I have some relevant experience. I own a pair of Summit Xs that I was driving with a Pass XA 30.8 and they sounded great, but due to the speaker’s specs I wanted to see what they would sound like with a muscle amp. So I bought a D’Agostino Classic Stereo amp (300 watts into 8 ohm, 600 into 4 ohm) and hooked it up.
The improvement was pretty significant. The sound suddenly had greater clarity and the music just held my attention to a much greater degree than with the XA 30.8.
The D’Agostino is not a Pass amp, so I can’t say that you would have the same experience with the Pass X series, but my advice is to go with an X.8 series amp. The MLs really do like the extra power and the doubling down.
Also check out this thread:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/my-long-list-of-amplifiers-and-my-personal-review-of-each
Whitecamaross has listened to many amps first through his ML Montis then he upgraded to ML 15As, and before he bought a pair of Pass Xs 150s, his favorites were first McIntosh tube amps then Pass X.8 series.
The improvement was pretty significant. The sound suddenly had greater clarity and the music just held my attention to a much greater degree than with the XA 30.8.
The D’Agostino is not a Pass amp, so I can’t say that you would have the same experience with the Pass X series, but my advice is to go with an X.8 series amp. The MLs really do like the extra power and the doubling down.
Also check out this thread:
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/my-long-list-of-amplifiers-and-my-personal-review-of-each
Whitecamaross has listened to many amps first through his ML Montis then he upgraded to ML 15As, and before he bought a pair of Pass Xs 150s, his favorites were first McIntosh tube amps then Pass X.8 series.
