Pass Labs or Audio Research Solid State Amplifiers

I second the recommendation for the McCormack. Also, instead of buying a preamp, pick up a used Theta Miles CDP and run it directly to the amp. I used to have a Miles and it was great for rock and metal.

Audio Research LS3B preamp just rocks, but it's not as refined as some other preamps out there. I have one and I used it till I went with a passive control unit, to get that spooky last drop of info on Jazz and classical. It had tons of attack, a ton of gain, great if you like it loud, and I really liked the bass on it. I think it's selling for well under $1,000 now, and it's very reliable and has the classic ARC look. In it's day it was a sterophile class a.

Bryston is affordable and probably very good with hard rock. Plinius have great bass, but needs to be paired with a good preamp. The Audio Research tube preamps sound great with the Plinius amps.

If you want to rock and are thinking about Pass Labs, avoid the Aleph's and go for the X amps. Far more focused and punchy but not as sweet and romantic. Can't comment on the ARC SS amps.

Meisterkleef, i am amazed that you have a set of Kinetic's. I've never known anyone other than myself to own a product from this company. How do you like their TATL's ? I've got a smaller set of their speakers that work quite well. While the cabinets are not real attractive due to how they are constructed, i have to admit that these guys were building "tanks" ( super thick & "dead" cabinets ) LONG before anyone else that i know of. Sean
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Thank you all for your suggestions.
I'll be listening to the gear mentioned if and when I get the chance.

As for my gear I currently have
1) NHT 2.9 speakers

2) Arcam Alpha 9 cd player

3) Transparent Ultra RCA's, Transparent PowerBank Ultra line conditioner, 3 Transparent Reference Power Link power cords, Transparent Ultra speaker cables.

4) 2 Dedicated Circuits w/independant grounds and fuses instead of circuit breakers. And 2 FIM receptacles, one for feeding the amp and one for feeding the line conditioner.

5) And I am currently using an Acurus A200 amp and an Acurus RL-11 preamp.

Although I was much happier with this Acurus setup than my previous Adcom, I was wanting something more than the budget amp sound.

I found out from a conversation with Mondial Designs
( the makers of Acurus ) that before NHT loudspeakers sold to Recoton, that they recommended Acurus and Aragon
( Mondial Designs products ) for their speakers.

I was also told that it would be a VAST IMPROVEMENT over the Acurus to use an Aragon 8008BB amp an Aragon 28K preamp even though Acurus is good too. They also said that the Aragon 8008BB was an amp that would never need to be replaced.

Would this be a good amp also compared to the other ones mentioned above??? I would tend to go with what NHT recomends since they made my speakers.

Thanks again for all your suggestions.