Needed: Honest Advice on high-end amps- either mono or stereo

Diminishing returns is a real thing, however every step up in quality is very rewarding and typically worth the initial investment.  Notice I said quality, not price - I've heard many expensive components which were good but not groundbreaking.  When you hear something that changes your experience it's difficult to forget about - so be careful what you listen to!! :)

@ghdprentice 

 Honest question, what do you mean by that statement? Now, if you’re going for the Sound, spectacular the imaging from ceiling to floor off onto the side walls. Not natural in musical, but absolutely incredible. Then the Burmeister Boulder and some of those other brands are for you. I've been in the music business, for a few decades that's what I did to pay the bills. What I've experienced, wether acoustic or amplified, we've sought for filling the room, and it's always been preferable for a "live" sound pressure level. Please explain.

   Thanks RWR.

OP  I’m perplexed by the offering of high end amps. Needed: Honest Advice

I’ll get bombs by this. Your ears are correct. All current new hi-end equipment are a joke. All they are made by who can’t hear and can’t make the right sound. People who can hear run away from hi-fi audio.

The world’s best microphones are from 1950’s. The world’s best sound electronic guitars are from 1950’s. Same for audio tubes. People who made those best sounding electronics are dead now without transferring their knowledge to their students. 60~90 years old good sound mics are broken now and all new mics sound so bad that we must hear noisy recording and broadcasting always.

Alex/Wavetouch audio

Very broadly speaking in the high end there are a couple of takes on sonic presentation. The first is fidelity to the music. Audio Research, Conrad Johnson, VAC, Sonus Faber. Their empirical rule is real music... a careful and complete rendition of reality with the details in proportion to the real thing. So, for instance if you sit in a symphony hall and first listen to the silence then the most quiet start of a violin... through a full crescendo... the gestalt is accurately presented. I tuned my ears partially through having 7th row center seats a the symphony for over ten years.. 

Alternatively lots of system are designed around sounding good. improving imaging and bass beyond what is real. So, details are often presented much more promenently than they are in real life. Kick drums too forceful. The imaging presented in Wilson / Magico, Bermeister, Rowland are often incredible... with a piccolo suspending in three dimensional space... but this is not real.. not like real music. Sounds incredible. I have been blown away by the ceiling to floor wall to wall (forward of front wall) 3D sound staging. Amazing, but it doesn’t sound like the real thing. the gestalt is wrong, proportions wrong. Often these system are not emotionally connective as well. They are intellectually interesting but lack the deep emotional  connection that good midrange bloom and great rhythm and pace will give. 

That is one of the dichotomies. Components and systems are on continuums.  

Not too long ago, I decided to upgrade my amp from my Michi S5. Ended up rebuilding my whole system-all for the better-but this is about amps. The Michi S5 is, i think, outstanding at its price point. I listened to lots of amps and auditioned some at more than twice the price of the S5, without significant gains to my ears.

I tried to sell myself on tubes, but this is where we all hear differently. I listened to ARC, CJ, and VAC pretty seriously, liked VAC the best, but that is just not for me. To my ears, these create a very pleasant sound, certainly something I could be happy with, but its not natural which is what I consider musical. Its like a cup of coffee with a bit too much sugar. A little sweet, a little soft but lots of folks love that sound. These are all wonderful products, but not optimum for me.

I ended up with a Burmester 218 and Burmester 808 mk5 pre. This combination produces a very natural sound, plenty of speed and well controlled bass-much more faithful to the music to my ears. Contrary to producing some sort of sonic explosion, I find the sound to be a faithful reproduction of the music delivered with control and appropriate speed-never soft, but never bright. If anything, the 808 pre imparts just a touch of warmth. I've spent a lot of time listening to Boulder. The Burmester sound is not the same as Boulder, conflating the two is inaccurate as I hear them. Which one is "better" is a matter of taste.

Coupled with the Zellaton Plural Evo speakers, I'm really happy with my system-best amps and best speakers I've had in my room-to my ears, maybe not yours.

To your question-is it waay better? Not sure how to measure that-I think with amps, once you get to a certain level the improvements are real, but incremental and nuanced. I'm certain I made a move up-again to my ears. I think speakers are a little different-transducers make a bigger difference in my opinion. The Zellatons, to my ears, are a very big step ahead of the Sonus Fabers I had, which are themselves really good speakers. The Zells are the best audio purchase I've made.

Fortunately, there is good gear to suit all tastes at all price points.