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

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.

For great Sonics, it’s not just the amplification but rather the entire audio chain matters including a well sorted room.  For instance, @kerrybh  Zellaton Plural Evo speakers are highly transparent and can reveal the nuances of the very best amplification assuming the rest of the chain is also at a highly transparent level- unlike lesser speakers.

For the money (Let’s pretend you and I  can afford them- may of us can) are they transformative? Exceptional? WAYYY better than a lesser mortals out there? 

Typically, we’re not chasing a “transformative” Sonics but rather finding Sonics that “resonates” with us - draws us into the music.  A sound with a lot of WOW moments, touches the heart and soul deeply. It’s definitely worth it.  

I’ve heard the Michi amps and suspect those are hard to beat objectively.  Subjectively, anything is always possible.

Somewhat decent value.....not the best but better than many if not most comparable big, bulky amps.

I strongly considered buying but decided to cheap out and find a more cost effective and more importantly for me a less bulky solution.

The incremental value a $20,000 amp has over a $200 amp is $0 if you yourself can't hear it. 

Having said that, I'd suggest you listen to Luxman, a close sound cousin of D'Agostino even in the integrateds, Ayre and Pass as amps that can sound different enough to you to justify the spend. 

This is particularly important when selecting them to drive specific speakers as they will interact somewhat. 

I own 2 amps I swap between that I consider to be as good as it gets. A single ended class A tube amp from Dennis Had (Inspire Firebottle HO for High Output) bought when it was a month old or so in 2017 for around 1100 bucks, and  a Pass XA-25 that costs around 5 grand...had that for a few years. Does it leave me wanting some other possibly way more expensive amp? Nope.