I highly recommend the Lamm hybrid amplifiers.
My friend, who has the Avalon Eidolons, went through many amplifiers trying to find the best.
He tried the following amps:
Classe CA-401, Kora Cosmos, BAT 150s (non-SE version), Manley Neoclassic 250s, VTL MB-450s, Rowland 501s.
Finally he found his best and last amps, the Lamm M2.2s.
These are 220 wpc mono-blocks. They sound incredible with this Eidolons, the best of all his amps. (In my opinion, these amps are the best upgrade he has made to his system, and I have seen him upgrade most of his system over the past few years.)
They has the low frequency response of the best of the solid state units and also the touch of mid-range magic that tubes provide to the mid-range. The treble is the best I have heard from any of the amps, period. The imaging and soundstaging is incredible.
He managed to get a decent discount from the dealer, so they came in under the $20K price you mentioned. (Although that was before they went up in price.)
I loved the sound of his amps so much, that I bought a pair of used Lamm M2.1s for my Revel Studios. (These are the predecessor model with 200 wpc.) They sound almost identical (maybe the treble is a little better on the M2.2s, just maybe), but used, I paid only $7K. (And luckily for me, from a local seller so no shipping!) They have transformed my stereo from very good to excellent, IMHO. (Even my friend has said that my stereo took a giant leap forward when I got them.) In fact, I think that my speakers are not quite in the same class as these amps. (I am jealous you can afford the Visions actually.)
PS BTW - [email protected], in a good chuck of the world, they use commas for decimal points and periods for commas when writing numbers. (Interesting that so many places have such different syntax when writing numbers.) I believe some places use a space instead of a comma as well.)
My friend, who has the Avalon Eidolons, went through many amplifiers trying to find the best.
He tried the following amps:
Classe CA-401, Kora Cosmos, BAT 150s (non-SE version), Manley Neoclassic 250s, VTL MB-450s, Rowland 501s.
Finally he found his best and last amps, the Lamm M2.2s.
These are 220 wpc mono-blocks. They sound incredible with this Eidolons, the best of all his amps. (In my opinion, these amps are the best upgrade he has made to his system, and I have seen him upgrade most of his system over the past few years.)
They has the low frequency response of the best of the solid state units and also the touch of mid-range magic that tubes provide to the mid-range. The treble is the best I have heard from any of the amps, period. The imaging and soundstaging is incredible.
He managed to get a decent discount from the dealer, so they came in under the $20K price you mentioned. (Although that was before they went up in price.)
I loved the sound of his amps so much, that I bought a pair of used Lamm M2.1s for my Revel Studios. (These are the predecessor model with 200 wpc.) They sound almost identical (maybe the treble is a little better on the M2.2s, just maybe), but used, I paid only $7K. (And luckily for me, from a local seller so no shipping!) They have transformed my stereo from very good to excellent, IMHO. (Even my friend has said that my stereo took a giant leap forward when I got them.) In fact, I think that my speakers are not quite in the same class as these amps. (I am jealous you can afford the Visions actually.)
PS BTW - [email protected], in a good chuck of the world, they use commas for decimal points and periods for commas when writing numbers. (Interesting that so many places have such different syntax when writing numbers.) I believe some places use a space instead of a comma as well.)