Ben Campbell is right on the money.
First, you may need to look away from the American companies. Investigate products from Europe, many of which will be smaller companies most people have never heard of. They tend to offer amplifiers with simpler layouts and lower power. The foundation the companies you mentioned Jeff Rowland, Krell, Mark Levinson were built on. 25 - 100 watts, no more parts than it takes to do the job(signal purity, you know), care in the build, and making sure everything sounds just right. What I consider the heart of high end audio; a small(maybe just one person or family) outfit producing very good sounding equipment in a less imposing package.
Yes, there a lot of tube amplifier manufacturers in this lot, but you can find a wealth of solid state equipment.
I know this may go against the grain, but I find little innovation on this side of the ocean in the past 5 or so years. Focus has shifted from music(what AUDIOphiles are interested in) to home theater and multichannel. Our priorities are very different.
We seek out the recreation of a live performance or a natural presentation. We look to soft passages that are important as crescendos, refinement that pleases rather than irritates, and often a seductive, romantic sound.
HT seeks out the recreation of what is heard in a movie theater. Volume, Volume, and VOLUME, bloated midbass, screeching highs, and sound coming at us from all directions.
A few days ago a friend was trying to tell me why 6 speakers are better than 2. One point he made was that it is jaw dropping to hear the sound of a plane roar over your head. For that, rear speakers are needed. True. But I have never listened to a band and wanted to hear a plane fly over me, and I only want to hear bands. Musicians always play directly in front of me, or at least when I am able to get a good seat.
What we go after is different.
And, what is built is different.
Many of the great American companies created formed to make music have shifted production(rightly and smartly so) to where the money and demand is. While audio still plays a significant role, the consumer's focus this holiday season is on plasma displays and subwoofers that make rumbling sounds that I never hear in music or nature. Silver disc playback machines try to cram more and more into the same box; CD, DVD, MP3, and now even DVD - A and SACD - got to cover all the bases. Can a player which does everything master anything? Time will tell...
Many American companies have gone toward what Ben aptly puts as BIG. Designers, architects, electricians, and installers. 25, 50, 75, 100 watts? NO. We need 250, 500, 1000 watts. More power, more channels, more speakers, more lights, more effects, more gadgets, more trinkets. Movie theater seats. Stadium seats. Cupholders. A popcorn machine! The only less they seek is to have the whole kit and kaboodle on one remote.
And, the goal is me when we have Betty White sound like Barry White. After all, what good is a subwoofer if you can't hear and focus on it?
Maybe I am crazy, but I am looking for smaller. For less. Smaller room. Listening in the nearfield. Lower power. Less tubes, less transistors, less things in the box. Simple circuits, cable constructions, and crossovers. The more I think is good is more sensitive speakers.
