Best high current SS Mono amps

have to second that from Fcrowder. his JC1s are quite special driving the acapella campaniles.

hard to find fault with them, and at their price point, unbeatable IMHO.
rhyno

The nicest solid state amps I had on CLS II's years ago were Levinson 20.6's. They may sound a bit "darker" than current Levinsons which might not be a bad thing and you would save yourself a few $$. What preamp are you using?

Hello Yada,

I'm a dealer for several of the amps mentioned here (Parasound JC-1's, InnerSound, Wolcott) as well as a few not mentioned here (Clayton, Atma-Sphere) that also work very well with electrostats. My experience is mostly with Sound Labs since that's what I sell, though I do have a few customers with CLS's who have bought (and are happy with) either Wolcott or InnerSound amps. Some very good amps that I'm not a dealer for include Accuphase, Jeff Rowland, and Pass Labs. Someone mentioned the Halcros, but one of my customers tried Halcros on his Sound Labs and found that it wasn't a good match.

Each of these amps brings a slightly to significantly different set of qualities to the table, and I'd want to dig a bit more into your personal priorities before making a specific recommendation. For example, do you think you'd be more interested in a neutral-voiced solid state amp, or one that's voiced a bit on the warm side?

By the way, Yada, I think the CLS is the most physically beautiful loudspeaker ever made. And among the very finest sonically as well. In my experience the amplifier/speaker matchup is considerably more critical with electrostats than with dynamic speakers. But there are plenty of excellent amplifier choices well within your budget - the thing to do is to match up the right amplifier for your personal priorities.

Best wishes,

Duke

I've been running VTL-450's on CLSIIz's for over three years now without any tube noise - nothing but dead black silence. There is great synergy between VTL and ML - best sound at one of the hifi shows a few years ago. Also great low level detail (particularly with the VTL 5.5 preamp with NOS Telefunkens). I also have a pair for sale.

Rogue has a new tube amp out for about $6000, 250 watts per and has 4/8 ohm taps, balanced inputs. Saw a picture of it today over at AA forum, one fine looking amp but a little on the heavy side at 200 lbs.