Pass Labs xa - .5 amps

With the XA30.5s ability to deliver current and the sensitivity of your speakers, I would think the 30 watts would be more than enough for most listeners in most rooms. As Tvad says, it plays a lot louder and more robustly than its wattage specs would suggest (I think it is very conservatively rated). The extra 30 watts of the XA60.5 are really marginally more power in terms of loudness. And I'm firmly in the camp that less power will sound better if it is enough power to drive your speakers to the volume levels you require. I was using the XA30.5 with my 89db Merlins and power was NEVER an issue. With your speakers and 4ohm impedance, I would not expect power to be an issue for you either. Now you may hear from those that say you can never have enough power.... Ask ML what they think and ask Pass what they think. Can't speak for ML, but I've never known Pass to not offer good, honest advice, even if they prefer to sell you two amps instead of one.

Congratulations. I think you have a very, very fine piece. Some might argue the best sounding amp out of the Pass shop (assuming sufficient power of course).

I owned the Aleph 3 and 2 and I think the XA is more dynamic, and obviously so. I owned the Alephs so long ago that I can't say more about other specific comparisons, but the XAs are real current monsters and they have a lot of bass drive and pace. The high power/low power argument is proabably endless and subjective to some extent, but I still think that the same basic circuits with the differences based on output power will sound better IF the lower power is sufficient to drive the speaker to the right levels. IF not, than more power will have an advantage since insufficient power is proabably more of a liability than the benefits of the simpler lower power version of an amp. But I don't mean to sidetrack, other than to agree that overall the XA is an improvement over the Aleph in that it maintains the former's virtues while adding improved bass and dynamic performance (the Aleph is still a great sounding amp, and with certain speakers the difference in drive might not even be noticeable)

I wouldn't hesitate to use the XA30.5 with 89db in most rooms, more than enough power and drive with my speakers. I think these things are very conservatively rated, at least, the sound that way. To me, less powerful versions of a cricuit always sound better, assuming the power is sufficient to drive the speakers. Less is more in many cases.

I would imagine it would tend to exceed its rated power on peaks, which can happen often. Is it necessarily a bad thing that the meter moves, or is that to be expected with music dynamics and nothing to worry about if everything sound fine?