Are fabulous-sounding 400-watt-plus per channel class-A peaks attainable without loss of the musical detail or audible meltdown?

Yes, through repeated listening tests and continual technical innovation that push performance standards, Pass Labs XA200.8 achieves what most amplifiers can only dream about.

Even for the most demanding, complex musical passages in larger rooms at high sound pressure levels, this model offers headroom to spare.

Stereophile Recommended Components – 2022
Stereophile

“That a single Pass XA200.8 monoblock should weigh almost precisely the same as the average European adult (it won’t catch up with the average North American adult for another 20lb) should come as no surprise: This is a 200W (into 8 ohms) amplifier that operates in class-A, and does so without any sort of microprocessor-controlled sliding-bias scheme.”
Stereophile Recommended Components – 2021

Stereophile Recommended Components – 2020
Stereophile 

Stereophile Recommended Components – 2019
Stereophile

“The Pass Labs XA-200.8 has some special sonic attributes that just happen to work perfectly for MY purposes in my setup. Wait. Did I say monoblock?”
Partaudiophile / Dave McNair

“Pass Labs XA200.8 Pure Class A”
Dagogo

“Without hesitation, I could go the rest of my life and never feel the need to upgrade from the Pass XA200.8 amplifiers.
Tone Audio #84 / Greg Petan

“Now I can say it: I love the sound of the Pass Labs XA200.8 monoblock. It is the most beautiful-sounding, colour rich amplifier ever to grace my system, and its ability to illuminate music from within with subtlety and finesse puts it in a class all its own.”
Stereophile/Jason Victor Sirinus

Technical Specifications