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Krell FPB750MCX versus Pass X160.5 or X600.5

Yesterday I heard a Pass X250.5 amplifier at a friends house. I love the smooth liquid sound of this amplifier. He was using the B&W Nautilus 802D. However I felt the bass could be a little bit more controlled.

So now I am doubting how the Pass amps would match in my system. Now I play with Wilson Maxx and Krell FPB750MCX mono blocks. I found the more power, the better the amp sounds. I also have a Krell FPB400CX but the 750's sound much better.

Should I go for the XA160.5 or for the 600.5. Everybody has a diferent opinion. I love the smooth Pass sound but I think the 600.5 might be more dynamic and have better bass control.

How do the Krell and Pass amps compare. Any opinions are welcome.
krellfan2002
fatcataudio
107 posts
 
Pass XA will have same control as Krell with all the liquidity of the rest of the Pass lineup, and then some. XA series have more control over low end than X series. As long as you are getting high powered XA series, it will be comparable to Krell.
gundam91
506 posts
 
You are the second person that mentioned about the bass issue in the past two weeks. (Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with that.)

I had stated on the other post that owners and reviewers alike have all pointed out this is a strength with Pass amps. I've certainly feel the same with my X350.5 after it replaced the ML 333 I had for 8 years.

So, just thinking aloud, could the issue be caused by something else other than the amp? Maybe not enough power with the X250.5 to drive the 802D as you indicated? Maybe room issues? Speaker placement issues? Impedance mismatch issue?

In terms of selection, maybe checking with Wilson to see if the XA160.5 would be powerful enough to drive the Maxx? How about the XA200.5? Maybe also check with Pass Labs to get their feedback as well?

There's an article last year in either TAS or Stereophile where they compared the XA160 and X600 (or X600.5), it might be worth to take a look.

FrankC
krellfan2002 OP
28 posts
 
Well I finally bought the Pass X600 and compared them to my Krell FPB750MCX. To my opinion they were more musical and sounded better and warmer.

Since the Pass sounded so good I sold both the FPB750MCX and the Pass X600 and bought the X600.5.

Now they are just playing in and I love the sound. They are musical and rich sounding. However I can not realy say they are much better than the X600. I sold the X600 before I bought the X600.5 and the 600.5 is new and is playing in now. I have the feeling they are more smooth sounding but the difference is not that big yet.

Peter
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