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

You can't really ask the question about amps alone.  If you don't have, or don't plan to add, other components in your system that match the quality level then spending big $'s doesn't make sense.  However, there is not really a question whether a well-matched high-end system has better sound quality.  Whether it's a good value is a whole other question only the individual can answer.  The cost/benefit of moving up is more exponential than linear.  Same concept as why someone would buy a Porsche rather than a Chevrolet.  Relative value is subjective not objective.   

I'm constantly looking for the balance between high end and reasonably priced, and settled on the Willsenton brand to accomplish that for MY needs.  Listened to an R8 for several years with complete satisfaction.  Stock market gains were burning a hole in my pocket so sprung for a R800i 850 model online, based on pictures and reviews alone.  Couldn't be happier, and yes...for me it was game changing moving from class A/B to class A amplification.  

My feeling is that Willsenton provides excellent sound quality without breaking the bank...

What $$$ amount are we talking about for "High End". I just bought a Luxman L-509Z and I consider it as high end as I'll ever get. I don't think I'll hear much of a difference at another price point. 

“Most of us are wealthy” WTF?  If you read these

forums and give a damn about other people you couldn’t help but notice the number of posts from people who have very specific budgets for a component they want to upgrade, and most of those posts are not the posts of wealthy people, just people who love music and want it to sound as good as possible in their homes

for what they can afford to spend. Now are most of these people doing ok? Probably. Wealthy? Probably not by any standard definition used in the US

I believe the focus is too strongly and exclusively aimed at the amplifier, indeed it's indicative of an underlying issue. Instead the question should be formulated: how well can a speaker be made to sound, and what are the bottlenecks to avoid in the amp-to-speaker interface to best and most effectively get there?

Improving on said interface, to begin with simply by removing the passive crossover to make way for active configuration, is a way to maximize not only the performance envelope of the amp itself, but also the drivers of a speaker. With further, specific "tailoring" from a more holistic approach the amp to speaker/driver package can be made to sound that much better, and at a much lower price, even with more amp channels necessitated for each driver segment instead of wasting power and performance envelope looking into a fiendishly heavy passive crossover load before the amp can get its handle on the driver(s).  

I'm not necessarily saying a hugely expensive behemoth of an amplifier wouldn't make a difference or even improvement over a much cheaper ditto in a passive speaker context, but it's a "one size fits all"-approach that's invariably and inherently compromised, and one that will make the price of the amp spiral into stratospheric levels in the effort to try and ameliorate the negative influence of the heave load passive crossover itself. 

Obviously there are great sounding passively configured amp to speaker combos out there, but from my chair you'll end up paying dearly for something that could've been done much cheaper actively. I guess it's symptomatic of an underlying tendency to revel over singular components - at least more than looking at the totality in which they're involved from a configurative perspective - and the sense of pride that comes from having paid large sums of $$$ on equipment.