I've heard both. If bass is what you seek, the 30.8 will deliver. I found it to be overkill in the bass department, actually. It slammed hard, all the time, with all content. This may work fine in other environments, but I had to look elsewhere. Despite only being 30W (60 in my case with 4 Ohm speakers), the 30.8 felt too powerful for my smallish room. The opposite of relaxing. Very insistent is how I'd describe it. So, I agree that 30.8 and XA25 are different animals entirely.