Solid State Power Amps

McIntosh is good gear.  IMHO you pay something for the brand.  But one good thing is they maintain value, and occasionally gain in value (probably not from new price), whereas with most other gear you'll take some loss on resale. 

I know you are looking for Solid State amps, but something else you may want to consider are Octave Audio monoblocs with the super black boxes(a must IMO).   I owned the Sopra 3 and now the Utopia EVOs and originally used the Gryphon Diablo 300 on both.   Worked great and terrific synergy.   I got the upgrade bug again and started looking.  I'm not a huge tube guy but after trying several amps I ended up with Octave Audio with KT150 tubes.    Has a lot of the characteristics of tubes in the mids and highs that I love, but also good authority on the bottom end like SS.  Very good synergy with Focal.

Good luck!   Once you find the right amp for your tastes, I'm sure you will know it right away.

I now own the Michi 8 power amps, check out my review in the Members review section.

Audiogon Discussion Forum

ozzy

Why don't you look at the SIM audio 861 It's in your price range and SIM audio makes some of the best amps out there.