X 30.5 or X 150.5? (What would you buy?)

[Redwingnine]

Recently, was able to obtain a pair of Cary Silver Oak Model One speakers. They are outstanding performers. The Cary's come equipped with 2 SEAS Excel Magnesium woofer/mid drivers per side, along with SEAS Excel soft dome tweeters. They are 88db@1 watt.

So, the question I had to answer was: Go with the XA 30.5 or X 150.5? After careful deliberation, decided to go with the XA 30.5. I’m pretty sure that they should have enough power for listening to most all types of music at moderate levels.

The question I have is as follows:
Are the XA 30.5 and X150.5 essentially the same amp, with different voltage rails and bias settings? The Threshold SA/3 and S300 were more or less the same (the late model with optical bias), and was able to successfully re-configure the S300 to SA/3.

Which amp would you pick, and why would you pick one over the other?

[Zen Mod]

considering that they're on wrong side of 90db/W/m (at least for me ) , in this case more is merrier

edit :

on second thought ........... just take cheaper one

both have plenty of oumph .......

[jacco vermeulen]

Originally Posted by Redwingnine

XA 30.5 and X150.5 essentially the same amp

Paps is topnotch in designing modular stuff, within the same time frame.
The core of the X150.5 is the UGS4 module, the XA and INT models carry fifth and sixth iteration boards.

(fortunately, Da-da allows high-res. pictures for close-range-blind lasered idiots to cat-clone au maison-mansion)

[Redwingnine]

Originally Posted by Zen Mod

considering that they're on wrong side of 90db/W/m (at least for me ) , in this case more is merrier

edit :

on second thought ........... just take cheaper one

both have plenty of oumph .......

Papa's website states that the XA 30.5 works with speakers above 87 db.


From the Cary spec sheet:

Dual Parallel Drive Magnesium mid-bass drivers, silk dome tweeter with neodymium magnet, air core heavy duty inductors, oil and foil capacitors, PHASE STABLE 3 r/d order crossover with 3.0 kHz crossover frequency.

So, I think the XA 30.5 would be OK. The price is the same for the X 150.5 and XA 30.5

[ramallo]

I have a XA30.5 driving a Quad ESL2805 (86dB 1W/m) and I'm very happy

[Nelson Pass]

Originally Posted by Redwingnine

After careful deliberation, decided to go with the XA 30.5.

[Redwingnine]

Thank you, Mr Pass!

It goes with a couple of other Class A amps from Papa's past efforts:

1) Threshold 400A
2) Threshold SA/3

[Redwingnine]

Received the XA 30.5 the other day, and could not be happier with its performance. This is without question the finest sounding amp I’ve ever heard.

Many thanks, Papa. This is an outstanding performer. Now I have three generations of Class A amps (400A, SA/3, and XA 30.5).

[Zen Mod]

feel free to send gratitude check to me , too .

why leave Papa alone in this tricky situation ..........



(I'm really glad for ya )

[Redwingnine]

Originally Posted by Zen Mod

feel free to send gratitude check to me , too .

why leave Papa alone in this tricky situation ..........



(I'm really glad for ya )

OK, you geet some gratitude as well

I had to save up for this a long time...but it was woth it.