The Pass XA-30.5 is an easy recommendation.
While it'll be slightly higher then your $2,500 limit, it will EASILY be worth the few extra hundred dollars.
We've used this amplifier with our moderately high end system (Meridian 800 Series Sources, MIT Top Tier Oracle Cables, Watt Puppy 5.1 and now Sasha I Speakers) for years until we finally upgraded to a pair of XA-200.5's.
We've integrated our home theater system with our stereo system (with a priority on stereo), and we use 3 X-250.5 amplifiers to drive our theater speakers. The X-250.5 is no match for the XA-30.5. The only thing the 30.5 gives up with percussive dynamics, otherwise it's no contest. Imaging and coherency were dramatically better, it provided a natural harmonic of the recorded venue few systems approach much less obtain.
When I was selling an X-250.5, the person came to our home and asked to listen to our XA-30.5 in comparison to our X-250.5. He purchased the 30.5 instead!
We've had many amplifiers in our system through the years; Bryston, Theta and Audio Research. Audio Research amplifiers were exceptional but we opted not to continue to use tubes because we integrated our theater system.
Hope this helps.
While it'll be slightly higher then your $2,500 limit, it will EASILY be worth the few extra hundred dollars.
We've used this amplifier with our moderately high end system (Meridian 800 Series Sources, MIT Top Tier Oracle Cables, Watt Puppy 5.1 and now Sasha I Speakers) for years until we finally upgraded to a pair of XA-200.5's.
We've integrated our home theater system with our stereo system (with a priority on stereo), and we use 3 X-250.5 amplifiers to drive our theater speakers. The X-250.5 is no match for the XA-30.5. The only thing the 30.5 gives up with percussive dynamics, otherwise it's no contest. Imaging and coherency were dramatically better, it provided a natural harmonic of the recorded venue few systems approach much less obtain.
When I was selling an X-250.5, the person came to our home and asked to listen to our XA-30.5 in comparison to our X-250.5. He purchased the 30.5 instead!
We've had many amplifiers in our system through the years; Bryston, Theta and Audio Research. Audio Research amplifiers were exceptional but we opted not to continue to use tubes because we integrated our theater system.
Hope this helps.