Best Amp to drive my Apogee Stages?


Greetings all.
I am wondering if I might get some good suggestions from anyone who might be firmiliar with the Apogee Stages. I have owned them for quite awhile, but due to blowing up my Krell (300i)intergrated amplifier more than once now (a $400 bill to fix it each time) I beleive that it is time to buy the right amplifier for the job. I need more power for sure, but my wallet is light these days. This means that I must minimize my purchase to something definitly under $2K and even more like $1200 price range. This seems to limit me quite a bit in my findings, but I am wondering if I might have missed something with my research so far? I have reviewed Krell, Levinson, Pass Labs and Threshold to date. Each have older options in my price range, but I am not certain if any will work better with my speakers?

Any thoughts out there?

Thank you in advance.

-LoveItLoud
loveitloud
Some very good points about amp headroom, and dynamics. Here is a short video (watch the needle nearly peg on the Krell Kas-2 amp).

This is on the Stage bass panel only (80hz-700hz)...several other speakers handle the freq's above and below this range, and have their own dedicated amps.

http://s90.photobucket.com/albums/k280/sogood51/?action=view¤t=Krell_KAS-2.flv

Dave
Dave,

Thank you for posting the video. That demonstrates what I was talking about. Imagine how the amplifier would have responded if the high level had been sustained instead of abruptly terminated.
The Music in the video is a Telarc classical cd with explosive dynamics...a shotgun blast to be exact!

Still...I does show what can happen

Dave
Don, I agreed with what you said, and added my 2 c. No quote was made. I have my Scintillas beating the band here (hint).