Recommendation on power amp

@newtoncr Please post your impressions of the 2 amps with the Blades. I am particularly interested to hear about the synergy with the Krell XD.

@mzkmcv As someone who owned the Benchmark AHB2 and tested the amp with the Magico A3. I was a little disappointed in the comparison with the Mark Levinson 585 and upwards gear. The ML gear trounced my Benchmark with regards to space between instruments, the disappearance of the speakers, and some other things that I cannot articulate now. I was bummed enough to sell the Benchmark almost immediately after that demo. The AHB2 is a very good amp (not great) and I miss it in my office relative to my current Peachtree Nova 150. However, for the Magico A3 it was not that special.

I am also looking to buy the Blade 2 once my toddler is a little older and I was thinking that the Benchmark AHB2 in monblock form would have been a giant slayer, it wasn't.

Of the amps I have owned (nothing top notch) I could easily tell which was which in a blind test.

1) Peachtree Nova 150. Decent mellow sound, not so clear on the high frequencies.

2) Benchmark AHB2. Clear and quiet (my fav that I owned) but the sound was coming from the speakers. The sound did not separate away from the speakers. I tried this amps with 3 speakers, Magico A3, Audience 1+1 V3, and KEF LS50 it had the same characteristics with all of them.

3) Various Bryston, 4B-ST, 7B-SST. I can always tell by the high frequencies.

4) Parsound A23. A veiled sound but not harsh

I am actually someone who thinks there is a lot of diminishing returns with higher cost audio gear. I think my bias are the opposite that you describe.

I am actively shopping for new gear and I recently heard the following 3 amps. Mark Levinson 585, SimAudio 890A, Lyngdorf 2170. I could easily pick out the Lyngdorf, but I would have a tougher time between the ML and SimAudio.

Unfortunately, during this recent shopping spree I am finding the higher cost amps sound better to me. There are many things I do not know but one thing I do know is that my hearing is incredible.

@newtoncr
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/blade-2-1st-na-dealer-demo-pair-i-heard-them.17444/page-2

Ayre + Blades

Now that they have severs hundred hours on them and are now driven by Ayre MX-R Twenty monoblock amps they are, in a word, awesome!!

I am biased. I think the blades sound great with almost any amp.

@transnova  I have heard rumors that the Blades 2 can fit in small rooms, sort of an audio urban legend. Would you mind taking a look at my virtual system and tell me if I would be crazy to out the Blade 2 into this room (for only a few years). Currently my idea is to put in the Paradigm Person3F with the Anthem STR DSP capable preamp However, the Blades would be my ultimate speaker.

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/7605