SS Amp for natural vocals

"The DALI 400s benefit giantly from a great amp with lots of power and damping"

If so then there is only one amplifier here below $10k price - Spectron Musician III SE - amp which can control this speaker with grace and reproduce voices "to die for"

All The Best
Rafael

" ...I was disturbed that the DALIs don't really handle low bass as well as the Vienna Acoustics, losing the harmonic richness in a Johnny one-bass-note kind of response below a certain frequency. Given the price and size I'd expect much better bass resolution."

Are you sure that it is the speakers fault? Given their price and size and REPUTATION, I would suggest to investigate if they were properly controlled to begin with.

I read on Spectron web site that rms power is very misleading number because in "rms" sort of mode you really need 1-5 per cent of this power ONLY. However, when push come to you know what.... amplifier must handle it and it may be hundreds times greater them "rms"..
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Spectron claim that their amp is stable up to 0.1 Ohm and during the "stress" can deliver 3500 watts over 500 msec.

Next, and it may (or may not be important) that peak voltage even for medium efficiency speakers is more then 100 volts and all solid state and class D amplifiers that I know (except Spectron and Mackintosh) have rail voltage of about 65 volts - thus if signal is 100 volts then its clipped.

It could be that you have incredible speakers which are very sensitive to the signal they are asked to reproduced... and they are simply doing that whereas other speakers mask it

All The Best
Rafael

"Well, I'm thinking that instantaneous power is interesting to know, but at what purpose?"

Let me quote from Spectron Web Site again as its very educational, for me at least:
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Stereo Times reviews Spectron Musician III SE
"Power and Finesse" by Donald Shaulis

"I have never heard Moussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain/Pictures at an Exhibition [Telarc B000003CSH] before. Oh, I have owned the CD for years but I never really “heard it” before. The Spectron presented the softer passages with such inner detail they became seductive but the real surprise came in the crescendos. The peaks reached were a revelation. It wasn’t that the Spectron could play loud, it was that I wanted the music louder. For the first time the crescendos were reproduced with full fury but no smearing or harsh edge that demanded the volume be reduced. Now, after many years, I finally “get” this fine recording..."
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I am not professional reviewer and I can't say it so eloquently.

Good Luck with your choices.
Rafael