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From Pass X250,5 to 350,5 : what to expect?

Hi
I am planning on going up from my 250,5 to 350,5 but first decided to ask if it is worth it.Are there any sonic benefits in upgrading to a more powerful amp in a ,5 line?As far as i know in the previous line (250,350)going up meant actually downgrading sound because 250 amp was sonically superior to 350 one.I do not really need more power but i heard that 350,5 is way better soundwise than 250,5.Is that true?Thanks for your insights on this matter.
overhang
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Well, I can't argue with what you experience, it just seems hard to believe that going from 250 watts to 350 watts can make any noticeable difference with fairly efficient speakers with smooth impedances (which I think most Proacs are). Now it may be that the Pass 250 and 350 have fundamentally different circuit and/or parts, but I did not think that was the case, just more watts, and in this case just enough additonal power to play 1db louder.
tboooe's avatar
tboooe
1,009 posts
 
I have to agree with Ingvar. I don't think that sheer watts is the reason for a difference in sound. It must be that a different circuit or design or components are used to produce the higher power. Or like so many other things in our whacky hobby, there is something we are yet even aware of yet that has an affect on the sound.
fatcataudio
107 posts
 
There is a difference in the design, the X350.5 use no negative feedback in the circuit. It also runs pure class A to 50 watts versus the 30 of the 250.5.
pubul57
3,712 posts
 
Well the NFB would be a signficant difference for sound quality and that might explain the difference some have heard, although I suspect the 30 versus 50 in Class A would not be to relevant with the Revels.
spatine
84 posts
 
Fatcataudio, do you expect much of a difference between x350.5 vs x600.5 vs xa160 for either a Wilson Watt Puppy 8 or a Sonus Faber Elipsa or the like? Pass Labs thinks the xa160 should have enough power to handle those speakers. I have my doubt. Yet that pure class A of the xa series is tempting at the 80 db sound level.
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