Pass Labs XA-25 vs XA-30.8 amplifier

Pass stuff is super reliable. They also have exemplary customer service.
I wouldn’t worry about warranty. 

Super reliable, and great customer service - have had 5 Pass amps over past 21 years

The Pass class A amps are not pure class A. They are class A up to the rated power but then they go into AB for a lot more power. The XA-25 will put out a clean 75 watts easily. But except for super short peaks the amp will stay well below its class A power. So it's sort of 99% class A with AB emergency power.

@OP. From personal experience, Passlabs products are extremely reliable.

As Dynamiclinearity says above, the number in the amps' name is the Class A power output.

Hi-Fi News magazine has just reviewed the 30.8. The concluding line is "It's a performance that should put a smile on the face of all audiophiles, bar those obsessed with 'clinical neutrality', and for a sane price."

Paul Miller measured the following dynamic power outputs into 8, 4, 2, and 1 amp loads: 105w, 205w, 357w, and 470w. That's on a 230V mains. Pass power amps sound a lot more powerful than they rate nominally, because they are a lot more powerful.

Dynamic power measurements aside, I've never heard any change in character in my 60.8s when driven hard, albeit in a small room where I don't need massive volume levels and I doubt the amps ever stray outside of their Class A power output.

I cannot comment on the 30.8 but the XA25 is a superb amp, utterly transparent, that will drive my Rockport Atria IIs easily.  It is revealing of poor recordings however.  You hear EVERYTHING that is on the source, a singer's breathing, a a guitarist's fingers on strings and decays that last forever.  On a piano you are aware of the shape of each note.

It is rated at 50 watts into 4 ohms at .1% THD, class A.

My setup is Aurender, Esoteric K-01XD, Benchmark LA4, VPI Scoutmaster with Koetsu RSP.  Cardas cables.

I flip back and forth between the XA25 and a premium Elekit 8600S and love the sound of both, the revealing, detailed (but still musical) precision of the XA25 and the more organic, concert hall like, presentation of the SET.