350.8 to 30.8

I did speak with somebody at Pass and he was speaking about the merits of the xa25 but when I told him I listen to a lot of symphonic classical and was looking for a deep wide soundstage he automatically recommended the 30.8.

I have owned an X150.5, an XA30.8 and and XA25. The XA30.8 has a cleaner sound than the XA30.5 - there are improvements across the board but the front end is the main point of improvement. The XA30.8 (which I have owned) had a glorious sound and I never needed more power. It has been tested at 90watts into 8ohms and 150 into 4ohms (can’t remember the source of that).
Just to throw in another option, I sold the XA30.8 and bought an XA25. It’s a much smaller unit that is less bulky and uses half the power at idle (a bonus in Australia). Personally I think the sound of the XA25 is superior IN MY system, TO MY tastes. The output impedance on the XA25 is a lot lower, as is distortion and the bass whilst not being as FAT, is more accurate and has great pitch definition. That’s a matter of taste of course. Distortion is vanishingly low too - the amount of detail is fantastic which I love. power has been measured at close to the XA30.8 by Stereophile (if I remember the test results correctly). Transition to Class B is at around 50 watts which is about the same as the XA30.8. Also, I feel that the XA25, despite its on-paper lower power rating, handles transients much better and it can take higher volumes without losing composure. Lastly, the XA25 is very fast, admittedly not as fast as some other SS designs but certainly faster than the XA30.8 which relies on ballast resistors on the Mosfets. Nelson Pass acknowledges this himself by the way - see his notes about the First Watt J2. I think moving forward, all of NP’s units will move towards larger, fewer non-depletion mode Mosfets and the XA25 is the first of this new breed. The XA25 is probably the most main-stream sounding PL amp out there but it manages to meld that dynamic sound with the beauty of the PL class-A sound. It’s a winner in my books.

I have owned an X150.5, an XA30.8 and and XA25. The XA30.8 has a cleaner sound than the XA30.5 - there are improvements across the board but the front end is the main point of improvement. The XA30.8 (which I have owned) had a glorious sound and I never needed more power. It has been tested at 90watts into 8ohms and 150 into 4ohms (can't remember the source of that).
Just to throw in another option, I sold the XA30.8 and bought an XA25. It's a much smaller unit that is less bulky and uses half the power at idle (a bonus in Australia). Personally I think the sound of the XA25 is superior IN MY system, TO MY tastes. The output impedance on the XA25 is a lot lower, as is distortion and the bass whilst not being as FAT, is more accurate and has great pitch definition. That's a matter of taste of course. Distortion is vanishingly low too - the amount of detail is fantastic which I love. power has been measured at 80watts into 8ohms and 130 into Stereophile (if I remember the test results correctly) so it's not far behind the XA30.8. Transition to Class B is at around 50 watts which is about the same as the XA30.8. Also, I feel that the XA25, despite its on-paper lower power rating, handles transients much better and it can take higher volumes without losing composure. Lastly, the XA25 is very fast, admittedly not as fast as some other SS designs but certainly faster than the XA30.8 which relies on ballast resistors on the Mosfets. Nelson Pass acknowledges this himself by the way - see his notes about the First Watt J2. I think moving forward, all of NP's units will move towards larger, fewer non-depletion mode Mosfets and the XA25 is the first of this new breed. In all the XA25 is probably the most main-stream sounding PL amp out there but it manages to meld that dynamic sound with the beauty of the PL class-A sound. It's a winner in my books.

I have owned an X150.5, an XA30.8 and and XA25. The XA30.8 has a cleaner sound than the XA30.5 - there are improvements across the board but the front end is the main point of improvement. The XA30.8 (which I have owned) had a glorious sound and I never needed more power. It has been tested at 90watts into 8ohms and 150 into 4ohms (can't remember the source of that).
Just to throw in another option, I sold the XA30.8 and bought an XA25. It's a much smaller unit that is less bulky and uses half the power at idle (a bonus in Australia). Personally I think the sound of the XA25 is superior IN MY system, TO MY tastes. The output impedance on the XA25 is a lot lower, as is distortion and the bass whilst not being as FAT, is more accurate and has great pitch definition. That's a matter of taste of course. Distortion is vanishingly low too - the amount of detail is fantastic which I love. power has been measured at 80watts into 8ohms and 130 into Stereophile (if I remember the test results correctly) so it's not far behind the XA30.8. Transition to Class B is at around 50 watts which is about the same as the XA30.8. Also, I feel that the XA25, despite its on-paper lower power rating, handles transients much better and it can take higher volumes without losing composure. Lastly, the XA25 is very fast, admittedly not as fast as some other SS designs but certainly faster than the XA30.8 which relies on ballast resistors on the Mosfets. Nelson Pass acknowledges this himself by the way - see his notes about the First Watt J2. I think moving forward, all of NP's units will move towards larger, fewer non-depletion mode Mosfets and the XA25 is the first of this new breed. In all the XA25 is probably the most main-stream sounding PL amp out there but it manages to meld that dynamic sound with the beauty of the PL class-A sound. It's a winner in my books.

That's your opinion browndt. I think the only advantage of the X.8 compared to XA.8 amps is bass slam and dynamics. The mids and highs on the XA amps are more natural and organic.

If you don't need all that power and depending on the kind of music you listen to, IMHO the XA amps are the better sounding line.

That is too much of a downgrade. You would be better off with a 150.8.
Actually the 350.8 is one of Pass Labs best amps. You are going to see
quite a difference when you down grade to anything less than a 250.8.
Talk to Mark at Reno HiFi. You can help you make the right choice for your system.

Also, they’ll put up to 90 watts after going out of class A, not sure if that’s into 4 or 8 ohms 

I haven’t heard the 350.8, but I have been running a 30.8 with Vandersteen Quatro CTs. It’s important to note that my low bass is handled by the built in subwoofer amps. That said, the 30.8 throws an impressively large soundstage with great depth. The quality of the mids and highs is excellent and is rivaled by few, as my opinion and the consensus seems to be. In your small apartment - (how big is the room exactly?) you’ll probably be fine. You may sacrifice on bass impact however. Can you demo it first?