Aric Audio? First Watt? PrimaLuna?

Upsacale Audio will absolutely try to push their product...they are as self serving as they come.  I own both Aric Audio gear and Pass gear and will recommend with no hesitation reaching out to Aric at Aric Audio. I have his Motherlode pre, and have heard several of his amps. And when the wife is in a good mood as it relates to my esoteric audio hobby, will have him build some bespoke mono amps for me as well. 

I’ll add to my previous comments that Iike Coachpoconnor I too own and am delighted with an XA25, and although I use it with speakers that are much more sensitive than yours I too believe that it would be a fine match for your speakers. Stereophile measured its maximum power capability as being 80 and 130 watts into 8 and 4 ohms, respectively, much greater than its specified 25 and 50 watt ratings which are apparently based on its capabilities before leaving class A operation as well as on distortion percentages that are much tighter than the reasonable percentages Stereophile uses in its evaluations.

I say all of that as someone who has traditionally used tube amplification over the years.

I hope you can find one used, at a price that fits your budget.

Regards,
-- Al

Thanks, almarg.  I asked Reno HiFi what they thought and if they had one in my price range.  They do, but he says  

"My experience is that your speakers need an amp that is at least 60 WPC, as I mentioned previously. Through my own personal experience as well as the experience with my many clients who use these amps in their own systems, I agree with Nelson Pass’ power rating of the XA-25 amp. And when the amp is pushed beyond it’s official power rating, the amp doesn’t sound it’s best."

Hmmphh.

jgoldrick, I'm not pretending to be an expert within the First Watt and PrimaLuna arena that you are working within, except to say that they are among the top flight choices. I can however address some of your concerns about going with a tube driven amp -- especially one that comes off Aric Kimball's bench at Aric Audio. I have two of his systems. First the heat issue: it's not an issue. Tubes get hot and the amps get warm, but they are designed to do so and with your cooling fans running and the cabinet doors opened, there is going to be no net effect. He builds his amps auto-bias so there is no longer the need for a tiny screwdriver and a multimeter. Believe me when I say that if I were replacing power tubes every two years at $600/per, I would be in search of another passion. Tubes last a long, long time; some of the best are Vintage or NOS from the 40s through the 60s and while I know it's possible to spend any amount you set out to spend on any thing, I have never approached those numbers, and won't.

But above all else is how they sound. It's why we do this. After looking over your system specifics, I would encourage two courses of action. One, talk to some folks with tube gear who will doubtlessly validate what I'm claiming here, and then secondly but most importantly, get next to one that you can listen to -- with ample time, with your music, in your comfort zone. The sonic difference is staggering. You're in this deep, I believe you owe it to yourself to not leave this decision to the guesswork and opinions of others.  Godspeed.

Why not have Klaus upgrade the Khartago? Depending on budget you could go full Kismet as monoblocks.