2. speakers
  3. 124498-77393

BAT VK 250 vs Pass XA30.5 for Wilson Sophia 2

Any experience with either of these amps on Sophia's?
Have them about 2 weeks now and they are terrific with my Rogue 90 tubes.
I'd like a balanced ss amp as the rest of my system is balanced (Mytek Brooklyn dac and Vincent Sa-t8 tube preamp).  Room is 18'X13' and primarily classical listening, especially symphonic.
Thanks,
Joe
jferro
tom_hankins
928 posts
 
You can get a used BAT VK-600SE for, at most, 1/2 of your budget.  A very powerful and very good sounding amp. 
fossda
112 posts
 
Both great amps and would place the Pass in a little higher league. As was commented on previously you might look at a good used ss. I have both an ss and tube pre to run with my ss amp. I love the mix of tubes and ss and with larger speakers like the wilson or my b&w's they can run fine on lower power but as you mentioned the grip, dynamics etc really shine when you have some 'good' power. The new ss amps offer all the finesse etc you might want. Also as was previously mentioned the ARC gear is very nice, particularly their new stuff.
sgunther
187 posts
 
I don't have the Wilson speakers but did switch from a Rogue M-180 to Aesthetix Atlas Signature about a year ago and really liked the change. The Atlas is a 200/400 WPC into 8 and 4 ohms respectively, highbred amp with tube input and solid state output. New or used within your budget.
More to discover