Sonus Faber Stradivari amp: X600.5 or X1000.5 ?

I agree with Thesoundhouse. If you are set on Pass, I would go with the XA series. I too have the X350.5 and I have the Pass-addiction as well.. My friend had a pair of Amatis and he had been wanting to try the X350.5, but we weren't too keen to hoist the beast over to his house before he moved overseas.

My impression of the Amati in his system (with Einstein preamp + BAT VK-75SE monos) was on the sweet side. So I am not sure Pass would be a good fit. But with a more analytical/neutral preamp like the ARC Ref 3, it should balance out.

My only real experience with the Strads was in a Magnolia Hi-Fi in Seattle where it was driven by all McIntosh stuff, and it didn't sound too good with that combo in that room.

FrankC

Ok i understand. But sometimes i really listen to extreme loud levels and thats why i was looking for a high power amp. Also i know that the first 100W on X600.5 are class A. Is that right ? And yes Frank, mcintosh stuff dosent sound to good with Strad. After i listened to X350.5 in my system i couldnt even change it back to my MC501. Is XA160.5 able to deliver extreme loud levels ? My room is like 35-40 square metters.
Thanks

I agree with Raquel for the most part , some bigger amps loose finesse ect , but some mid efficient speakers come to life with lots of power , not so much watts as current . You said you listened to the X350 in your system , it's twice the watts of the XA160 , that should give you an idea if the XA160 will be sufficient in your situation . There is an XA200 if you really want to get serious . Don't forget to take into account the heat that all these babies give off .

Raquel,
Well stated words of wisdom, but only if genuine music quality is the objective as opposed to spectacular Hifi. I`ve come to belive that the advent of inefficient speakers has been counter productive for the persuit of natural sound. It forces one down the path of ever bigger and more complex amplifiers to drive them.

Charles1Dad:

I see that you are running Coincidents - I recently put Total Victory IV's into my system and am very happy with them.

Johnb30:

The Pass amps are very good, but for a lot less money, the Parasound JC-1 monos are a very good sounding high-powered amp. They are also fully differential balanced and should work well with the ARC Ref 3 preamp.

Again, if you want an extremely powerful amp just so you can occasionally listen to rock and roll, you are going to suffer when you are not listening to extremely loud music. And the Strads can go loud and can handle some power, but they are not big Wilsons and should not be driven extremely hard. If you really