Heat generated by Pass Labs amps.

neac1976

Well-Known Member
Jun 23, 2018
22
2
108
Hello everyone. I have a couple of questions and would like opinions on the heat generated by some Pass Amplifiers.
I have a dedicated music room measuring 20x26x9 feet.
It is heated by radiant heating and is equipped with a mini split air conditioning unit.
I own a Pass X 350.5 and love all of its characteristics except for one and that is the heat that it generates after a couple of hours of operation. The area around my equipment gets warm and after enough time, usually a couple of hours or so, the room itself starts to get warmer. After about two hours or so, I cannot really keep my hand on the amp chassis for more than 15 seconds or so.
I would like to purchase a pair of Pass Labs X 260.8 mono's in place of my X 350.5 and would like to know how the heat produced by the pair of mono's compares with the heat that is produced by my stereo amp.
I do not want to give up on The Pass sound and am looking for an alternative within the Pass stable.
Thank you all.
 

twitch

Well-Known Member
Jun 17, 2010
602
247
1,605
SE Pa
as a owner of a pair of X 260.8's I can tell you they do get warm(gotta remember the amount if initial bias into Class A) but NEVER get so warm as to not be able to put my hands on the heat sinks. I will say that after an extended listening session of 3 hrs or more my room (14'6" x 24'6" x 8') will heat up 2-4 degrees.

FWIW the initial Class A bias of the X260.8 is greater than that of your 350.
 

benito

Well-Known Member
Jul 23, 2018
76
49
115
France
Hello everyone. I have a couple of questions and would like opinions on the heat generated by some Pass Amplifiers.
I have a dedicated music room measuring 20x26x9 feet.
It is heated by radiant heating and is equipped with a mini split air conditioning unit.
I own a Pass X 350.5 and love all of its characteristics except for one and that is the heat that it generates after a couple of hours of operation. The area around my equipment gets warm and after enough time, usually a couple of hours or so, the room itself starts to get warmer. After about two hours or so, I cannot really keep my hand on the amp chassis for more than 15 seconds or so.
I would like to purchase a pair of Pass Labs X 260.8 mono's in place of my X 350.5 and would like to know how the heat produced by the pair of mono's compares with the heat that is produced by my stereo amp.
I do not want to give up on The Pass sound and am looking for an alternative within the Pass stable.
Thank you all.
From Pass lab site:
Pass X 350.5 Power Consumption (Watts)600
Pass Labs X 260.8 Power Consumption @ Idle (Watts)370

What is unclear for the X260.8, the consomption is for each block or for both ?
 

Audire

VIP/Donor
Jan 18, 2019
1,479
1,833
330
FL Panhandle
Hello everyone. I have a couple of questions and would like opinions on the heat generated by some Pass Amplifiers.
I have a dedicated music room measuring 20x26x9 feet.
It is heated by radiant heating and is equipped with a mini split air conditioning unit.
I own a Pass X 350.5 and love all of its characteristics except for one and that is the heat that it generates after a couple of hours of operation. The area around my equipment gets warm and after enough time, usually a couple of hours or so, the room itself starts to get warmer. After about two hours or so, I cannot really keep my hand on the amp chassis for more than 15 seconds or so.
I would like to purchase a pair of Pass Labs X 260.8 mono's in place of my X 350.5 and would like to know how the heat produced by the pair of mono's compares with the heat that is produced by my stereo amp.
I do not want to give up on The Pass sound and am looking for an alternative within the Pass stable.
Thank you all.

I owned the 260.8s for app 2 years. They sound very good and they get warm not hot. I live in Florida. So, IMO they will be more to your liking than the 350.8… Plus they are monos and put out more class A than the 350.8.
 

tony22

Well-Known Member
Nov 4, 2019
591
261
153
63
From Pass lab site:
Pass X 350.5 Power Consumption (Watts)600
Pass Labs X 260.8 Power Consumption @ Idle (Watts)370

What is unclear for the X260.8, the consomption is for each block or for both ?
That’s per monoblock. I also use a pair of these. My experience matches twitch’s.
 

cjf

Well-Known Member
Nov 19, 2012
454
105
948
I just measured both of my Pass XA60.8 Mono's using one of those fancy ExTech Laser Thermo's and they have been On and in use for the past 3hrs or so. Both are sitting at 111F. This measurement was taken at the top plate near the edge where the Fins are. This was the hottest location as I scanned around the Amp with the Laser. Everywhere else on the Amp ranged in temp from 90-105F

I've measured these amps many times in the past after and during aggressive listening sessions and don't recall ever seeming them go above 115F each. This is any time of season FWIW.

Also, I don't ever notice any difference in room temp (17x25x10+)
 

neac1976

Well-Known Member
Jun 23, 2018
22
2
108
I want to thank everyone for their replies as I have all of the information that I need thanks to you guys. It is always a pleasure reading this forum and dealing with everyone involved with it.
Mark
 

TDX

Well-Known Member
Jan 14, 2020
339
281
150
I had 260.8 previously, my hands can stay on the chassis for a while. I installed an aircon for my room for passlabs though:)
 

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