I need help to decide


Fast Survey , wich is better Pass lab x250.8  Amp. vs. Krell Duo 300 XD , i have a pair of Dynaudio Contour 20 and a Proac DT8  , thanks for your help!!

128x128altchavez

My intuition says Pass. But I have owned Pass amps for decades… and heard Krell along the way. I have always been more attracted to Pass. But, it is personal taste… so I am not sure this is of value to you.

System synergy matters big-time.

If you are going to buy one blind without a personal audition bake-off first, then I’d stick with a like brand power amp married up to the pre-amp .. ( PASS to PASS, KRELL to KRELL …. etc., etc. …)

@audphile1 …good point to the OP.


System synergy …or lack of it …. matters big-time.

If you are going to buy one blind without a personal audition bake-off first, then it’s a much more  risky bet. If so, then I’d stick with a like brand power amp married up to the pre-amp .. ( PASS to PASS, KRELL to KRELL …. etc., etc. …)

So why not go with the PS Audio BHK amps? You’ll have synergy between the BHK pre and amps and eliminate the guess work  

Otherwise the Pass X250.8 would be my choice. It should match as far as output impedance of BHK pre to input impedance of the X250.8 but PS Audio doesn’t list gain. Pass preamps have around 9db gain. If the PS Audio is much higher you will have limited usable volume range. Which may or may not be a problem. All this is a guess work I’m talking about eliminating.
In any case, I would suggest emailing PS Audio with Pass and Krell specs to confirm compatibility. 
 

The newest Mark Levinson integrated amplifier is what you want.  B stock should be around $6K