Xanax equals Clonazepam?

klonopin is actually stronger than xanax. 

Benzodiazepine Equivalence Charts



----------------------Benzodiazepine Dose----------Comparative Time to peak plasma level------------------------Half Life
Alprazolam----------------.5------------------------------------------------1 - 2-----------------------------------------------9 - 20
Clonazepam--------------.25-----------------------------------------------1 - 4----------------------------------------------19 - 60


This chart (from the above link) looks for the equivalent dose of a given benzo to equal 5 mg of diazepam (valium).

So, you need .5mg of alprazolam (xanax) to equal 5 mg of valium, but you only need .25 mg of clonazepam (klonopin) to equal 5 mg of valium.

The klonopin is, as you said, slower in action. it takes up to 4 hours to reach full effect where the xanax will be in full effect by 2 hours at the latest. 

However, klonopin has a much longer half life than xanax, so it will stay in your system longer. The long half life of klonopin is why doctors like it. You are less likely to become addicted to it as you do not need to continually take more klonopin throughout the day to keep anxiety at bay, so you don't get into the habit of "popping pills" and you don't experience break-through anxiety. 

As for getting the same feel from klonopin as you get from xanax... there is another reason doctors prefer klonopin and that is that xanax has a mild euphoric effect that klonopin and other benzos do not have. That mild euphoria increases the chance that patients will become habituated to and possibly misuse their medication. So, basically, klonopin is actually stronger than xanax in terms of efficacy, but if what you are looking for is that mild euphoria, (which isn't what benzos are for) you can't replicate that. 

Source:  http://www.crazyboards.org

See the link below to see BENZODIAZEPINE EQUIVALENCE TABLE

http://www.benzo.org.uk/bzequiv.htm