Tommy,
My wife and I have enjoyed Pass amplifiers, Wilson speakers, Meridian digital electronics and MIT cables for many years.
We currently integrated our home theater with our stereo system to allow our entire family to enjoy our investment. Our system is set up with a priority on stereo first and theater second.
We currently have 3 - X-250.5 amplifiers, each driving our Watch II Center / Snell Sub 1800, our Eggleston Rosa sides and our Watch II Rears. We have a pair of XA-200.5 amplifiers driving our Sasha I speakers.
A Meridian 861v6, 800 and HD 621 with an Oppo 93 is our digital front end. MIT MAX-SHD speaker and MA-X2 interconnects are on our main speakers, with mostly MIT Magnum M1 on our theater channels. CH Acoustic X-20 power cables and a Sound Application RLS power conditioner are used to supply power (a VERY significant issue).
While the X-250.5 is a great amplifier, the Pass XA amplifiers sound better - MUCH better. Before we purchased our XA-200.5 mono-blocks, we used an XA-30.5 amplifier for our main speakers for almost 3 years! It sounded much better than the X-250.5. The only thing the X-250.5 amplifier did better was percussion or bass dynamics - otherwise the smallest Pass XA amplifier was better in all other aspects.
I like to listen to intimate jazz music at realistic levels and I drove the heck out of that little Pass XA amplifier and it just kept sounding better and better!
We sold our XA-30.5 amplifier when someone came over to purchase one of our X-250.5 amplifiers and listened to the XA-30.5. He purchased it instead!
Now, there are a few things to mention as qualifiers.
We set up and optimized our system to produce a natural sound stage. It captures the width, depth and ambience of recordings. It presents dimensional images that are "reach out and touch" real.
If you don't have a well set up / optimized system, than you may prefer the 250.5.
Let me know if you have more questions or if I may be able to help you in any way.
Kindest regards, TJF.
