Xa30.8 to xa60.8 monos

[paul1]

Advise please
I thinking of going to XA60.8 mono s currently my XA30.8 is 30 watts class A and 60 per Chanel watts into four ohm my speakers are four ohm.
The XA60.8 are 60 watts and 120 per Chanel.
What I would like to know, am I going to notice a big difference in sound volume and grunt.
This is what pass labs emailed me but I can't understand what they are saying can anybody help here.
Gain on the Xa-30.8 and Xa-60.8 are identical 26 dB.
The Xa-60.8 monobloc will source 3dB addtional headroom.
However the identical gain (26dB) presumes you drive the Xa-60.8 with additional input level should you wish it to play louder than any other 26dB gain amplifer.

[RichW]

Paul, I think your conflating two issues: Overall loudness and bass response.

The loudness of these two amplifiers are matched. They both have 26 dB of gain. Unless you see the needle on your 30.8 move on a regular basis, you probably would not notice the difference in a higher wattage amplifier.

Bass response is different. I have not heard the 60.8, but it could be very possible that it handles the bass better then the 30.8. Perhaps your question to Pass Labs should ask how the bass is handled in these two amplifiers. Perhaps then they will be able to give you an answer that makes a little more sense to you.

[paul1]

Originally Posted by RichW

Paul, I think your conflating two issues: Overall loudness and bass response. The loudness of these two amplifiers are matched. They both have 26 dB of gain. Unless you see the needle on your 30.8 move on a regular basis, you probably would not notice the difference in a higher wattage amplifier. Bass response is different. I have not heard the 60.8, but it could be very possible that it handles the bass better then the 30.8. Perhaps your question to Pass Labs should ask how the bass is handled in these two amplifiers. Perhaps then they will be able to give you an answer that makes a little more sense to you.

Thanks I like the bass of the 30.8 if I get more then good.
Yes the needle is bouncing a lot more to the right what I am wondering if I go to xa60.8s is it a big difference in volume?
I love my 30.8 best amp I have owned so far just craving for more spl of the same sound signature

[RichW]

Ok, I understand.

If you accept the ratings of 30 wpc and 60 wpc as true, then you would have an extra 3 dB of headroom. Negligible. You probably wouldn't be able to tell a difference.

But... Both the 30.8 and 60.8 are under-rated. The 30.8 actually performs well above its 30 wpc rating. I suspect this is true of the 60.8 as well. It could be true that the 60.8 actually has more than 3 dB of head room. I don't know, so I will give you my two favorite answers to situations like this:

'Maybe,' and 'it depends...'

Of course, if you are really thinking about the jump to monos, I've got to ask if you've thought about an upgrade to a more sensitive speaker instead. An increase in speaker sensitivity could easily be cheaper than more amplifier power. I'm intrigued with the DeVore O/96 personally.


I envy your problem! Let me know how it turns out.