Stereo or monoblocks

I have a C2300 that I'm running with MC601 mono blocks. I had an MC352 before, and the difference is there but it's not day and night. Like someone else said - it's very subtle. The reason I upgraded other than that subtle difference, is the design and look of the 601's. Personally, I really don't care for the cosmetic design of the MC402. In any case- you can't go wrong with a C2300. It's my favorite.

Unfortunately, all things being equal will not include price. I am listening to a pair of ARC REF160m monoblocks… they sound slightly better… nuances only, than my ARC REF 160s… but the difference in cost is $12K. So, yeah, the monoblocks are better… it comes down to is it worth $12K’s worth?

@ghdprentice

your post got me thinking...

people will post asking ’hey, what about this one factor in hifi?’ (e.g. stereo vs mono amps... r2r vs d-s digital conversion... single ended vs balanced... metal vs soft dome tweeters... 6dj8 vs 6h30p... fine line vs elliptical styli... belt drive vs dd )

people then chime in, we have lengthy discussions... but this is talking ad nauseum about one particular variable... in a pursuit where multiple multiple variables are constantly at work, to produce the end result of the music playing

so all else equal, sure, we say this or that... but the key to remember is... all else is never equal... and the better question to ask is just how important is this particular factor among all relevant factors in the whole result being achieved?

perhaps a useful framework here may be something like maslov’s hierarchy, but applied to hifi..."mono vs stereo amps" to me have got to be several levels down below ground, deep in the ol’ basement...

Back in the 1990s I was using a Naim based system 72/Hicap/250, and decided to try a pair of Naim’s 135 monoblocks (based on the 250). The differences were noticeable immediately. The Naim house sound remained but all sonic aspects improved. Most notably, separation. The 135s also had better control of the bass, improved sound staging: depth, width, layering of instruments. In other words, everything that I liked about the 250 and more.

I read posts by others to try to gather information and get educated on a variety of subjects. I own two mono blocks, but I don’t know how to use them. They are Bob Latino brand, and I would like to use them, but I don’t know how. I have  JBL speakers and they all have internal crossover’s.