M900U vs the world

@winnardt Saying something sounds great is fine.. but its not very meaningful unless you compare it to something. Sounds great compared to what? Beats by dre sounds good compared to a $1.00 amazon IEM... but compared to an HD650 it sounds very poor. 

And yes of course when in audio is there a direction proportional increase in sound quality compared to what you spend? As you spend more and more diminishing returns kicks in.  This just the unfortunate nature of audio which I agree can be a very expensive hobby.  Maybe the M900u is only 2-3x better than an emotiva... if that even means anything. But then it comes down to how much that improvement means to you? For some people they are not willing to spend $500 on something that is twice a s good. Others are ok wtih $100,000 for something that is 5% better.

Hello,
I have very recently auditioned Luxmam M900U and a few other amplifiers including Bricasti M25 in my 2 channel system and went ahead with the Bricasti unit. In my system I have a Bricasti DAC/source controller M12 which feeds this stereo amplifier to drive Aerial Acoustics Model- 7T speakers. I found Bricasti to relatively quieter having better dynamics and much better control in the bass domain. Luxman M900U is also a wonderful unit and I liked it a lot compared to other amplifiers like Gato mono blocks and Parasound JC1+. However in the end I found Bricasti to be a bit more powerful in controlling the Aerial drivers yielding a better performance although the difference, compared to the Luxman unit, was not huge.
Both Luxman and the Bricasti sell at the same price point and I would advise you to demo the unit in your room before buying it.
Luxman M900u combined with their Pre-amplifier C900U sounds way better than any other combination. I listened to this pair in a local dealer's place and it was really good. But I didn't try this combination in my system comparing it with the Bricasti pair.
Finally you can find out more on my recent experience on Bricasti/Luxman amplifier audition process in another Audiogon link, initiated by me.
Thanks.

It's not about sounding 10 times better for 10x the price.
It's simply about sounding better, and deciding if it is worth it to you.
Emotiva is good for its price.  I too 'chose it' years ago  based on specs and marketing.  But, I moved on and up, as it was way worth it to me.
Enjoy the journey!  Ken

The c900u seems to be an incredible preamp. Id like to seenit compared to an xp22 or 32.

IMHO, Pass Labs creates fantastic amplifiers, but their preamps fall considerably short. I had my XA60.8's first being controlled by a Mac C2300 before splicing in a XP20. I was terribly disappointed with the XP20 in regards to the musicality(for lack of a better word)...it sounded anemic and a bit too analytical for my tastes. I sold it after three months and had the Mac 2300 retake its position as I worked with Aric at Aric Audio to create The Motherlode. The Lode has been in my system ever since and is now in control of my new Coda Model 16...I cannot imagine being any happier, from a sonic perspective!