We have measured the spectral properties of five galaxies of low to intermediate L _ { x } / L _ { b } ratios with BeppoSAX and ASCA .
A hard component ( kT \sim 4 - 10 keV ) is observed in all galaxies .
In NGC 1553 the BeppoSAX data show that this component is extended , and suggest an origin for the emission in the evolved stellar population .
In NGC 3115 , a point-like source appears embedded in an extended component morphologically similar to the stellar body , suggesting an almost equal contribution from the nuclear region and the binary population .
A large central mass concentration and low level optical activity in NGC 3379 argue for a contribution from the nucleus also in this object .
However , for both NGC 3115 and NGC 3379 , the nuclear emission is at a level well below that observed in other galaxies who host similar nuclear black holes .
A second soft ( kT \sim 0.3- 0.7 keV ) spectral component is needed to fit the data of NGC 1407 , NGC 1553 and NGC 4125 over the entire energy range probed ( \sim 0.2-10 keV ) , best represented by a thermal component with line emission .
We discuss possible interpretations of the origin of this component , which however will be better defined only with higher quality data .