Mono blocks are better or Stereo power amp?

As per Audio Feil's comment quite frankly my Hurricane's outperformed a $11,000.00 very famous American made Stereo amplifier which by all accounts should have wiped the floor with the ASL!

Without sharing the make and model of the amp that should have wiped the floor, and also not to specify the rest of the system, such a comment brings no value to the table.

There are many "very famous American" amplifiers that are quite costly that to my ears have sounded absolutely horrible. Were they improperly matched with the speakers? .... or were they only showing up flaws in a system that the other amp under evaluation covered up? .... or were they simply, horrible amps? Amps can not be judged alone as the amp/speaker interface is one of the most critical factors overlooked by many.

Personally I have heard the JL 2 and the build quality is amazing I just was never blown away with the sound!

Yet another comment without sharing the specifics of the speaker or rest of the system for which the amp is referenced. If you were expecting a classic lush tube sound here, this is not what the CAT amps are all about.

You can also overspend and over build!

Yes, and you can also overspend and under build! Put the JL-2 up against the ASL mono amps driving a pair of SoundLab speakers and you will immediately appreciate the "over build" of the CAT. For such an application, I would take the CAT any day as it would not even be close! The difference in dynamic contrasts alone would bring down the house. The robust power supply in the CAT amps is not simply there for decoration. And with a few hundred $$ to replace the stock small-signal input tubes on the CAT, it would take another huge leap in performance.

Thanks AudioOracle for the detailed comments. That helps to put much into perspective.

I too have much respect for Mr. Salvatore; he and I had much communication earlier this year with many of his comments/suggestions ultimately getting incorporated here ... and with great results.

There's no way to know if we want to spend money on any given amp or preamp until we try it in our own system. I don't care for the CAT/CAT combination at all as I find it too analytical, in the context of MY own system. And then to throw in Wilson speakers, I'd be running out of the room covering my ears. The SBS setup was hardly what I would call a good demonstration of the CAT amp's capabilities.

Oh, and I did not attack the ASL amps. I simply stated that when put to the test to drive a nasty load like the SL speakers, the CAT would easily outperform the ASLs. From all that I have read from HP's reviews and comments, I do not recall him ever talking about SL speakers....he's too much into the Magnepans.

And concerning "stock" tubed amps or preamps, it just makes no sense to spend thousands of dollars for these products and then live with the limitations of Sovtek, Ei, EH, etc., tubes. This is true for CAT, Aestehtix, ARC, Einstein, to name just a few. And no doubt the CAT gear at SBS was all stock tubes........what a shame!