Best power amp below US $ 20.000,00 ??

Rushton -> Atma MA-3 is around 28k new, which is a over my budget. I could probably strech it a little bit more if only Atmas weren't so ugly ! I think my wife would divorce me If I got those home. j/k. Plus, them must generate an awful lot of heat, which maz be an issue in the summer months (I have A/C in my room, but I tend to switch it off when listening).

Elberoth2,

If you have axcess to the Musical Fidelity KW750, I feel that it would be worth an audition in your system.

Michael

Hi Adam, lots of advices?
OK. Tubes:ARC REF210, VTL S-400
Solid state: Ayre V1xe, CJ Premier350, Pass X350.5 or
Plinius SA Reference
Keep in mind that CJ inverts phase...
Happy hunting!

Artizen65 -> I have heard the all kW setup (CDT/DAC/pre/power amp) during the last HiFi Show and it was one of the worst sounds of the show. I have never/ever heard SF Guarnieris that were hooked up sounding so plain bad. The sound was thin, bright and hard.
Besides, to me, owning an expensive MF amp is a little bit like having an expensive Seiko watch - deosn't really make sense.

In the meantime, I have had a chance to evaluate the Plinius SA102 this past weekend. SA102 sounds on the warm side, it definately is on the other end of the scale than the Digital Switching Amp brigade. I like that tonal balance though, it surely mates well with Avalons (and my personal taste), but to me the amp was just not transparent enough, I could not see deep enough into the recording. It also exhibited some grayness that IMO is typical to almost all ss amps, although to be fair I have to say that it was better than more expensive Nagra PMA in this regard, not to mention the cheaper BelCanto.

Anyway - I like it enough to be eagier to try the more expensive Plinius models. Unfortunately, I also got informed today, that my distributor doesn't have the SA Reference on hand, so I will be not able to audition it. If anyone have had any expirience with that amp, in context of SA102 and other HQ amps, pls share.

Today I got a local DSA amp based on ICEpower 250ASP module with build in SMPS power supply (the same that is used in Rowland 201, I belive) - I'm curious how it will compare to BelCanto.

Just to finish what I have started - the ICEpower amp was quite a surprise. It has wiped the floor with the Bel Canto eVo 4 - anther DSA amp, but based on Tripath technology - at 1/2 of cost. No wonder Bel Canto switched to ICEpower technology - it sounds sooo much better.

Overall the amp is still too dry in the midrange for my taste, so I decided to skip the whole ICEpower technology, including the 500ASP and 1000ASP modules which are said to sound very similar to 250ASP in overall character.

I liked the Krell 300cx that came after the ICEpower amps much better - much more natural sounding. I would never have guessed that a Krell amp can cound so good. For the price, I think it was the most "complete" sounding amp I have tried. The little Krell encouraged me to try their bigger stuff which is said to be much better - namely the 700cx amp. I was to try it after CES, but unfortunately Krell discontinued the whole cx line and introduced the new evo line. My dealer cannot gave me the exact date when he will start getting the new amps.

I have also had Classe CAM-400 monos at home for over a week. Those two were also very impressive - smooth and neutral - but I still thought I could find something better.

In the end, based on all of the positive comments, I have decided to buy ... Lamm M1.2 Reference monos. No way to audition - none in stock locally - this is truly a blind faith purchase. Hope I will not regret the purchase.