Solid state amp to replace my Audio Research Ref 150 amp

here’s abrief list

accuphase p-7300-this golden godzilla was birthed from a secret nuclear plant in yokohama, japan. it looks awesome on paper, and the meters will have you mesmerized, 3 times the price here in the us than in japan, ridiculous! but that’s another conversation for another time.

mcintosh mc452-i heard through the ol’ grapevine that mc is having some trouble on the business end of things. i hope they get that ironed out soon, because the mc452 is a killer amp and costs much less than the golden godzilla.

pass labs x350.8-killer amps from the house that nelson built absolutley transparent with a full-bodied midrange. but is a bit pricey, runs hot, and will spin the electric meters like a top.

bryston 14b3-this could be the sleeper of this bunch, or it could be crap. i don’t really care for the new consumer series faceplates, so you might wanna get the pro series which are the same or very similar faceplates as the old sst series. besides, you'll get a healthier discount from a pro audio dealer than a hi-fi one....if we’re going by the older sst2 series, and if this is the better amp overall, then you have a winner from the frozen tundra that is canada. love em or hate em, these canucks know how to build an amp. pricewise it sits in between the mcintosh and the pass labs..it’s more powerful than those 2, however. but as is par for the course with bryston, you either love ’em or hate ’em...

now, i advise you to go out and listen. i know i need to!

I'm still up in the air. Lots of good comments here to consider.

Shaq,

I agree with Johnny R from Audioconnection.  I owned the Ref 150, dropped in KT-150s and noticed a big improvement and then had ARC do the SE upgrade and noticed another big jump in performance.  

I know many members have made some fine recommendations, but IMO, you can squeeze a lot more performance out of your Ref 150 by doing the SE upgrade, which includes a complete retube.

BIF

shaq, I can't comment on your ARC amp but will say I'm surprised no one suggested the Parasound JC-1s.  Could that be because they have been around so long and thus not the "latest and greatest"?  Well, there is a reason for that longevity.

Different speakers but I replace VTL monos with the JC-1s and liked them better overall.

JC-1's are good, solid amps...i didn't mention them because the ones i listed are better. of course in the very high levels of high end amplifiers, we're talking about subtle differences. however, amps can make more than a subtle difference. case in point; when i had the levinson amp in my music room over at my parent's house, it sounded as if i needed some serious room treatment. i then switched to an fm acoustics 611, and voila, what i thought were room anomalies were at least 85-90 percent gone! its all bout that damping factor, driver conrol, and signal to noise ratio...