality where a given speaker no longer will/can improve further when using a higher model amplifier of the same brand.

Cheers