Thread: Pass Labs INT-250 Question

I've been reading online reviews for the Pass Labs INT-250 and while there are a myriad of excellent comments on regarding power, control, musicality, and tonality, the one thing that also seems common between them is the fact that this integrated runs HOT. Like 122 deg F/50 deg C hot. Since I know I've seen several people reference the INT-250 in other threads on this site, I thought that those with real-world experience with the INT-250 might share their thoughts on the heat issue.

Thanks in advance!

Well, with a fairly large amount of initial Class A bias it is going to run quite warm. I too have a pair of X260.8's and while they do run warm they never get 'hot to the touch'

My little xa30.5 gets rather toasty. Even the manual notes, "you can expect 50 to 55 degrees C. temperatures on the heat sinks". Yep lots of ventilation.

I have an X250 amp and it gets up to about 115-120F. My BAT preamp gets hotter with 8 tubes.

At "rest", my INT60 is uncomfortable to touch for more than a few seconds; not "burning hot", though

Thanks to everyone for your responses. In the end, I decided to skip the INT-250, hold on to my XP-10, and upgrade my current amp to the X250.8. Should arrive early next week. I'm very excited!

Congrats! Nice choice. Although, I think you would have been very happy with the INT-250 as well.

I agree that the INT-250 is a great choice! My thinking behind going with the X250.8 instead of the INT-250 is that at some point, I can also upgrade my XP-10 to an XP-22.

I had the XP-22 in my system for several weeks. I was very impressed with it; very transparent, good soundstage, well made. A very compelling product at its price point.

I've been super impressed with my XP-10 so far. I can only imagine the benefits the XP-22 will bring.

I'm thinking the X250.8 is this year's discretionary stereo budget in its entirety and the XP-22 will be next year's.

The heat issue with the Pass INT 250 is waaaaayyyyyyy overstated on the forums. As a poster mentioned above, they operate warm, not hot by any stretch of the imagination. You can lay your hand on a fully warmed up INT 250 all day long and not be uncomfortable at all...except for standing there all day. But seriously, I'm not sure where this myth got started. And as far as warming up a room, I leave my INT 250 and dual MSB Discrete power supplies on 24/7 and it doesn't noticeably warm my 12' x 27' listening room. If it does, I sure don't notice it.

I've read that it might be more of an issue in the hotter climates but I seriously doubt it. I live in southern Iowa and the outside air temp yesterday was 93 degrees with about 80% relative humidity. With our humidity it can feel just as hot here as Arizona or Florida. Florida and Iowa have comparable humidity and temps except Florida will have a few more days in the mid to upper '90s in the summer months. Arizona temps are higher than Iowa's and regularly get above the century mark, except they don't have anything close to the humidity levels that Iowa has. It didn't feel any warmer in my listening room yesterday than it usually does. It might raise the ambient temp a degree or two in a smaller listening area but heat should NOT be deal breaker with the INT 250. A smaller room...maybe. But not by much.

Wanted to follow up on my own post. I received my X250.8 on Tuesday, let it sit 24 hours (damn quarantine!), got it positioned into my system last night ...

0611201510b.jpg

It's been on and playing music for the last 18 hours (mostly softly, but there was an hour last night and an hour today where I was listening more loudly) and generally I would agree with most. The amp runs hotter towards the rear. The front half of the amp (top and sides) is warm, but not too warm. Towards the rear, it does get hotter -- uncomfortable to hold your hand on it for longer than 2-3 seconds, but nowhere near what I would call HOT. I can feel the heat emanating from about 2-3" away, but certainly not from my listening position. The air conditioning doesn't seem to be cycling on more than normal (and it was in the 90s yesterday). Looking forward to seeing how a solid week of break-in will improve the sound.

BTW, the amp isn't sitting directly on my carpet. I ordered an amp stand and the wooden shelf is detachable from the metal frame -- that is what the amp is sitting on. Plan on having a friend stop over soon so he and I can lift the sucker onto the assembled amp stand.

I like your setup also. But what’s up with the Christmas tree? It’s June 11. ��

Thanks for the compliments! As for the tree, I'm not late taking it down, I'm early putting it up.

The Christmas tree stays. I love it!

Congrats! And, don’t worry about the amp getting a little warm; not a big deal! Enjoy the music!

Anyone tried to lay their hand on an operating and warmed up tube amp? The INT 250 pales in comparison.

Along with the heat turning out to really being a non-issue (at least for me), I also compared my electricity usage for the month of July this summer versus last summer and found that there was virtually no difference in usage. And that's with the amplifier being left on 24/7 (which to be fair, I did with my previous amplifier, too).

Originally Posted by tino27

Wanted to follow up on my own post. I received my X250.8 on Tuesday, let it sit 24 hours (damn quarantine!), got it positioned into my system last night ...

0611201510b.jpg

It's been on and playing music for the last 18 hours (mostly softly, but there was an hour last night and an hour today where I was listening more loudly) and generally I would agree with most. The amp runs hotter towards the rear. The front half of the amp (top and sides) is warm, but not too warm. Towards the rear, it does get hotter -- uncomfortable to hold your hand on it for longer than 2-3 seconds, but nowhere near what I would call HOT. I can feel the heat emanating from about 2-3" away, but certainly not from my listening position. The air conditioning doesn't seem to be cycling on more than normal (and it was in the 90s yesterday). Looking forward to seeing how a solid week of break-in will improve the sound.

BTW, the amp isn't sitting directly on my carpet. I ordered an amp stand and the wooden shelf is detachable from the metal frame -- that is what the amp is sitting on. Plan on having a friend stop over soon so he and I can lift the sucker onto the assembled amp stand.

Congrats... nice looking system you have there!