I am looking into breaking up my integrated amp into all separates. So far, the Pass Labs XA25 and XA30.8 are the top contenders. I will be driving PearlAcoustics Sibelius SG 8 Ohm speakers in a relatively small room (36 m2 / 350 sqft) and not at ear-shattering levels, so the XA25 should be fine. There seems to be a trade-off between RCA connectors on the XA25 vs. XLR connectors on the XA30.8 with common mode rejection. However, the XA25 has a better noise floor and better slew rate compared to the XA30.8. I am leaning more towards the XA25, particularly for the slew rate. Any thoughts?

Second, for preamp, my top contender is the PrimaLuna EVO 300 with RCA in/out, or the EVO 400 with XLR in/out. if I go with the XA25 with RCA inputs, I don't need a preamp with XLR out. I only have one XLR capable source (HoloAudio May DAC L2), so wonder whether that would justify splurging for the EVO 400. I think rather not, but welcome some insights/experiences/opinions.

Thanks!