Actually not quite 10K. Over a whole weekend 1 month ago using a quicksilver linestage and driving some old (modded) Beveridge speakers that were absolutely beautiful sounding, myself and a few friends, one an industry writer, listened as the AVA 550EX was compared to these 3 amps and outperformed them in every area, except for the incredible transparency of the Reference Line was slightly better...maybe
Mark Levinson 336 $7K+
" 333 "
Reference Line silver signature $9K
All the wire used was custom made silver twisted pairs.
I have not heard comparisons with newer amps. Although I have read one audiophile sold his older Plinius amp when he compared it to an AVA 240 Omegastar amp ($899)
he purchased for his home theatre.
At 5K the Audio by Van Alstine 550 EXR would be competitive, IMO. At 2K I just shake my head and smile.