pass labs xa30 to valve amplifier.

The discussion about how loud it plays is one issue but the larger question is how it plays in the low to normal volume levels. That is where we live with the sound for the most part and different matches between amps and loudspeakers produce different results.

This is an excellent thread and the tubed vs solid state discussion in some ways has been replaced with the amp/preamp characteristics that you most value. As many posters mentioned, you can get different sounds depending on the tubed/solid state components you choose. The speaker you have plays a big part in determining what the best match might be. Poster Koestner talked about having 4 ohm, 92 sensitivity speakers and thinking about a solid state amp. When you have a lot of drivers and are 4ohm, I have found that you need a good amount of juice to get the speakers to really light up. There are powerful ss and tube amps. I have had three of the amps in the Pass XA series and have written about my experiences with them. The XA30.5 just did not have enough juice to push my speakers and though a wonderful amp, in my situation, I needed more power. Keep in mind that with any decent speaker, you will notice changes when you play with the amp choice, the preamp choice(or lack of), as well as the source that you use. The will all effect the sound.