Pass XA30.5 vs Bat VK60

I would not describe the sound of the of Pass equipment as tube like I would say it is very neutral and the warmth you hear is what is on the recorded music. The XA series amps are very controlled ie they have lots of damping which controls cone movement. Usually speaking the speakers I feel work best with the XA series amps are speakers that need lots of control ie need lots of damping. These amps use lots of current and less voltage. They will double down on the rated power output "watts" as the impedance goes down. The XA 30.5 is a great amp for speakers that are fairly efficient and those speakers tend to like a bit more control and because they tend to have less stiff spiders on the magnet and can hit a resonate frequency that is like hitting a brick wall with most amp, an amp with lots of damping ie control does not let that happen unless it runs out of power. Tube amps use their output transformers to cupple the output of the tubes to speakers and make enough output voltage ie power (watts) to drive the speakers and match the impedance so the tube do not blow up. Tube amps having output transformers generally have very strong output and the wattage is very powerful compared to many solid state designs. In recent years many of the newer tube amp desings have benefited from huge gains in output transformer technologies. Example I just listened to a clients tube amp that he decided to upgrade to newer higher bandwidth output transfromers. The old transformers sounded a little thick and very warm and what most people call tube like, the newer output transformers sounded way more correct and provided much more information. The sonics differences between tubes and solidstate are becoming less apparent. If I were you I would find out what Pass Labs amp would work best with your speakers and I would try that amp as I see that you already have their phono and linestage pre-amp, and I believe there some benefit to your theory of synergy between all the rest of your equipment. Balance Audio Technology amps are also excellent and I would keep it around until your new Pass power amp or amps are fully broken in and you have fully evaluated the sonic differences in performance in your system. Your ears like what they like and that is what you should buy and or keep. I might be able to give you some insight as to what might work with your speakers if you could tell me which speakers you currently or plan on owning.

Thanks for your response Thesoundhouse. As I posted in my thread the speakers are Reference 3A Episode's. 90 DB sensitivity and 6 ohms.

I would listen to both the XA 30.5 and the X 150.5 both amps sound great but have some differences but I cannot comment on what those differences are because I do not know how your speakers will interact with either amp. Generally speaking the XA 30.5 will have a more controlled sound and will be a little more emphasis on the midrange over the X series. In my big system I have a pair X 600.5 with a XP 30 and a XP 25 with a pair of TAD reference One s. I tried both the XA 160.5s and X 600.5s. The X 600.5 are more to my liking. I listen to a huge variety of music. In my smaller system I have an INT 150 but also tried the INT 30 and I like the INT 150 over the INT 30. I like the more dramatic dynamic sound of the Pass Labs X series over the XA series.

I have had the XA100.5, 60.5 and 30.5. I loved them all. XA 100.5 was my favorite. But now I play with the X250.5. To be honest for the money this is the best. I prefer it over the XA30.5. It is a little more compleet. Wenn you play many different kinds of music it has some advantages. Most of the time I play class A. Wenn you want to play hard you will have more controle and drive over the XA-30.5. At normal volums it is still very musical. In the hig freq. the X.5 series looks a little more detailed. A sharper focus over the XA-series. With both series you never can go wrong.