Parasound to Pass Upgrade

@ddafoe my room is about the same size as yours. Also no AC. The XA30.8 is not terrible in the summer. I would assume the x260.8 gets as hot as x250.8 and adds another chassis. I am still most likely going to try the X260.8 though. I think my speakers will like these amps a bit better than the XA30.8. Plus I’m too curious to hear them and will regret if I don’t try them in my system. 

@taylorro if you pick decide on pass amps, go for pass pre. If you want a tube preamp, audio research Ref 5se or 6se should be great paired with Pass amp. 

It’s funny you suggest that as those are some that I am definitely considering. Thanks very much. 

@taylorro Interesting.

Currently, I own both the X260.8 and the JC1+ and have A/B’ed them several times.

Conclusion: Pass is more musical / euphonic.

I currently have two sets of speakers at home: Focal Scala Utopia (sold to someone, awaiting delivery) and Focal Maestro Utopia III.

The Pass sounds better with the Focal Scala Utopia (and I expect it would sounde better with a majority of speakers). However, the Maestro III are notoriously hard to drive - and with these, I prefer the JC1+.

So, my X260.8 shall be put up for sale soon.

@reg19 so the Focal MU3 are 93db sensitive, 4ohm (min 3ohm). What makes them so difficult to drive?

I’m contemplating replacing my XA30.8 with X260.8 to drive my Wilson Sabrina that are 4ohm (dip down to around 2ohm) and 87db sensitive. Based on your statement I should be worried about matching the X260.8 with the Sabrinas just based on specs the Sabrinas looks like a tougher load than your Focals.