Hafler XL600 Vs Hafler 9505 Much difference?

Hi Terry,
It was nice speaking to you(until we were cut off).I have not heard the VS336,but am a fan of Boston Acoustic Speakers.For a mass market speaker company,they always gave you alot for the money! I owned the VRM-50's and thought that they were very nice bookshelves,but a tad forward/bright.One of my early home theater set-ups was the micro 90 system,which used the VR tweeter and gave the user a touch of high end at an affordable price.That system still lives in my son's bedroom.I would think that most BA speakers would be easy to drive and that an XL-600 or 9500 would be overkill.An XL-280 or a 9300 shold be more than you need.The 9300 was a very sweet sounding amp.Like the 9500,it was Stereophile class B recommended. I believe that the reviewer actually preferred the 9300.The Hafler P3000 came after the 9300/9303 and was also a great sounding transnova amp.

Hi Larry,
Sorry about the disconnect on the phone. When I had the Boston Acoustics A400's I found them very power hungry. I had them Bi-Amped with the XL-280 and found they sounded even better with the XL-600. Overkill yes but they sounded very sweet and needed a lot of power. I was also in my early 20's at the time and pushed them very hard.(Blew a few speakers back then). I don't know about the VS336 but I imagine it needs power as well.
I had a pair of Acoustic Research speakers I hooked up to my XL-600 back then. I don't remember the AR speaker name but it had four 12 inch woofers on each speaker. WOW. XL600 was clipping(I believe) at very high volumes. The sound would go flat or something like that. Not sure not an expert.
What is a Stereophile Class B rating?
Thanks,
Terry

Stereophlle has an annual recommended components list.Class "A" is for spare no cost ,best in world performance.Class 'B" for outstanding performance,but not the very,very best.Class C recommended components are still quite good,but with trade-offs that are a result of price point compromises.Class "D" recommendation is reserved for budget products that outperform their peers and come close to the high end at usually a significantly lower cost.
The Hafler 9500 and 9300 were either the lowest priced Class A or I believe Class B recommended amps from 1993 until 1995 or 1996.
Home Theater Review says(about the VR 336):sensitivity rating of 87dB into a benign eight Ohm load, making it ideal for receiver-based home theaters or integrated amplifier-based two channel systems."While it is always better to error on the side of more power,a 9300 should do quite well.

Larry

Hi Larry,
Ok, that makes sense. The old A400's were a 4 Ohm load if I remember correctly. Thanks for the info. Now I just need to find a pair reasonable priced.
Terry

Well, for anyone interested. I finally got in a XL-600 amp to compare to the 9505 Model. The XL-600 is Much better. Richer, Fuller sound. As well as the bass being much tighter. The 9505 just couldn't handle the Polk Audio Rti-A9 speakers that are rated at 250 watts a channel and 500 peak. After listening to 2 songs with the XL-600 my girlfried says wow that sounds a lot better. She knows very little about audio and didn't even know what I was hooking up. I was going to bi-amp the Polks but I don't feel I even need to now. Amazing the amp was made about 25 years ago now.